New York City. May, 2014. by Paul Goldfinger
There was a shoe repair shop in Rutherford, NJ. It smelled of leather and had all sorts of neat machinery for gluing, nailing, cutting and shining. The shoe repairman was Italian. He had an accent. But what really caught my attention was the music—he always had Italian opera playing on his radio. It was the only place where I ever heard opera, except for operettas, like those of Sigmund Romberg (eg the Student Prince) which my Mom played at home, and it taught me that you don’t need to be a sophisticate to like opera.
Those were the days when you could keep a pair of shoes going when they broke down. That was not a disposable world. My friend Frank’s father had a business in Clifton supplying materials to shoe repair shops. It was an all Italian business, like pizza parlors.
Of course now, you throw out a pair of sneakers even if the uppers are still OK, because the interior tends to break down. Tennis players sometimes get new tennis shoes every few weeks. And pizzas and bagels are made by everybody.
I had a part time job in high school working at Werner’s clothing store on Park Avenue in Rutherford. My job was to sell and stock shoes. The best ones were “ox blood” cordovans made by Florsheim. They sold for $25.00 a pair and were the most expensive shoe in the store. I always enjoyed selling a pair of those. They had to have a flawless shine at all times.
MARIO LANZA sings “Golden Days” from Sigmund Romberg’s “The Student Prince.”
“And pizzas and bagels are made by everybody.”
That says a lot!
There are still plenty of cobblers around, Avon, Belmar locally, also Red Bank, Freehold Mall, Freehold Boro, 4 in Eatontown. A Google search returns a dozen results in our area. I’ve used the guy in freehold mall and he was able to put new, correct, Goodyear soles on my grandfather’s WWII era Army boots, they look fantastic
My Italian grandfather owned and operated a shoe repair shop in NY. As a child I loved to visit it. It was off Madison Ave. All the well to do ladies would leave their shoes for repair.Some would never pick them up. He would give them to my mother. I can still remember her sporting those red alligator heels when she got dressed up…She looked quite spiffy in Washington Heights !
I guess I’m really old because I remember when there were 3 shoe repair shops in Red Bank alone. One on the far West side, one in the Italian neighborhood by St. “Ant-ny” church and one downtown. Always got new 1/2 soles and new heels on the good ‘Sunday go to meeting’ shoes as a kid. Wore them until outgrown or they literally fell apart.
Also check out New Life shoe repair on Lincoln Ave , Avon. A real craftsman.
For a great profile of an old-time Brooklyn shoe repair establishment, take a look at this movie..