Shoeshiner

File:Boulevard du Temple by Daguerre.jpg, shows a person getting a shoeshine.]]

Very large households in Victorian England sometimes included a young male servant called the Boot Boy, specializing in the care of footwear. Hotel staff for this function were commonly called The Boots. (A Boots was one of the crew in The Hunting of the Snark.) Branded shoe polish appeared early in the 19th century: Charles Dickens was employed at age 12 in Warren's Blacking Factory in London in 1824.Christopher Hibbert, The Making of Charles Dickens (1962), chap. 2. Since the late 19th century shoeshine boys plied their trade on the streets, and were common in British cities.

The earliest known daguerreotype (photograph) of a human, View of the Boulevard du Temple, features a man having his shoes shined in the lower corner of the print.{{cite web |last=Easby |first=Rebecca Jeffrey |title=Daguerre's Paris Boulevard |url=http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/daguerres-parisian-boulevard.html |access-date=8 January 2014 |archive-date=15 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215025820/http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/daguerres-parisian-boulevard.html |url-status=dead }} Though the image shows Paris' busy Boulevard du Temple, the long exposure time (several minutes) meant that moving traffic cannot be seen; however, the two men at lower left (one apparently having his boots polished by the other) remained still long enough to be distinctly visible. Shoe shine posts were common in public places like railway stations throughout the 20th century, as featured in Fred Astaire's dance number A Shine on Your Shoes.The Band Wagon (1953) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbb4kEk3NbQ

File:Shoeshiner - working - shimbashi - japan - march 30 2016.webm, 2016]]

File:John Thomson - The Independent Shoe-Black (AIC 2012.234.19) - cropped.jpg, 1877.]]

File:Shining Shoes - Plaza Hidalgo - Tepotzotlan - Mexico.jpg, Mexico.]]

File:Shoeshiner_in_Porto.jpg, Portugal]]

File:ShoeshinerSilivri.jpg, Turkey]]

File:Cuba_Havana_Shoeshine_at_work.jpg, Cuba, 2014]]

The profession is common in many countries around the world, with the revenue earned by the shoeshiner being a significant proportion of a family income, particularly when the father of the family has died or can no longer work.HASCO. "[http://www.help-afghan-school-children.org/neue%20seite%2030.htm Poverty forces Afghan children to quit school to work] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510150449/http://www.help-afghan-school-children.org/neue%20seite%2030.htm |date=2008-05-10 }}". Accessed 20 August 2007. In Afghanistan some children will work after school and can earn 100 Afghanis (around £1) each day.BBC News. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/south_asia_kabul0s_street_children/html/3.stm Photo journal: Kabul's street children]". Accessed 20 August 2007. Many street children use shoeshining as their only means of income.

Some cities require shoeshiners to acquire licences in order to work legally. In August 2007 shoeshiners in Mumbai, India were told that they could no longer work on the railway stations due to "financial irregularities". Every Shoeshine Association was asked to reapply for their license, with many worried that they would lose out to a rival.Yahoo! News India. 6 August 2007. "[http://in.news.yahoo.com/070806/211/6j3ba.html Mumbai plans to 'polish' off its shoeshine boys]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}". Accessed 20 August 2007.

In addition to street shoe shiners, in some countries, among others Japan, the US and Singapore, there are artisanal shoeshines who specialize in the care of bespoke luxury shoes. These are usually found at high-priced men's outfitters or operate as independent businesses.{{Cite web |last=Salim |first=Zafirah |date=2020-09-21 |title=This S'pore Millennial Ditched A Degree To Be A 'Cobbler' - A Shoe Shine Costs Up To S$120 |url=https://vulcanpost.com/714096/mason-and-smith-singapore-first-shoe-shine-repair-bar/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Vulcan Post |language=en-US}}

Since 2017, annual World Championships in Shoe Shining are hosted in London. During the contest, the candidates are tasked with shining one shoe to the best of their ability within 20 minutes. The best mirror shine is awarded by a jury of experts.{{Cite web |last=FitzPatrick |first=Justin |date=2020-02-18 |title=World Championships in Shoe Patina and Shoe Shining 2020 - Qualifications Now Open |url=https://theshoesnobblog.com/world-championships-in-shoe-patina-and-shoe-shining-2020-qualifications-now-open/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=The Shoe Snob |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2018-04-27 |title=26-year-old shining example of Singapore craftsmanship |url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/26-year-old-shining-example-singapore-craftsmanship |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=The Business Times |language=en}}

Several high-profile figures worked as shoeshiners at one point in their lives:

