Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1886 — The Second-Hand Shoe Trade. [ARTICLE]

The Second-Hand Shoe Trade.

Said the shoemaker: “You would be surprised to seethe class of men who purchase second-hand shoes. I have among my customers an elderly gentleman who comes here regularly every three months and buys a pair of shoes for $1.50. He is wealthy, but a miser. Many men whom I might name and who are well able to buy new shoes prefer second-hand ones for economy's sake. When a pair of shoes are cast off they are worthless to the original purchaser, and can be bought for a song. When business is dull I sometimes go. out on a collecting tour, and in a eoupleof hours will obtain enough shoes and boots to keep me employed for a month. "Boots are much more valuable thau shoes, because they contain more leather. I find that they.are not worn much nowadays, and those I occasionally come across are made of the finest leather.” “What means are taken to burnish up old shoes?” was asked. - “The -uppers of second-hand shoes are always good, whether the lowers are worn or not. If the body of the shoe is not in a patchable condition I must put on an entire new instep. Usually the upper part of the heel, to the curve of the foot remains in good condition. Sometimes it becomes necessary to entirely renovate old shoes, so that when finished they are like new ones, with this difference, that the leather used is not so good as the original. Soles and heels always have to be rebuilt and the toes capped. In all these repairs the cheapest of sole leather is used. When finished the shoes can be sold at from 75 cents to $1.50. A shoe must be of the finest leather and be but little worn to bring $2.” “Who are your customers?” “Poor people, who can afford to pay but little for their shoes. I supply whole families with shoes, from the father and mother to the baby. Ido but little business in women’s shoes. Women usually wear their shoes in the street until they become shabby, when they are cut down and used in the house as slippers. And then, besides, women’s shoes are now so cheap that it would not pay to make them over.” While the reporter was listening to the cobbler’s chatter there entered the store a laboring man who, after much dickering, bought a pair of brogans three sizes too large for him for ninety cents. V “Those shoes which I have just sold,” continued the shoemaker, “will wear the man nearly a year. You know what he paid for them, and can estimate about what shoe leather costs some poor people who know where to purchase.” — Brooklyn Eagle.