Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-09-22

relief to get the edge of stockinged
heel over the inside of the counter, be-
cause with that the great difficulty was
overcome and then the foot would slip
naturally into its resting place in the
boot.
Invariably a rest was desired after the
first boot was on before the task of get
ting on the second was tackled. and Oft
en- the practice of kicking the boots on
was resorted to- The man or boy would
get his fore fingers into the straps of his
boot and as he pulled he would kick the
toe of the boot against the wall or base
board. In houses where there were boys
the marks made by Kicking on the boots
were always to be seen. OF course, this
had tendency to wear out the toes, but
then many of the boots were built to
meet this Kicking game. Some of the
uoots were reinforced with brass toe
pieces, a tribe over a quarter of an inch
in depth, and these were fastened into
the boot between the upper and the welt
and shaped something after a horseshoe.
Boots supplied with these brass pieces,
and they were made this kind for men as
well as boys, would always stand more
through and visit to the cobbler's was
made necessary.
A boy who had a pair of these brass
toed boots was always proud. Then. too
some bootmakers in those days made a.
boot that had a part of the top in red
leather at the front and printed on this
red in silver letters generally were the
words, mo more wet feet" and the chap
who had pair of Boots with the red
tops and silver letters and the brass
plates at the toes was sure to be envied
by the youngsters who did not have that
kind tae--a4
The bootjack, though 1t has disap-
peared now. was then to be found in
every home and there was generally a
certain nail behind the kitchen stove or
by the cellar stairs where it was hung.
1t was not one of those articles that
could be thrown any old place, because
all of the men and boys in the family
had use for it and its use was SO frzqdent
that it was always Kept where it could
be found when wanted. Bootjacks gen.
orally were of home manufacture and one
would last for many years They were
so easy to make that some families would
have number of them. SO that there
would be no occasion for waiting should
one member of the family want the boot
jack while another member was using it.
hammer, some nails, lumber and a
saw were the requisites, and if the fam
lily did not happen to have saw such
as carpenters use. why the Old frame
saw that was used TO saw up the fire.
vOtiil ha
To make bootjack piece of board
about II or l5 inches long and four or
five inches wide was obtained. A piece
the shape of "V" would be sawed from
one end OF the board and then lift con-
sisting of piece of board about an inch
in width and an Inch high would be
nailed on the underside short distance
below the small point of the 'V." That
raised the "V'' end from the floor and
gave place to put the heel in when II was
desired to pull off the boot. This in ef-
feet completed the bootjaek, with the ex-
ception of the hole by which 10 hang it
up. In the days when boots were so
generally worn augurs were not as COM
mon in the homes as they are nowadays.
when about every household has a small
hll ol Sdtp ehtei tooiS, out ssbN44S d
hole In the bootjack was an easy matter.
1t was done by heating the stove poker
in the kitchen stove until it became red
hot. and with it to burn hole through
the bootjack about an inch from the end
opposite the ~" and the bootjack was
completed. Bootjaeks made in the way
outlined have done service in many fam
lilies for generations.
Manyjokes have been printed about
the oid-tlme bootjack, but the man who
remembers when they were so generally
used cannot fail to recall the place where
the family bootjack used to hang in the
kitchen, and other incidents of the fire.
side near where the bootjaek. which long
ago has disappeared, used to hand
Morning Mercury.