What happened to Shoe Shines ?

[tuppence]

I'm curious because they appear a lot in old movies. Do they still exist in America? Were they common? Did shoe leather improve and make them less important ?

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

You still find them in airports, some train stations, there's one in the Nordstrom's department store near where I live, and I know of one in a retail corridor of a commercial office building complex in an area of Arlington, Virginia near the Reagan National Airport.

Shoe leather did not improve. Shoes became relatively cheaper and more disposable. Where once a man might have one or two pairs of shoes which he might own for years and years, repairing them as soles and heels wore out, today, cheaply-made shoes with non-replaceable soles and heels are thrown away in a year or two. I don't have any data, but I'd wager that if you looked in the closet of an American man in 1955 and counted the number of pairs of shoes, and compared it to that man's grandson's closet in 2015, you'd see two or three times as many pairs today.

 

[HudsonHawk]

They are still around. As Brother Kilo points out, they are a common sight in airports and train stations and occasionally in department stores or public buildings. There is a stand in the lobby of my office building, and there are several in the tunnels downtown here, and several in and around the county courthouse. I don't think it's a matter of shoes improving in quality, just a decline in men wearing shoes that need to be shined. Not only do men have more shoes today, often the dressiest pair he has are casual loafers. I also see a lot of bowling shoes. Apparently, for anyone under the age of 30, those are dress shoes.

 

[hatsRme]

Ahh, yes... Shoeshines - the affordable indulgence! (Although, like everything else, less so these days.)

 

[green papaya]

not very popular, most people rather shine their own shoes at home or use a "quick shine" sponge

 

[St. Louis]

I was in Raleigh, NC last weekend and saw a gorgeous shoeshine stand -- leather padded seats, brass fittings, the works. The gentleman was set up in a hotel lobby. Very impressive.

 

[Andykev]

Unfortunately grooming standards have changed along with fashion trends. Most men today wear "casual" shoes, or running shoes, or "sport shoes" (Ecco, Rebok), and thus the true "old fashioned" leather shoe is reserved for the office "suit and tie" crowd, and of course the local police officer. I remember when "Red Wing" had a shoe approved for the USPS, and those guys used to be spit and polish. And even the TV repairman or gas attendant had a proper hat and shoes. Even Sunday services are now very casual, and laying out the Sunday Best the night before is almost gone from our society.

Hard to polish your Keds.

 

[Fading Fast]

Owing to NYC still having a high concentration of many business that dress in suits in ties and because it is a very walkable city (and hard to drive around), there are still many shoe shine stands around the city and pretty good competition amongst them. The culture of it is great as there are stands of seven or eight or more chairs where the people who shine your shoes develop a following and work hard to really put a good shine on the shoe (and, most people tip them well in return).

While there are new ones that open up, you can still find some great old ones in the pre-war office buildings and some subway pedestrian tunnels that have retail stores.

 

[belfastboy]

In Vancouver they still have them in the airport but rather than being operated by a shoe shine professional they are run by minimum wagers.
I often think that would be a good retirement job for me but I would probably not make much.
In Class A buildings here in Vancouver they have those electric rotating brush shine stands on each floor of the parkade. A quick shine before entering the office.
My first job as a 14 year old, working in the carnival, I would get a daily shoe shine from a black man, a professional shoe shiner. I would pretend to read the racing form, the shine cost a dollar and I would tip him a dollar. This represented my first two hours pay for the day but it was worth it to feel like an adult, not the kid in a man's world that was the reality.

 

[emigran]

An inexpensive luxury, indeed... I used to regularly go to a fellow with rather high perched stand in the Hoboken train station...
I agree with the gentleman who said that most people shine their own shoes nowadays... I do.

 

[Fading Fast]

An inexpensive luxury, indeed... I used to regularly go to a fellow with rather high perched stand in the Hoboken train station...
I agree with the gentleman who said that most people shine their own shoes nowadays... I do.

I have done both for decades - and having a good shoe shine is a wonderful inexpensive luxury. Also, there is no way to get the really good leverage at home that a shoe shiner can when you're sitting in the chair with your shoes on.

That said, in a few classic TCM movies, I've seen a metal contraption attached to the wall at one end that, then, holds the shoe at the other end (you put the shoe on the non-wall end the same way you would on your foot) and you can really put a shine on the shoe. The two movies I've seen it in, it was in an office. Today, I could see it in a basemen or a garage, but I'm not going to have the conversation with my girlfriend about whether or not I can put something like that up on a wall in our small NYC apartment that doesn't have any catch-all rooms or spaces.

 

[belfastboy]

I put on a ballgame depending on the season and shine my shoes. I garner great brownie points with the missus for shining her's as well.

It is relaxing to the point of meditative and I look forward to the time I spend with my boots and shoes.

 

[tuppence]

That's a cool story belfastboy. I'm glad they still exist. It's a shame they don't exist over here.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

The shoeshine man (we used to say "boy" but no more) was a fixture in old detective movies and tv shows. He was the guy nobody noticed because he was a fixture, but he observed everything going on in the street. The private eye, or sometimes the reporter, would get on the chair for a shoeshine and would question the guy who would tell him what he'd observed, both of them pretending to be chatting about nothing. The man got an extra-large tip if he had valuable information.

 

[vintage68]

I had my shoes shined this past weekend when I visited my hometown of San Francisco. There's a great shoeshine stand in the Financial District that does an incredible job.

 

[belfastboy]

When I am next in SF I will look the Shoeshine Man up. It has been a very long time and it would be a real treat to have my shoes shined by a pro.
Thx,

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

... I've seen a metal contraption attached to the wall at one end that, then, holds the shoe at the other end (you put the shoe on the non-wall end the same way you would on your foot) and you can really put a shine on the shoe.

I've got one of those cast-iron brackets mounted to a stud in the un-finished utility room in my basement. It does exactly what's needed to get a high shine.

If you've got a Nordstrom's department store in your city, you will likely find a shoe shine stand in the shoe department. I've used them, too.

 

[Stanley Doble]

There was more demand for shoe shines in the 19th and early 20th century when horses were everywhere and streets were dirty and muddy. As time went by and streets got cleaner less need for shoe shines. And, as people did less walking and more riding in cars buses and streetcars also less need for shoe shines.

Today in most cities you could leave your house with clean shoes in the morning and come home at night with them barely dusty. Unless there was a rain storm or snow storm.