Saving shoes for a century Marshall Edition

• Published in: The South Bend tribune
• Main Author: Patrick, Cheryl
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: South Bend, Ind South Bend Tribune Corporation 26.12.2007
• Subjects: Edgell, Robert

Robert Edgell remembers pretending to be a shoemaker. "My dad had a jack and stand," he recalled. "This is what you'd put the shoes on to repair them. "My dad would bring that home with tacks, and old shoes and he'd let me play shoemaker." So, it's with special pride that he's in charge at Edgell's Shoe Shop now. "The family has been in business for 100 years in Knox," he said. "My grandfather established the business. He had a shop in Chicago before he moved here. I learned the trade from my father, who learned it from his -- and on back through the generations." As a child, Edgell did odd jobs around his family's shop. "I used to come to the shoe shop as a young boy. I cleaned the shop. Then I got to be a shoeshine boy -- and eventually learned the business." Shoe repair was once a very lucrative and busy occupation. "Shoe repairmen were especially in demand during the Second World War," Edgell said. "My dad had shelves of boxes in back, and people would sometimes wait two to three weeks." Edgell's father did a lot of work on safety shoes for employees at the munitions plant in Kingsbury. He also got a boost from the leather shortages during the war. "People had to have rationing stamps because the best of the leather and the largest quantities went to the armed forces -- so shoe repair was vital then," he said. When the war ended, Edgell's father found other resources to continue his craft. "After the war, my dad was able to purchase used combat boots.