Shoe shine boys:
When I was growing up as a 11 or 12 y/o in Evansville, In. there were only a few jobs a kid could get that they could earn a little money. Errands , cutting grass, delivering papers all required working for someone.
The only truly independent job, though menial, was shining shoes.
This was a prized job, since Evansville was a leave destination for Camp Breckenridge, Ky. and every weekend soldiers flooded the city on leave,
and many wore " jump boots", which you shined for a quarter.
Now when you talk about entrepreneurship, this was classic. We took a wooden box, nailed an old belt as a strap, bought a can of brown and black polish added rags and were good to go.
Kids would literally fight to get a spot near the Greyhound bus station, but because there were so many soldiers, everyone got shines.
When I reflect back I never thought this menial. It was a way to have money to buy comic books, "swingtime pies" and double colas. Now there's nothing safe a kid can do........sad 😩
2 comments:
Beautiful. This speaks to another reason why your generation was more driven, grateful, creative, and hard working than the current one. I recall my father talking about shining shoes. My uncle started him out downtown St. Louis. There was a vibrant shoe shining community and like you said, it was not menial. If fact, it was an honorable job; an example of excellence and servitude. Remind me to tell you about Doc. In short, he taught me a very important lesson about letting others do what they do because they are likely better than you.
Dr. Robinson, this is a great look into time. You have captured a moment in time like a painting. It's beautiful. I can't wait to read more. Harlan
I’m from St. Louis, there were a number of shoe shiners located in the STL Airport. Who took their job very seriously and charged more than a quarter.
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