The Shoe Repair Shop--A Dying Breed?
Do you know where there is a shoe repair shop in your town? I live in a fairly big city and I actually know of only a couple of them here in my city. I suspect that mainly, most shoe repair business is from people who have specially made shoes which are very expensive to replace.When I was a kid in Paris, Texas, I was a regular customer of one of the several repair shops located there in Paris. Usually, I would visit my shoe repairman at least once a month. Most of the time just for small things such as a torn out eyelet, ripped out stitching or maybe worn down heels. Other times I might be needing new soles on my shoes, a bigger job. Shoes were a necessary item for a school kid. I was hard on shoes and they needed a lot of upkeep. Most of the time I would make my shoe shop visit before I went to school in the morning. The shop opened very early and I would usually be the first customer of the day.
I was fascinated by the workbench of the repairman. It was a long spindle with brushes, files, buffers and cutting tools. He had a sewing machine for stitching up rips and tears. If he were putting new soles on your shoes he would cut the soles out of leather and tack or sew them onto your shoes. After that he would use the cutter to trim off the excess leather then the sander to smooth the leather down evenly with the rest of your shoe sole. Finally, he would put on a coat of shoe polish and buff it to a smooth new like finish-- all in a matter of maybe fifteen minutes. Your shoes were then ready for a new life of perhaps six months or maybe even longer. All that for just a few cents. The repairman's prices were anywhere from ten cents for small repairs to maybe a dollar for new soles--much cheaper than a new pair of shoes.
Back in those olden days I had one pair of school shoes and one pair of Sunday shoes. I used them until they wore out and were no longer repairable or until I outgrew them, whichever came first.
Now I have a long shelf in the bottom of my closet for all of my shoes. I have a color to match most of my purses and a style for every occasion. When one gets a rip, a tear or becomes the least bit worn looking it, along with its mate, gets pitched. That is cheaper than having them repaired these days.
posted by kyra lafain @ 3/16/2008 01:26:00 PM
1 Comments:
Ben Peltz had a shoe repair shop in Paris for more than 50 years. He was quite the perfectionist in his work, and he was known to tell customers on occasion, "I won't put my good leather on those shoes!" In his later years, he also sold luggage. Escaping the Bolsheviks, he came to America around 1917. He was something of a Bible scholar, and I have his old Scofield Bible with all his notes in it. When I graduated from high school, he gave me my choice of a piece of American Tourister luggage from his shop, and I still have that suitcase.
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