There has been a shoe repair shop at 74 E. 7th St. for many years. Most recently, it was David's. Before that, it was A. Brym's. And for all those decades, a Cat's Paw advertisement stayed stuck to the entryway window.
Now it's gone.
before
"Thin heels by CAT'S PAW," the circular sign read. "For those who want the best!" In the center of the circle, a smiling blonde cuddled a pair of kittens.
In this following photo from the 1960s, we see that Brym's had two copies of the ad--one decal on the front window and the other in the entryway.
Edmund V. Gillon, Jr.
You can catch a glimpse of them again in this next shot from 1980. That's likely the year that David's moved into Brym's. The front-most Cat's Paw girl probably vanished when David painted the window with his name, but the second sticker stayed.
And stayed.
I liked seeing her when I brought my shoes in for repair.
photo: Michael Sean Edwards, 1980
David's Shoe Store closed in 2013 when the landlord hiked the rent too high. It sat empty until recently. Workers are now building out something that looks like it will serve food. Maybe Japanese. Anyway, not shoes.
As expected, they have scraped away the Cat's Paw girl and her kittens, the last remnant of what was.
To me, the disturbing thing is that so few people actually bother to repair their shoes nowadays. It's a vanishing practice. I don't know anyone younger than I am (and I am not young) who bothers with it.
ReplyDeleteToday, when you buy a cell phone, it comes with a battery you can't replace when it dies - just get a new phone. People think the same way about the soles of their shoes.
Women of my mother's generation would routinely have their high heels tipped with rubber. Noisy walking was considered very rude. Not so now-a-days where the girls are in flip flops in the summer, Ugg boots in the winter and when dressed up hammering stilettos.
ReplyDeleteWow, here are two articles about the Cat's Paw brand (which unfortunately seems to have gone the way of the girl on the glass).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brandlandusa.com/2010/01/01/what-happened-to-cats-paw-heels/
https://www.heddels.com/2015/12/brief-history-of-cats-paw-heels/
I do recall seeing shoe soles with the white dots, so presumably I have seen these. I am tempted to buy a pair but I don't think I'd know how to pick the right size for my shoes.