Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1899 — "Polishing Emporiums." [ARTICLE]

"Polishing Emporiums."

City bootblacks no longer carry their shops on straps slung across the shoulder. The once humble business has grown, and enterprising “boss” bootblacks have opened “blacking parlors” and “polishing emporiums,” where the wants es men’s footwear are attended to at cut rates in a scientific way and iff comfortable quarters. Some • of these places employ ten or more men each, who are kept busy at their chairs from morning until late in the afternoon. Each customer receives a check showing the amount of his indebtedness for the services rendered, and a cashier takes the money. - <-