PLAN No. 1056. SHOE REPAIRING
In shoe repairing to-day we find all stages of development, from the purely hand methods to the factory methods. The shops that use the old hand methods are usually small and the owner is generally the only worker, although a few shops have two or three workmen. The shops that use machinery extensively are larger and frequently employ a number of workmen. Between the two extremes are shops of varying equipment and size. This variation of conditions makes it possible for a disabled man to fit into this business by taking a training and choosing the machines and methods adapted to his disabilities. Some man in a shop that uses machines must have considerable mechanical ability. In the shop that utilizes hand methods, some one must know much of hand shoemaking—in fact, be able to perform all the processes. In either shop there is opportunity for profit for the man who can make, either by hand or machine or by the two methods combined, an entire shoe for those persons whose feet are deformed or crippled, so that they can not wear factory-made shoes.
Machinery, Tools and Equipment
The outlay for a shop in any case is not large. The machines are leased as a rule. The number of tools needed for a workman in either the shop that uses hand methods or the shop that utilizes machinery is not large. The principal tools found in any type of shop are hammers, knives, chisels, lasts, pincers, awls, and needles. No great quantity of supplies need be kept on hand. Practically all shops have machines for sewing uppers. Many have the machinery for sewing on soles. These are probably the most frequently used machines. Practically all of the machine repairing is sewing rips and placing on new outsoles. Heels are largely rebuilt by hand, or replaced by new rubber heels put on by hand.
Repairing Shoes a Paying Business
In shoe repairing, there are slack and busy seasons. Slack seasons come in fair weather and busy seasons in bad weather. If certain work can be allowed to accumulate in the busy seasons, the work may be distributed throughout the year, since there are rarely long intervals of unbroken fair weather. The busy shoe repairer has a remunerative business. If he is able to do a high class of work, he can charge accordingly, and can take other work as a sort of “filler” for slack times.
A Desirable Occupation for a Disabled Man
As a rule, the repair shop offers the disabled man better working conditions than the factory. There is not the monotony of the single process. He can adapt his speed of work better to his physical condition, one day with another, in the repair shop than in the factory where he must not delay or check the regular progress of the shoes through the different processes. The disabled man can usually work at several things in the repair shop. For instance, the one-armed man could nail on heels or soles by hand or sew rips in uppers. By means of certain appliances, the man who has lost a hand could do practically any process in the shop. The man who had lost both legs could work on hand work at a shoemaker’s bench. He could nail on rubber heels, or build up run-down heels, make hand patches, and do similar work.