![[dan-truett-mcwhorter.jpg]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_473nrD5vEv8/S5hAR2x0JVI/AAAAAAAACVo/caHZJMX-j9o/s400/dan-truett-mcwhorter.jpg)
I learn that Shoeshine Boys used to be called "Bootblacks". This picture shows just such a boy on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 9th street in New York City. I like the clothes and hats the people are wearing. I think style and fashion pretty much hit its peak in the 1910 era.Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Chattanoogie shoe shine boy was first sung and made popular by Red Foley when it came out in the 50's
ReplyDeleteR
This song was almost a ballad, it has been on my mind all day. There was also a line that went somethng like 'jiggley jaggley, mop mop mop' or something like that. When I was a child, I remember going in a hotel lobby where is was cool and smelling like shoe polish. There were several chairs up on stands where the shoe shine boys did their popping and snapping. Thank you for this weeks pictures.
ReplyDeleteHere in NYC, there are still quite a few portable shoe shine stands on the street. I haven't seen any young lads attending them, just adults. Must have something to do with those pesky child labor laws.
ReplyDeleteHey, isn't that Zeppo Marx with his back to us?
ReplyDeleteI have seen shoeshine stands in every airport I've passed through, but they are never manned. Must be the hours I travel.
ReplyDeleteSorry PJM, I've really enjoyed your blog but the biased and unfair slant of your polls lately has proved to be quite offensive.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who doesn't hail from the US, it makes me a little embarrassed to subscribe to what is an otherwise entertaining, lively, and intelligent blog.
Best of Luck.
"Bootblack" is now a techy term.
ReplyDeleteIt is the black screen you get when your computer will not boot up.
Oh, my, Peter.
ReplyDeleteThe US government's current spending level is so way out of control by anyone's standards!
It is unprecedented in all of history, totally unsustainable, and actually unpayable.
PJM's polls have been biased only to government politicians who live to be re-elected, and unfair only to those who live outside of reality, or perhaps outside of the US.
At work we have a Hurt Feelings form; I'll be happy to send you one if you want it to fill out.
Hats from the 40's were the best, much better than the straw hats of previous decades. Unfortunately, President Kennedy killed hats when he took the oath of office without one, the first president to do so.
ReplyDeleteI live about five blocks from where this photo was taken and I can tell you that it looks very different today. One huge difference is that the Third Avenue EL that you see in the background is gone. So is that cool looking clock.
ReplyDeletePeter sucks!
ReplyDeleteI don't hail from the US either, but honestly anyone who puts their complete faith in any government (no matter what politics, administration, era, etc) is being foolishly naive.
ReplyDelete