Shoe Shining Disorder. What Have I Done!

[johnniegold]

@JWCowboy

Some great memories there.

 

[ackvil]

I just ordered a pair of vintage Thom McAn cowboy boots off Poshmark! I'll post a pic when they come in (hopefully they'll fit, buying vintage clothing off Poshmark or eBay is always hit or miss)

If you'll indulge me I've got to share some memories from my high school job of working at Kinney. The popular thing among girls then was dyed prom shoes to match a dress. The lowest guy on the totem pole got most often got stuck with that dreadful job, and that was of course yours truly. I must have dyed 1000 pairs of shoes. You'd wear gloves but the dye would still get on your hands, and the only way to get it off was by washing in bleach.

The other thing I remember is that we had this pair of TV's connected to a VCR and every month the corporate office sent us a new VHS tape of top 40 video hits to play continuously. I remember "I'm too sexy" by Right Said Fred was in heavy rotation. So were Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Color Me Bad, and Bell Biv Devoe. When the boss went home and it was just me and the assistant manager closing I'd either turn it off or put in the 80's hits tape, which I remember had Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" that I always would crank up.

This was also the days when the show Married with Children was popular, which I never watched, but got called "Al Bundy" by my friends ALL the time.

High school classmates of mine worked at every store there. It was the heyday of the indoor shopping mall and that one was considered a destination with several exclusive stores. Of course it is long gone now, shuttered and torn down.

I'm a big fan of the Netflix show Stranger Things and particularly enjoyed the most recent season which highlighted that cultural experience.

One last memory from there, the other part timer was a college guy who played football at the HBCU in town, and I remember he pledged to one of the fraternities and came in for work one afternoon after he'd gotten branded with a hot iron on both biceps and his pec, I think it was Omega Psi Phi aka the Que Dogs....

I worked in the corporate office of the company that owned Kinney Shoes. I ended up representing them in labor and employment cases. To better understand their systems and policies I spent a few days in a few different Kinney Stores and was probably the worst salesperson ever. I was too stubborn to "hand over" a customer I could not sell them anything and if I made a sale I would not push selling accessories.

I got to know the head office execs of Kinney and every one of them started off as a shoe salesman. They had many funny stories to tell. In fact, some of the Kinney personnel started FootLocker. It was a sad day when the corporate office pulled the plug on Kinney.

 

[JWCowboy]

One good thing about working at Kinney was getting to use your discount at Champs and Footblocker, who were also under the Woolworth's corporate umbrella. One of my classmates and good friends worked at Footlocker just a few spots down on the same side of the mall. (In fact he was later a groomsman in my wedding and is the one high school classmate I've kept in contact with) He had to wear one of those dreadful referee shirts. I bought a pair of Air Jordan 6's from him with my first paycheck.

 

[JWCowboy]

Ironically when I went to work at the locally owned Athletic Footwear & Apparel retailer in college, a place called Sport Seasons, We weren't on commission and I of course sold tons more stuff.

It's still in business and I still make it a point to drop in there from time to time when I go back to Nashville to visit family, and I still purchase my running shoes from them, nearly 30 years after working there.

Athletic Shoes, Apparel, and Team Gear | Sport Seasons

Sport Seasons carries athletic shoes, apparel and team fan gear for the entire family.

www.sport-seasons.com

I'm glad that place is still around. There was another long time locally owned retailer that bit the dust a few years back.

The Athlete's House To Close After 42 Years...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- After 42 years, one of Nashville's first locally-owned sporting goods stores has been set to close.David Graeflin, owner of The Athlete’s House, said he's retiring and added the time was right to close the store.“It’s good and bad at the same time,” said David Graeflin. “I will mis

www.newschannel5.com

 

[daveinsweethome]

i owned a shine butler but misplaced it during a move

 

[JWCowboy]

@JWCowboy

Some great memories there. View attachment 1221257

There's some member on here, I forget who exactly, but they've got an Al Bundy avatar, great photo of him pointing his finger with his signature sneer.

I'm gonna assume I have either you or @ackvil to thank for the new profile quote. Thanks. I guess. I'm gonna just tell myself it's an honor to have reached some kind of special status on the board.

 

[johnniegold]

There's some member on here, I forget who exactly, but they've got an Al Bundy avatar, great photo of him pointing his finger with his signature sneer.

I'm gonna assume I have either you or @ackvil to thank for the new profile quote. Thanks. I guess. I'm gonna just tell myself it's an honor to have reached some kind of special status on the board.

I noticed the new quote. How apropos.

I’m sure it was @ackvil. I don’t have that kinda juice anymore.

