The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-12
THE GROWTH OF THE SHINE
Some Facts About the Indus
try in St. Louis.
PICTURESQUE B0OTBLACk
Driven Out of Business BY TIE Parlors-Trade
Centralized and Experts Now in Demand
= History Of the Industry.
From the st. Louis Globe-Demoerat.
.'Shine EN- I'D. MFster2o


Shine EN- up, Mster?"
This pestifrrous challenge by home
less urchins infesting all populous thor
oughfares in SIT. LOUIS and other large
cities has almost become a thing OF the
past. The urchin with his brlm,ess hat.
one suspender and ragged clothing has
been driven into other occupations
carrying coal and selling newspapers.
His improv,sed backing box has been
discarded as a losing Investment.
Some of the boys who formerly shout
ed, Shine? Shine? Shine 'em up. mis-
ter?" from morning till night. lodging.
among the busy throng, are men now.
some are in upper statfons-lawyers,
merchants, editors and trusted employees
OF large concerns. Others are still in
the either half''-they have net risen
as they have grown. After all. they
were much as other boys. Some were
worthy and some were weak some were
good and some We're bad.
AN bus. nesses with the advance of
civilization and the coming of new in
ventlons are revolutionlzed. Men learn
with time and experience to systema-
tlze industries and eeonomize labor. This
is nearly always at the expense of the
mass of laborers and to the benefit of
the fortunate few who fall into line with
the decentralization. Industries are be-
coming concentrated so that the same
work that was once divided among many
is now done by few.
Bootblacking, the business of the lit
tie urehins of the city, has been vic
tim of this Capitalization. The pfetur-
esque waits no longer find 1t profita BILE
TO shine shoes on the street. People wiM
no 9onger stop and lean up against
building, standing on one foot while
bootblaek gets down on his knees and
shines the other shoe. They also refuse
to be caught by the young triclSster who
Shines one for sc" and then demands
a quarter for shining the other. hold
ing the customer responsible for not be-
ing able to distinguish zone" from '"em
up" in the verbal contract. Cases of
men having their spinal columns injured
by having their feet pulled out from
under them by rival bootblacks are a $50
very rare nowadays. There are still
a few of these wandering bootblacks.
but they are very few.
The business of beotblacl1ing has been
monopolized by ''bootblacl1ing parlors."
in which men to do the work are en-
ployed by proprietor and by stands
on the streets covered by canvas can.
opies and filled with chairs. The shoe
stores that give free shines are also a
part of the destroying influence that
drove the urchins to selling papers or
carrying coal. The street urchins new
er reasoned much about the matter to
find the cause of the decline in the bust
ness. They Just decided that 1t was
con de BUM and SHOOK" It, They
never worried about 1T, and most of the
Mttle fellows who battle fol existence on
the streets don't know that the boot
backing business ever did amount to
anything.
1t is a psychological fact that every
idea is the child of some suggestion. The
idea of bootblacking parlors was sug-
gested first by the thriving trade of por-
tiers i'm barber shops. shining shoes of
customers while they We're being shaved.
The barber supply companies were the
first to take up the idea, and they be-
gan the manufacture of chairs placed
on stands. with IRON dogs in front of
them for foot rests, comfortable for the
customers and convenient for the shine
artist Then men got in the habit of
going to barber shops for shines, even
when they didn't want to be shaved
Then enterprising hotel porters took up
the idea, and gorgeous stands were
placed in the wash rooms and corridors
or hotels. Then the more progressive
of the street bootblacks began to es-
taiblish chairs on the sidewalks The
stands in the hotels and barber shops
did not materially interfere with the
business of ~tha boys who carried their
outfits in KITS slung over their shoulders.
because the sinners In the hotels and
barber shops charged 10c, and the boys
worked for DC. The first real move
ment toward Generalization was the es-
tablshment of chairs on the sidewalks.
Men began then to show a preference
for the boys with chairs and for the
first time the effect of the new venture
was felt in the boo.blacking business.
Eght years ago the final plan for CEN
trallzation was conceived and acted
upon. AT that time, when the first boot
hacking parlor in st. Louis was opened
by Bart Murphy in the basement on
broadway, Immediately south of Chest
nut. there were probably 1000 boys and
men making a scanty living by shining
shoes. Now all the shoes In ST. Louis
are shined by about 300 men and bows
working In fifty parlons and stands at
wages ranging from SIS to $3.50 a week
These parlors are factor In business.
some paying $1,000 per year rent for the
places they occupy and taking IN as high
as $4,000 year in cash.
With the coming of centra lization in
the business the expert has also arrived.
To get chair in f1rst-class parlor
man has to learn the trade The time
when those are booJblacks who can put
some backing on Shoes and rub them
until they have a shine on them is past
The workman must be able to clean a
shoe perfectly and then put a polish
on which will not only shine but will
and preserve the leather Bootblacking
has become a trade just as much as the
BARRIERS
In the days when the pictur; sque urch-
In was the monarch of the trade there
was but one color i'm shoes-black. About
the only material that a bootblack had
to carry was plain backing and some
oil for the treatment of patent leaith-
ers. Now the business has become com
plicated The red shoe was the first
novelty that came along, but at first t
wasn't much trouble, because 1t had a
rough surface, and about all that could
be done ito 1t was to oil it: but next the
tan shoes came out. with smooth sur
faces, and they demanded attention. The
shoe factories came to the rescue, how
ever. and provided dressing for them.
Then came a variety of shoes with lust
as many kinds of dressing. Each chair
in the backing parlors now has under
meath II materials for brown, oxblood,
russell, green chocolate and black pod
ishes. Incidentally 1t is worthy of no.
tice that with the coming of backing
parlors the term shine" has been dis
carded for polish which to the mind
of the artist is more dignified.