Shinola

{{About|the defunct shoe polish company and brand|the lifestyle brand|Shinola (retail company)|other meanings|Shinola (disambiguation)}}

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| image_caption = A tin of Shinola shoe polish

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Shinola is a defunct American brand of shoe polish. The Shinola Company, founded in Rochester, New York in 1877, as the American Chemical Manufacturing and Mining Company, produced the polish under a sequence of different owners until 1960.{{cite book |url=

https://books.google.com/books?id=P7frHugG1SQC&q=shinola |last1=Shilling |first1=Donovan A. |title=Rochester's Remarkable Past |location=United States |publisher=Pancoast Concern, Limited |chapter=6 Getting to Know Shinola |isbn=978-0-9821090-7-6 |date=February 15, 2011 |pages=47–53}} "Shinola" was a trade name and trademark for boot polish.{{efn-ua|The original trademark was filed by the “2-in-1 Shinola-Bixby Corporation” in 1929.{{cite book |editor-last1=Dalzell |editor-first1=Tom |editor-last2=Partridge |editor-first2=Eric|year=2009 |editor-link1=Tom Dalzell |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5F-YNZRv-VMC&q=shinola&pg=PA863|chapter=shinola |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |page=863 |isbn=978-0-41-537182-7}}}} The suffix -ola is a popular component of trade names in the United States.{{efn-ua|"The 'ola' suffix is popular in the USA as part of trade names, e.g. Crayola, Granola etc. This leads to the pronunciation of Shinola as shine + ola. That spoils the alliteration a little as it would work better as shin + ola."}} It was popular during the first half of the 20th century and entered the American lexicon in the phrase, "You don't know shit from Shinola," meaning to be ignorant.

The brand name was acquired by the retail company Shinola in 2011.

History

Image:Förpackning med skoblankare, Shinola home set, 1900-talets början - Hallwylska museet - 108518.tif]]

Image:Shinola review from Commercial America magazine.jpg

George Melancthon Wetmore (August 31, 1858{{snd}} June 10, 1923) was born in Gates, New York and, after attending military school, got a degree at the Rochester Business Institute. At age 18, he went to work for the American Chemical Manufacturing and Mining Company, which was founded in Rochester, New York (near Brown's Race) in 1877. The company was primarily focused on carpet cleaning, but sold several specialty products, including boot and shoe polish. Wetmore found that the polish was cheaply made, did not hold or bond well, and 95% of it was dyed black using lamp black. Wetmore designed a replacement and initially called it SHINOL′A. In 1886, Wetmore was promoted to vice president, and a few years later, to president of the company. By 1909, the company had moved to a larger facility to handle increasing orders.{{Cite book |title= Book of Industrial Rochester |publisher=Rochester Chamber of Commerce |year=1919 |location=Rochester, NY |pages=89 |url=http://www.libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/Book_of_Industrial_Rochester.pdf}}

Shinola polish was noted for its distinct dark green tin with red and gold lettering. The tin came with a patented key "for the convenient lifting of the lid". Shinola was produced in several colors: black, white, oxblood, red, tan, and brown. Several Shinola-branded shoe shining accessories were sold as well, such as shoehorns and the Shinola Home Set which included a polisher, bristle dauber, and the polish itself.Commercial America staff (July 1912), "Shinola Polish and Polishers". Commercial America. 9 (1):33

Known by 1917 as simply The Shinola Company, the firm saw success expand globally, selling especially well in Europe, during the rise of World War I as many young men entered the military and were expected to be well-dressed during training. The company used a series of slogans to promote the product. For example, “Makes old shoes look like new. Keeps new shoes from looking old.” It became the largest manufacturer of the product in the world circa 1917, being carried into war by doughboys. After Wetmore's death in 1923, the company was sold and became part of the "2 in 1-Shinola-Bixby Corp.", beginning a series of acquisitions related to the brand.{{cite web|url=http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=71292186&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch|title=Trademark Status & Document Retrieval|work=uspto.gov}} In the 1940s, the polish became a product of Best Foods and was renamed to Shinola (losing the apostrophe). Corn Products Company of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey later merged with Best Foods, and sold tins of the product as "New Shinola Wax", featuring a revised formula, as well as selling in a liquid form. In a 1945 ad that ran in Popular Mechanics magazine, Shinola marketed itself as a wax that could also be used as a polish for scratches in furniture, a polish for linoleum, and a finish for toy models (e.g. airplanes).Popular Mechanics ad, 1945, p. 248 By the 1950s, it was sold as "Shinola Leather and Saddle Soap" by RIT Products, a division of Best Foods. In 1960, the company went out of business and the brand ceased to be produced.{{cite news |url=http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-shinola-went-shoe-polish-coolest-brand-america-165459 |title=How Shinola Went From Shoe Polish to the Coolest Brand in America |first=Robert |last=Klara |work=AdWeek |date=June 22, 2015}}

