Figure 1.--This photograph is of a shoeshine boy (boot black) in England. I am not poitive when it was taken.
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Figure 1.--This photograph is of a shoeshine boy (boot black) in England. I am not poitive when it was taken. |
We believe that this activity began much later than some of the other child labor activities. I could be wrong about this, but it stikes me that boys began to more commonly become shoe shine boys or boot blacks as child labor laws began to close off industrial jobs for children. Also urbanization is a factor. Until streets were paved and sidewalks built it seems rather pointless to have your shoes shined on the street. Interestingly signing shoes was only seen approprite for boys. I'm noit sure why this was, there were girls working on the street (match and flower girls). Perhap it was because it was men's shoes they were shining. This would appear to have been an activity for children that developed throughout Europe. In America shoe shine boys featured prominently in the Horatio Alger books. The book black Dick was Cedric Erol (Little Lord Fauntleroy's best friend.
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