Dropped 2 pairs of winter boots off at shoe repair

[TEB]

They are leather and I paid good $ on them years ago. And they are comfortable to wear after cobbler works on them. talking to shoe repair guy , he said your boots will be ready End of August perhaps September. He will call leaving I thought you know like corner barbershops in last ten years here. We went from four barbers to two because of hair salons , the shoe repair is the only one in about a thirty mile radius. When this guy retires that's it for this area it will be memories of past.

[cyclonefence]

1. Do you remember when

you could go to a shoe repair shop and sit in a little cubicle reading a magazine while the cobbler fixed your shoes?

Wanamaker's magnificent store in Philadelphia had an in-house shoe repair like this, and so did Fife St. in Charleston, WV.

[TEB]

3. I do not remember that

[Warpy]

4. The shoe repair guy near me has a fairly fast turnaround

They're an endangered species in a lot of the country where running shoes are worn most often but they're worth their weight out here and spend a lot of their time resoling cowboy boots, the kind worn by real cowboys.

[liberaldemocrat2024]

2. Awesome Stuff!

Unfortunately, some of us where we live, it's more expensive to get your shoes repaired than buy a new pair. So it only makes sense just to buy a new pair of boots because it's cheaper than getting an old pair fixed.......it doesn't make sense but that's how it is.

[BigmanPigman]

5. What's the word/term for that? "Planned obsolescence"?

They make stuff cheaply so you'll have to buy a new one sooner. They could make light bulbs that last a really long time but where's the profit in that?

[Adrahil]

9. It not just planned obselescence...

Production methods are such that production is heavily automated and requires little human intervention. Even is cases od "custom, hand-made" boots, the process is more automated than many would suspect (automatic cutting machines, programmable sewing machines, etc).

Repair, however, still requires a skilled craftsman, and each job has unique aspects. A skilled craftsman time costs money. It's the trade off we make for relatively cheap consumer goods.

I remember my mom darning my socks when I was a kid. I even learned how to darn them. But today? If my socks get a hole, I toss them and buy a new pair. They are cheap, and it is simply not worth my time to repair the old ones.

[Grammy23]

6. I remember my dad getting his shoes half soled.

He was a businessman and had good wingtips that were his standard dress shoes. When they got worn he took them in to be half soled or sometimes resoled. He graduated from high school in the mid 1930s so lived through the Great Depression and was familiar with being frugal. He had a good, well paying job by the time I came along but wasting money was something he never did.

If shoes could be fixed and worn he did that, but mostly with his own shoes. My sister and I were much too hard on our school shoes to bother resoling them most of the time. I do remember a pair of loafers (Weejuns) that were perfectly okay on top but worn through on the leather soles so my mom took them to be half soled and I wore them for quite a bit longer after that. They looked like new!

[Laurian]

10. Weejuns!

Must haves when I was in high school. I absolutely loved mine.

I haven't thought of them in years....

Thanks for reviving that memory.

[panader0]

12. You needed to put a dime in the slot on top.

[Grammy23]

13. One year we put in pennies.

We shined them up using a pencil eraser if it wasn't a new penny. Then the next year it was dimes. Funny, the fads we had in high school. When I was a sophomore living in Fort Worth, Tx, all the girls wanted Weejuns. The oxblood color. The next year everyone was dying for a pair of suede loafers in black or brown suede....with the coins. Some girls used to say if you had the dime in your shoes, you always had change to make a phone call at a pay phone in case of emergency. 😳

By my freshman year in college, loafers were still very much in....worn with knee socks. But the loafers by then had a tassel made of matching oxblood leather strips. If I still had those shoes, i would wear them. 😉 They were very comfortable.

[rickford66]

7. Only one shoe repair shop around here.

They also repair anything leather or material that needs sewing. They made me a custom wallet with the last decent piece of leather they had. The owners said there isn't any decent leather to be had anywhere. Most of the leather jackets brought to them for repair are junk. Most leather shoes and boots are disposable now because they're not sewn together, just glued. I get this lecture from the couple that run it when I go in. It's a small price to pay to get superb service. I hope they stay in business. When I grew up, there were two shoe repair shops within two blocks of our house. We dug the old leather heels out of their trash to play hopscotch.

[TEB]

8. Wow I forgot all about hopscotch

Thanks for memories I played I think I can't remember her name. Maybe first grade but I liked her Pamela that was her name , she was a good friend and we would hopscotch. I think we as children were two goof balls I remember the teacher separating us in class.

[mercuryblues]

11. Years ago

I paid 5 dollars for a pair of dress shoes on clearance. They were the most comfortable pair of shoes I ever had. I spent more than that getting them repaired through the years. I finally had to trash them when the fake suede starting coming off. I think I had a tear in my eye when the garbage man came.