In 2011, venture capitalist Tom Kartsotis bought the rights to the brand name, and created a new retail company. The company was founded in 2012, and produces watches and leather goods.{{cite web |url=http://www.zoesmfgco.com/our-story.html |title=Our Story |publisher=C.A. Zoes Manufacturing |access-date=December 19, 2016 |archive-date=December 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205075227/http://www.zoesmfgco.com/our-story.html |url-status=dead }}

Cultural impact

Shinola was immortalized in colloquial English by the phrase "You don't know shit from Shinola", which during World War II became widely popular and a barracks staple.{{cite web|first1=Gary |last1=Martin|url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/114000.html|title=Doesn't know shit from Shinola|work=Phrase Finder |year=2015 |quote=This phrase is typical of the barrack room vulgarity of WWII, which is where it originated. Other "doesn't know" phrases, also mostly from the military are, "doesn't know his arse from a hole in the ground" (or elbow, or a hot rock, or third base), "doesn't know enough to pee downwind", "doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his ass". The tone is lifted a little by the English conductor Sir Henry Wood who expressed a similar opinion with "he doesn't know his brass from his woodwind".|access-date=January 29, 2015}} Some have even theorized that the popular expression was a long term detriment to the brand's identity. Nevertheless, the company did try to find other evocative promotional phrases, e.g., "Your shoes are showing", which they used in advertisements.{{cite web |url=https://clickamericana.com/topics/culture-and-lifestyle/what-is-shinola-as-mentioned-in-a-certain-old-saying |work=Click Americana |title=What is shinola, as mentioned in a certain old saying? 1940S, 1950S, 1960S, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE, VINTAGE ADVERTISEMENTS |date=5 February 2020 |accessdate=May 28, 2021}}

In the 1979 film comedy The Jerk, the character Navin R. Johnson (played by Steve Martin) is tested by "Daddy" (Richard Ward) on whether he knows the difference between shit and Shinola before leaving home.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTHL0y6xvLE |title=Shit from Shinola: The Jerk |via=YouTube |format=Video |access-date=December 18, 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p22w3iZwA0o |title=Shit from Shinola in the Movies

|author=Phunky Phil |via=YouTube |format=Video |access-date=December 18, 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/jerksc.html |title=Script, The Jerk |access-date=December 18, 2016}}