 

[johnniegold]

i owned a shine butler but misplaced it during a move

Did you re-trace your move?

 

[The Knize]

I'm gonna just tell myself it's an honor to have reached some kind of special status on the board.

I think you should definitely consider it an honor. And having a custom title you loved or would have picked out for yourself, would be completely inconsistent with long-standing B&B tradition!

 

[The Knize]

i owned a shine butler but misplaced it during a move

I suspect theft!!

 

[johnniegold]

The Dubbin arrived a few days ago from Dr. Martens.

I had to wait until it thawed out after it was sitting on my front steps in the freezing cold.

Laces out!

These 939’s have been dubbed.

 

[FarmerTan]

The Dubbin arrived a few days ago from Dr. Martens.
View attachment 1222563

I had to wait until it thawed out after it was sitting on my front steps in the freezing cold.

View attachment 1222564

Laces out!

View attachment 1222566
View attachment 1222562

These 939’s have been dubbed.
View attachment 1222565

Beautiful.

 

[dojpros]

I am sold on defaulting to a creme polish as I buy it "nutriates" a quality shoe better than a wax, albeit with a little less shine.
Lincoln has been my wax polish choice to date.

Data point of one. Black Ecco High Top Non Gore tex Chukka. Quick brush off. One coat. Brush then soft cloth buff.

Saphir "Gold" on one side at 22.00 for 100 ml from Amazon. TRG on the other at 6.99 for 50ml from the local cobbler. (I have seen it online for 4 ish)

Little difference. Saphir perhaps just a bit shinier. Not 3x the performance re the shine.

an aside-TRG seems to be owned by the extended family of the Tarragos from Spain who were independent until the early 2000's when they were acquired by the Saphir company.

 

[Doc4]

I am sold on defaulting to a creme polish as I buy it "nutriates" a quality shoe better than a wax, albeit with a little less shine.
Lincoln has been my wax polish choice to date.

...

Saphir "Gold" on one side ... TRG on the other ...

Little difference. Saphir perhaps just a bit shinier. Not 3x the performance re the shine.

I like using Saphir Renovateur.

It's not a wax polish or a cream polish, but a nourishing cream intended as a "pre-polishing" application before the wax or cream, but ...

... on its own it can provide a pretty decent shine. Apply it, wait for it to soak in and dry, and then buff the residue off, and the shoe has a pretty decent shine.

"Good enough" shine and great leather nourishing. Works for me.

 

[johnniegold]

I like using Saphir Renovateur.
... on its own it can provide a pretty decent shine

Agreed. Especially on shell Cordovan where you really don’t want to use too much wax, if any, or just a small amount of Cordovan cream.

The Elegant Oxford does a vid on the difference between Kiwi and Saphir wherein he espouses the benefits of Saphir as the superior shoe polish (not that I disagree).

Little difference. Saphir perhaps just a bit shinier. Not 3x the performance re the shine.
View attachment 1224814

True. Sometimes it’s more about time and technique.

Those boots look great, btw. Nice job.

 

[dojpros]

Thank u my man.

I own the Black Saphir. I will use it and drive on.

I have a tan creme by Kelly and a darker brown by Raylyn from the local cobbler as well.

Not quite sure what I will do when those run out.

He describes these cremes (Tarrago/TRG/Kelly/Raylyn) as Cadillacs, the Saphir Blue as a Mercedes and Saphir Gold as the Rolls Royce.

 

[johnniegold]

He describes these cremes (Tarrago/TRG/Kelly/Raylyn) as Cadillacs, the Saphir Blue as a Mercedes and Saphir Gold as the Rolls Royce.

There’s 3 kinds of shoe polish...

 

[blantyre]

Very nice! My feeling is that Saphir is all about the quality of the ingredients. Performance wise, I honestly doubt that I could tell the difference between Parade Gloss and Saphir on a pair of black calf cap toes if they’d both been applied well. possibly on some other colors or special materials then it may really have an edge. I generally use Saphir for shoes that I actually wear (brown shades) and Lincoln for shoes that I sometimes polish but don’t actually wear (black captoes for example).

To put in terms more relevant to shavers: Kiwi = Williams, Kelly = Barrister and Mann, Saphir = Sē’bŭm Black (or pick your color).

 

[johnniegold]

I honestly doubt that I could tell the difference between Parade Gloss and Saphir on a pair of black calf cap toes.

You could if you had a pair of these..

for shoes that I sometimes polish but don’t actually wear.

That may sound crazy to some and totally normal to others.

 

[JWCowboy]

Glad I came back to this thread, thanks for the recommendations on Saphir, I'm going to check it out!