The Shoeshine

I am a person who appreciates great, well made shoes. For many years I bought the cheapest shoes I possibly could and then just threw them out when I wore holes through the toes, the soles started flapping, or they just started looking plain embarrassing. Then I discovered the difference in owning great shoes. Back in my 'ready cash available' days, I invested in a number of pairs of high end shoes and boots. The difference between them and my old cheapies is incredible. My higher end shoes fit better, are more comfortable, wear better, breathe better and frankly, look better than my old shoes ever dreamed of being. I haven't bought much in the way of shoes in a long time, obviously, but fortunately, all the ones I bought in better times are still going strong.

This last weekend when I was away, I brought my favorite pair of black boots with me. These are my "old stand-bys." I probably wear them more than any other boot in my closet. They are tall black leather dress boots, laced up the front with a fairly impressive heel and a good set of tread on the sole. I shopped for them forever! It is ridiculous how hard it can be to find an attractive women's boot that actually has tread! In Michigan winters with all the snow and ice we get, having tread is fairly important, to say the least. Anyway, after getting home Monday I noticed a couple of scuffs on the toes of the boots, so I decided last night to polish them.

It seems to me that polishing shoes has gone the way of canning vegetables and changing your own oil. So many shoes are made of 100% Man Made materials now that when they get beat up we try coloring them in with a Sharpie for awhile then just throw them out. It just so happens though, that I happen to have my father's old shoe shine kit.

My mother kept it after my father died, probably because she is a practical kind of lady and knew it might come in handy. However, at the garage sale I had with my friends last summer, my mother brought it to me to sell, probably because that practical lady realized that she never used the dang thing! I knew as soon as I saw it I couldn't sell it. Isn't funny how things from our childhood hit us like that? So many things we can just let go and then along comes something that brings back a ton of memories. This wooden box always resided in the hall linen closet. Mom used to pay us kids a little cash to do extra tasks around the house and me, I always liked cleaning out the linen closet - pulling out, sorting and restoring all the towels, sheets, board games, and of course, dad's shoeshine box. It's been sitting in my own linen closet ever since, down on the bottom shelf well below all the towels and sheets. So, last night I pulled it out...

I don't think I have opened it since my mother gave it to me. I wasn't even completely sure there would be any usable black shoe polish in there, but there was - a ancient Kiwi can with just enough in it for a few pairs of shoes. It is funny to see all the things in this box. There is a plastic bag full of packages of white shoelaces. One of them has big blue cartoon whales on them. Who could those have possibly been for? A very young me? In the box were old shammy cloths, old polishing rags, Dad's bristle brushes. I saw a container of white boot polish. From the age of the container, I would say it was probably from back when my dad was wearing red flare legged pants and his ankle high white kidskin boots. Yes, this polish is close to 40 years old - no wonder it looked cracked and dried! At the bottom of the box was an old cologne bottle for High Karate, dried remnants of it still coloring the sides. He paid a $1.75 for it at a store I've never heard of. I couldn't help wondering why it was in here. Did he sprinkle a few drops in his shoes? Or was this just his place for all his "young man" things, shoe polish and cologne, to be used on a date or before church? There is no one to ask. My mother won't know and my grandparents are long gone. I'd love to dig into the box further, but every time I lifted something out tiny flakes of dried shoe polish drifted gently down to my carpeting. It will have to be a task for another day over newspaper.

Fortunately Dad did teach me to polish shoes. I can't say that when I was done I could see my face in them, but I'm not sure I would have wanted too! I loved the way they cleaned up though - the scuffs just disappeared and the black leather gleamed. It felt good to get that done, and I think he would have been proud.

Let me tell you something right now, no matter how frugal I might get, shoe shopping is not ever going to be taken completely off the list. I may not be able to splurge right now, but my time will come!

EDIT: If anyone would like to learn how to polish their own shoes, there is a nice clear article "How to Shine Shoes" on eHow.


Photo by: SirWiseOwl