Archive for the ‘Shoe Repair’ Category
The Return of the Cobbler
The traditional cobbler had an integral role in his town or village a hundred or two hundred or even five hundred years ago. Shoes were an important investment without which people could not work or support themselves. People took care of their shoes, treated them with respect, and took them to the cobbler when they needed repair. Most people only owned one or two pairs of shoes and buying new ones on a whim was out of the question so they had to have the ones they owned repaired.
The most common shoe repair a cobbler was called on to do is to re-sole the shoes. Shoes soles were meant to be worn through over time and replaced, much like tires on a car today. With a new sole, shoes were given a whole new lease on life, and were able to be worn for a much longer period of time.
But traditional cobblers knew how to do far more than replace soles. They could fix tears in shoes, buff out scratches and scrapes, create an entirely new upper from a template using the old, replace broken heels, and a myriad of other repairs that kept shoes looking their best and lasting longer.
It all started to change in the 1950’s as factories started gearing up for domestic production after the war, especially in the United States and Britain. Shoes started to be mass-produced and marketed as a fashion accessory rather than as a clothing staple. Once production began moving off-shore into lower-cost production facilities in Taiwan and China, it became the norm to have dozens of pairs of shoes.
One would think that this new love of shoes would cement the need for cobblers into modern society but that did not occur. Shoes became so cheap to purchase that most people no longer saw the need to have them repaired at all. They would just throw them out and buy a new pair, likely in this season’s new colors and styles. Cobbler shops closed and, what was once a proud tradition whose skills were passed from generation to generation, began to fade into oblivion.
The modern shoe repair shop still exists, of course. The services most often offered are shoe shines and quick heel repairs. Ironically, the expensive shoes that are most often kept long enough to be in need of repair aren’t handled by most of these shopping mall kiosks. The skills and machinery required to perform proper repairs on well-made shoes have disappeared with time.
Five years ago, it would have been a safe bet to say that the traditional cobbler has disappeared altogether. However, the pendulum is beginning to swing back the other way. The shaky economic climate being experienced in North America and the rest of the world has shifted many people’s sense of values. Good quality shoes and clothes are once again being considered a worthwhile investment that saves money in the long run. And that brings back the need for the cobbler. Skilled shoe repair craftsmen are once again restoring shoes to their original condition and are making shoe owners’ investments pay off.