San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-25
MONEY IN OLD SHOES.
SECOND HAND DEALERS WHO
ABOUND IN LARGE CITIES.

A Chat with One of the biggest Dealers
In the Country Where the Supply
Comes From-Trade Only in Mems Shoes.
People with Tender Feet.
sharp looking, well dressed man sat in
the Bingu-... -suse smoking cigar and
reading newspaper.
That's the biggest man in his line Of bust
ness in this country" said the clerk, indicat-
ing the sharp looking man by rapid motion
Of the eye.
"And what is'his businessf'
Second hand shoes, and there's big money
in it, too, can tell you"
On being judciously approached the sharp
looking man proved affable and ~ommunica-
tive. Il imagine" said he, that fe~ people
have any idea of the extensive trade that is
annually done in second hand boots and shoes
in this country. Isuppose you think, as most
people do, that none but the very poor people
would condescend to wear the left of shoes
Of othor folks. In all cities and large towns
you may notice shops for the sale of second
hand boots and shoes. At some time or
another, dare say, you have had q shabby
looking man call at your house and inquire
if you had any cast off shoes TO sell If you
have given the matter a passing thought,
no doubt the shabby man and the second hand
shoe store are connected in your mind. You
conclude that the itinerant purchaser of cast
of foot wear sells the result of his days
tramp to those who keep the second hand
shoe shops, and that from that source alone
he derives his supply.
COLLECTOR AND CUSTOMER.
Nothing of the kind, sir-nothing of the
kind. The few people in my line of business
tbap ,ppjpaSS traHa iS vat
quite as overcrowded as most others-fur-
nish vast majority of the second hand shoe
stores with their goods The headquarters
of my firm is in New York, and as we are
the biggest people in our line, nearly all the
collectors in that city and for miles around
bring the best of the contents of their daily
bags to U.S. It's no use bringing the rub
Dish, as they know we don't handle it. We
keep bred 'examiners'-men who know all =
about shoes worth knowing-snd they earn
every dollar we pay them in examining shoes
and boots from s a m. to 6 p. IN. every dayl
Of the week except Saturday.
''ln this way we buy from 1000 to 2,500l
pairs day The best Of these, say about
one-half, are cleaned, paired and go into
stock, classified IN qualities and as nearly as
possible III sizes. The remainder go into our
repairing department, where they are resoled
and heeled, and subsequently, nearly all ex-
ported We have also collecting agents, not
buyers of private people, but agents who pur-
chase on our account from the collectors
here in Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Chi
cagO and q few other cities. From these
sources we gather about as many as we do in
New York. All the country stuff is treated
the same as that which comes to us direct
from the collector
Altogether we do pretty extensive bust
ness, sending out daily more boots and shoes
than most of the manufacturers but then,
you see there are not dozen people in our
business ali told, and shoemakers, wholesale
and retail, are numbered by the thousand.
We never buy shoe that has the slightest
cut or crack in the uppers, as this would
necessitate patching, and the sort of people
who buy high priced second hand shoes would
not look at a disfgured pair. Still these have
a marketable value and the collector can
give quarter for slightly cracked pair
and resell to the 'restorer' or dealer in much
worn second hand shoes at profit, and he
will retail them at profit of from 20
cents to S1.50 after he has fixed them up.
or course this sort of stuff is only patched
up, 1t don't pay for resoling and heeling.
We only deal in mems shoes. There is no
market for second hand women's foot wear,of
good quality. You cannot get the ladies to
wear left off shoes any how. You might as
well ask them to wear second hand gloTeS or
discarded bangs.
THE TRADE IN PHILADELPHIA.
In this city the retail trade in second hand
shoes Of fine grade and IN good condition does
not flourish to any extent Worn footgear
of this character, however, is to be found in
few dingy looking shops in the neighbor-
hood of Sixth and Spruce streets and along
South street by those who have no prejudice
against wearing dead mems shoes" or en-
casing their pedal extremities in the caSt-of
soles and uppers of fashionable folk. In one
of these establishments an ostensible pur-
chaser was shown second hand shoes of all
styles and sizes, ranging in prices from 81 SO
to % pair All these goods were evidently
Of fine make. The leather was soft and pill
able, the stitching close and fine, and although
the "upperS had evidently already done good
service, no cracks were observable. But all
the style and finish was confined to the
"uppers," for in every instance the shoes had
been reSoled and heeled in a rough-and-ready
fashion. Several pairs still bore the names
of well known New York and London max
ers, while between the heel and sole of one
shoe the name of " HelbeStern, Paris, was
still clearly to be made out
One dealer said that high priced second
hand shoes actually lasted longer than new
ones sold at about the same price. The best
second hand goods, he claimed, were the cast
offs of wealthy people who would not wear a
shoe an hour after it had lost its shape, and
consequently the uppers were in many cases
really as good as new.