• Mahmoud Ahmed – Ethiopian singerCartwright, Garth. BBC News. 2007. "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2007/2007_mahmoud_ahmed.shtml Mahmoud Ahmed]". Accessed 20 August 2007.
• James Brown – "The Godfather of Soul". He used to shine shoes and sing and dance on 9th Street in Augusta, Georgia; in 1993 the road was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" in his honour.Rogers, Richard. WRDW. 25 December 2006. "[http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/5006836.html James Brown: Legend, believer, Augusta son] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021500/http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/5006836.html |date=2007-09-27 }}". Accessed 24 August 2007.Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau. "[http://www.augustaga.org/listings/index.cfm?action=displayListing&listingID=5&catID=2&subCatID=0&locID=0&showtab=1 James Brown Boulevard] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928212531/http://www.augustaga.org/listings/index.cfm?action=displayListing&listingID=5&catID=2&subCatID=0&locID=0&showtab=1 |date=2007-09-28 }}". Accessed 24 August 2007.
• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – three-time President of BrazilSmith, Rodney. BBC News. 13 January 2003. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2654119.stm Brazil braces for testing times]". Accessed 20 August 2007.
• Alejandro Toledo – later President of PeruBBC News. 8 April 2001. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/708450.stm Toledo: Shoeshine boy turned economist]". Accessed 20 August 2007.
• Malcolm X – worked as a shoeshine boy at a Lindy Hop nightclub in New York CityCooper, Kenneth J. The Boston-Bay State Banner. 16 February 2006. "[http://bostonbanner.com/archives/stories/2006 February 021606-03.htm Malcolm: The Boston years]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}". Accessed 24 August 2007.SparkNotes. "[http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/malcolmx/section2.rhtml SparkNotes: The Autobiography of Malcolm X]". Accessed 24 August 2007.
• Rod Blagojevich – later Governor of IllinoisCopley News Service. Three Democrats battle for party's nomination for governor. March 9, 2002.
• Sammy Sosa – Former Dominican baseball player predominately for the Chicago CubsCongressional Record, V. 144, Pt. 14, September 9 to September 21, 1998
• Čika Mišo – last Bosnian shoeshiner[https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2014&mm=01&dd=06&nav_category=167&nav_id=797153 Preminuo čika Mišo,legenda Sarajeva]
• Willie Brown – San Francisco Mayor and Speaker of the California Assembly
• Olivier Guimond Sr. – Canadian burlesque comic, was discovered as a shoeshine boy at the Ottawa train station{{Cite book|last=Petrie|first=Juliette|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6144424|title=Quand on revoit tout ça! : [Le burlesque au Québec, 1914-1960]|date=1977|publisher=[Productions Vieux rêves]|others=Jean Leclerc|isbn=0-88604-006-X|location=[Montréal]|language=fr|oclc=6144424}}

Shoeshiners have featured in:

• Shoe Shine Boy, a 1943 film musical
• Shoeshine, a 1946 Italian film which received honours at the 1948 Academy Awards
• Boot Polish, a 1954 Hindi film
• El Bolero de Raquel, 1956 Mexican film starring Cantinflas
• Prince of Space, a 1959 science-fiction film
• Underdog, a 1964 animated television series in which an anthropomorphic dog, Shoeshine Boy, battles crime as the titular canine superhero.
• The Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim, a 1975 Canadian children's TV series
• Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster film, features a scene in which hair trigger-tempered Lucchese crime family wiseguy, Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), brutally beats Gambino crime family mobster, Billy Batts (Frank Vincent), for insulting him about being a shoeshine boy in Tommy's younger days. The film is based on the real-life experiences of Henry Hill and the people he met through the Vario brothers, who owned a shoeshine stand and other businesses. In real life, William "Billy Batts" Bentvena taunted Thomas "Two Gun Tommy" DeSimone, calling him "spit-shine Tommy". DeSimone retorted by yelling, "Shine these fuckin' shoes", and then executing Batts.{{cite web|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/heist/12.html|work=TruTV.com TruCrimeLibrary|title=The Lufthansa Heist Revisited: The End of Tommy DeSimone|author=Allan May|access-date=12 December 2010}}
• Parks and Recreation, a 2009 American TV show, in which Andy Dwyer, one of the main characters gets a job in Pawnee City Hall shining shoes.
• Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, 2011.
• Coco, a 2017 film, in which the character of Miguel worked as a shoeshiner before going into shoemaking.
• Police Squad!, the spoof police procedural starring Leslie Nielsen featured a shoe shiner called Johnny, played by William Duell. As well as shining shoes and giving inside info on the latest case to main character Frank Drebin, Johnny appeared to have a vast knowledge of just about any subject his customers would ask him about, from fire safety to medical procedures, for a small tip.

File:W J Hammond as Sam Weller 1837.jpg as Sam Weller blacking boots (1837)]]

• Sam Weller, fictional Cockney bootblack in The Pickwick Papers (1836) by Charles Dickens.
• Ragged Dick, an 1867 dime novel by Horatio Alger Jr. about a poor but honest shoeshiner and his rise to middle-class comfort and respectability through good moral behavior, clean living, and determination. Shine!, a musical based on Alger's work, particularly Ragged Dick, was produced in 1982.
• Rajbahadur Bakhia the arch-villain in novels of Surender Mohan Pathak, was originally a shoeshiner at flora fountain area of Mumbai, and had his introduction with underworld over a payment dispute with a small-time gangster who refused to pay him.
• Scrooge McDuck, the Dell Comics character, famously won his Number One Dime shining shoes.

• The opening lines of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (1941) are dialogue between a passenger and a shoeshine boy.
• "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" (1949), a song performed by Red Foley, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra amongst others.
• In "Get Rhythm" (1956), written and performed by Johnny Cash, the song's narrator asks a "little shoeshine boy" who has "the dirtiest job in town" how he keeps from getting the blues. The shoeshine boy "grinned as he raised his little head / He popped a shoeshine rag, and then he said / Get rhythm..."
• "Shoeshine Man" (1970), a song by Tom T. Hall.

• Shoe shiners in Hong Kong
• Working Boy Center, aid and development for shoeshine and street worker children
• Bull polishing
• Bootblacking (BDSM)

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• Luard, Tim. BBC News. 16 September 2004. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3661828.stm China diary: Shanghai shoeshine]".
• BBC News. 28 September 2004. "[https://archive.today/20130114015939/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/16/a3062116.shtml Belfast Shoe Shine Boy]".

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Category:Personal care and service occupations

Category:Shoes