Creator |
Levis, Seth Pancoast, photographer. |
Title |
[Automatic Electric Shoe Shining Company of Philadelphia] [graphic]. |
Publisher |
Philadelphia |
Date |
1900 |
Physical Description |
2 negatives : glass ; negative 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 in.) |
Description |
Shows men getting their shoes shined at the Automatic Electric Shoe Shining Company of Philadelphia at the 1300 block of Market
Street, Philadelphia. The shoe shining booths line the perimeter. Men, attired in boater hats and suits, stand with one foot
on the ground and one foot in the electric shoe shiner. In the right, a man, attired in a suit and tie, sits at the ticket
booth under a sign, “Get your tickets here. 8 shines for 25c. One ticket good for both shoes.” Standing in the center is African
American man, attired in a uniform and cap, holding a rag.
|
Notes |
Title supplied by cataloger. |
|
Gift of Matthew Schultz, 1998. |
|
Description revised 2022. |
|
Access points revised 2022. |
|
One of the images [P.9645.203] reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's
Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 59.
|
|
Arcadia caption text: At the turn of the century the Automatic Electric Shoe Shining Company of Philadelphia opened its first
parlor on the north side of the 1300 block of Market Street. For a nickel, customers could enjoy the latest technological
wonder, a machine designed to shine either black or tan shoes. The African American attendant standing in the center of this
c. 1900 photograph holding a rag probably buffed the customers’ shoes. According to the large advertisement above the door,
the company planned to open 15 parlors in Philadelphia.
|
|
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the
Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
|
Subject |
Automatic Electric Shoe Shining Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) |
|
African American men -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Shoe shiners -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Shoe shining -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
African American shoe shiners. |
Geographic subject |
Market Street (Philadelphia, Pa.) -- 1300 block -- North side. |
Genre |
Glass negatives -- 1890-1900. |
Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| glass negatives - Levis [P.9645.203 & 584] |
Accession number |
P.9645.203 |
|
P.9645.584 |