Milford chronicle., 1889-02-08
MONEY IN OLD SHOES.
SECOND HAND DEALERS WHO
ABOUND IN LARGE CITIES.

Chat with One Of the Biggest Dealers
In the Country - Where the Supply
Comes From-Trade Only in Mems Shoes.
People with Tender Feet.
4 A sharp looking, well dressed man sat in
the Bingham house smoking a cigar and
reading a newspaper.
( That's the biggest man in his line OF busi-
ness in this country, said the clerk, indieat-
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 judiciously approached tho sharp
looking man proved affable and communion
tive. Il imagine, - said he, ''that few people
have any idea Of the extensive trade that is
annually done in second hand boots and shoes
in this country. suppose you think, as most
people do, that none but the very poor people
would condescend to wear the left of shoes
Of other 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 shabby
looking man call at your house and inquire
if you had any cast of shoes to sell If you
have ever given the matter 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 rn0rla n my lima of bffeirtac-
for, thank goodness, our trade is not as yet
quite as overcrowded as most others-fur-
nish a 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 US. It's no use bringing the rub
bish, as they know we don't handle it. We
keep bred 'examiners'-men who know all
about shoes worth knowing-and they earn
every dollar we pay them in examining shoes
and boots from a. m. to 6p. N. every day
of the week except Saturday.
In this way we buy from 1000 to $500
pairs a day. The best of these, say about
one-half, are cleaned paired and go into
stock, classified in qualities and as nearly as
possible in sizes The remainder 90 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 a 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 nota dozen people in our |
business all 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 disiigured pair. Still these have |
a marketable value and the collector can |
give a quarter for a slightly cracked pair !
and resell TO the 'restorer' or dealer in much |
worn second hand shoes at profit, and be .
will retail them at a profit of from 20 .
cents to $3.50 after he has evoS s-''"'s' d.
OF coursa- t4;yncnDurg Va eth tnem up. /
ugneninc.- s4is sofJ of stuff is only patched /
-r, At 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 of shoes any how. You might as
well ask them to wear second hand gloves 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
a 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 $50 |
to So pair All these goods were evidently |
of fine make. The leather was soft and PHI
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 .
g 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
shoe the name OF Helbestern, Paris,n 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 |
the uppers were in many cases
really as good as new.
Another class Of people, he said, were regu-
lar customers at his shop, whose feet were so
tender that they could not wear a new shoe
under any circumstances. Some Of these |
folks would spend an hour at
time in trying on forty or fifty pairs Of shoes,
until at last they found one exactly suited to .
the unhappy idiosyncracies of their poor
feet" This particular dealer in discarded |
understandings does not handle any of the
much worn and common lines Of second hand |
goods He buys the shoes just as they are |
purchased by the wholesale dealer in New
York, and keeps two men constantly EN-
ployed in resoling and heeling his purchases
before retailing them to that eccentric por-
tioh of the community whose patronage he .
enjoys. Philadelphia Times.
Wanted; A National Air.
America is as yet unprovided with national |