page_title: Shoe polish
section_title: Modern polish
hierarchical_section_title: Shoe polish / History / Modern polish
caption_attribution_description: English: Payaso shoe polish metal case with lid mid 20th century Español: Payaso grasa para calzado Envase metálico con tapa Mediados s. XX http://elmodo.mx/
context_page_description: Shoe polish is a waxy paste, cream, or liquid used to polish, shine, and waterproof leather shoes or boots to extend the footwear's life and restore, maintain and improve their appearance. Shoe polishes are distinguished by their textures, which range from liquids to hard waxes. Solvent, waxes, and colorants comprise most shoe polishes.
context_section_description: The first shoe polish to resemble the modern varieties (aimed primarily at inducing shine) were the British and British Commonwealth brands like Cherry Blossom, Kiwi, and Wren's. An advertisement published in March 1947 by Wren's claimed that William Wren originated the first wax polish in 1889. As the advertisement was endorsed with the Royal Warrant, its claim would be deemed creditable. However, the most well known brand was Kiwi; Scottish expatriates William Ramsay and Hamilton McKellan began making "boot polish" in a small factory in 1904 in Melbourne, Australia. Their formula was a major improvement on previous brands. It preserved shoe leather, made it shine, and restored colour. By the time Kiwi Dark Tan was released in 1908, it incorporated agents that added suppleness and water resistance. Black and a range of colors became available, and exports to Britain, continental Europe, and New Zealand began, although the polish is now made in the Far East. Previously owned by the Sara Lee Corporation since 1984, Kiwi was sold in 2011 to SC Johnson.
  Ramsay named the shoe polish after the kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand; Ramsay's wife, Annie Elizabeth Meek Ramsay, was a native of Oamaru, New Zealand. It has been suggested that, at a time when several symbols were weakly associated with New Zealand, the eventual spread of Kiwi shoe polish around the world enhanced the kiwi's popular appeal and promoted it at the expense of the others.
  A rival brand in the early years was Cobra Boot Polish, based in Sydney. Cobra was noted for a series of cartoon advertisements in The Sydney Bulletin, starting in 1909, using a character called "Chunder Loo of Akim Foo."  Chunder is Australian slang for vomit, and possibly originated through the rhyming slang of Chunder Loo and spew (another slang word for vomit).
caption: Payaso (clown) brand shoe polish from mid 20th-century Mexico, part of the permanent collection of the Museo del Objeto del Objeto.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "3264", "Image ImageLength": "2448", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E8700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2012:06:05 12:00:25", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "304", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1106", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4496", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/4", "EXIF FNumber": "37/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:10:20 15:37:34", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:10:20 15:37:34", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "2", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5775051/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Tungsten (incandescent light)", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "1139/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1728", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1409", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "980", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "8/5", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "448", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}