The phrase was used to a similar effect in Cleopatra Jones.
The 1992 movie Basic Instinct features Gus telling Dr. Lamott, "Most times I can't tell shit from Shinola, Doc. What was all that you just said?"{{cite web|url=http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Basic-Instinct.html|title=Basic Instinct|work=imsdb.com}}{{cite web |url=https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Basic_Instinct |title=Basic Instinct |publisher=Wikiquote |access-date=December 18, 2016}}
Dolly Parton wrote the song "Shinola" {{ndash}} which also uses a lyric that plays on the colloquial phrase {{ndash}} for her 2008 Backwoods Barbie album.{{cite web |first1=Dolly |last1=Parton |title=Dolly Parton - Shinola (Official Music Video) |date=September 2, 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPek06dszPM |format=Video |via=YouTube |access-date=December 18, 2016}}
Ween released a 2005 B-side and unreleased odds and ends compilation album{{snd}} titled, Shinola, Vol. 1 on Chocodog Records{{snd}} which plays on the colloquial phrase.{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8610-shinola-vol-1/ |title=ROCK EXPERIMENTAL: Ween: Shinola, Vol. 1 CHOCODOG • 2005 7.6 |publisher=Pitchfork.com |first1=Adam |last1=Moerder |date=September 21, 2005 |quote=Dean and Gene issue an odds-and-sods collection of previously unreleased archival material |access-date=December 18, 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.stereogum.com/1199782/ween-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/attachment/shinola/ |title=COUNTING DOWN: Ween Albums From Worst To Best |first1=Hank |last1=Shteamer |date=November 14, 2012 |access-date=December 18, 2016}}
The phrase has been grist for the mill for various musicians and artists. See Shinola (Energy Orchard album), an album by early 1990s Irish band Energy Orchard; Shinola (John Scofield album), a live album recorded in 1981 by jazz musician John Scofield;{{cite web |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=35503 |title=John Scofield: Shinola |first=Tom |last=Greenland |date=March 2, 2010 |work=allaboutjazz.com |access-date=August 27, 2013}} Shinola, an indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina that existed from 1994–1997;{{Cite web|date=December 18, 2008|title=Shinola|url=http://www.backporchrevolution.com/shinola/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528200713/https://thebrendans.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/what-happens-when-brands-let-go-of-the-reigns-in-pursuit-of-profit/|archive-date=May 28, 2021|access-date=2021-05-28|website=www.backporchrevolution.com}}{{Self-published inline|date=May 2021|certain=yes}} and Shynola, a group of visual artists from the UK that had exhibitions titled "Shinola".[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A1159139 Rutledge, James: BBC, "Filmmakers Shynola get animated with Collective.", August 29, 2003], Accessed online, May 27, 2015 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219110353/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A1159139 |date=December 19, 2005 }}
Comedian George Carlin used the phrase in his famously banned shtick, "Filthy Words", a/k/a "Seven dirty words", which became immortalized in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, a First Amendment constitutional decision by the Supreme Court of the United States.{{cite web |url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/filthywords.html |title=George Carlin, Filthy Words |website=Exploring Constitutional Conflicts |quote=The following is a verbatim transcript of "Filthy Words" (the George Carlin monologue at issue in the Supreme Court case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation) prepared by the Federal Communications Commission... |access-date=December 18, 2016}}
Rapper MF DOOM referenced the phrase in the lyrics written for "Figaro" on the 2004 collaborative album Madvillainy.{{cite web |url=https://genius.com/Madvillain-figaro-lyrics |title=Madvillain - All Caps lyrics |website=Genius.com |quote="Take it from the TEC-9 holder/They bit but don't know their neck shine from Shinola" |access-date=October 13, 2019}}
Television show The Golden Girls Season 7 Episode 2: Rose: ”You know, back in Minnesota, I was known as the Sherlock Holmes of St. Olaf.” Dorothy: ”Figured out which one was Shinola, did you, Rose?” Rose: ”The hard way.”{{cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31896/11-golden-girls-references-explained-younger-viewers |title=POP CULTURE: 11 Golden Girls References Explained for Younger Viewers |first1=Kara |last1=Kovanchik |publisher=Minute Media|date=January 4, 2017 |quote=Perhaps that’s why the [Shinola] brand eventually went out of business; the Shinola folks couldn’t come up with an advertising slogan that was more memorable than the insult. |work=Mental Floss|accessdate=May 26, 2021}}
In The Pope of Greenwich Village, "Paulie, the truth is this horse don’t know shit from Shinola. None of them do."{{cite book |first1=Vincent |last1=Patrick |origyear=1979 |title=The Pope of Greenwich Village |page=179 |isbn=978-0-9903923-0-9 |date=July 15, 2014 |type=Paperback |publisher=Vincent Patrick |language=English}}
In Raising Arizona (1987) it surfaced as "Aw, he don't know a cuss word from Shinola."
In the fourth part of the Thomas Pynchon novel Gravity's Rainbow, the character "Pig" Bodine provides a lengthy explanation of the phrase "to know shit from Shinola" for a German character named Säure Bummer. Pynchon, Thomas. Gravity's Rainbow (1995) [1973]. London: Penguin Books. pp. 687-688. ISBN 978-0-1401885-9-2