It was just about a year ago (February 27th to be exact) I visited and got my boots shined at George’s Shoeshine and Hatters World Headquarters. I haven’t shined my shoes since and after trudging through all this snow and ice this winter, they’re a bit of a mess. Check them out:

Let’s go revisit George and see if he can salvage these boots.

It’s close to 50 degrees out today and all that rotten snow is melting faster than that scary Wicked Witch of the West after getting doused with water by Dorothy.

Uh, oh, what’s that up ahead?

Jock the drugs, it’s the cops!

Okay, we safely got away from the coppers and here we are at George’s Shoeshine and Hatters World Headquarters.

I see a familiar face down at the end of the room...

George! It was good to see him and he remembered the post we did last year, which was cool.

I asked if this picture is his parents and it turns out it is.

Here’s George with his parents.

Wow, sometimes captions fail me and this is one of those times.

Okay, time to step up to the chair and see if George can bring these boots back to life.

He’s got his work cut out for him, but i have faith!

Here he is getting ready to get to work, the action is just about to begin!

And we’re off and running.

There’s not a a shortage of things to look at in here, this is the view from my seat...

But I’d rather watch the master in action!

Part of the procedure here includes George using his own hands in the process, this is an old school shoeshine for sure!

Different tools come into play at different times and George moves quickly, blink and you’ll miss part of the action.

Another customer has just arrived: Tom Hoehne, who’s an attorney here in Peoria. It turns out that Tom knew my uncle Bill, who was also an attorney and he knows my cousin, Bill. I hate to do this to all of you, but it’s time to cue up, “It’s a Small World After All." Sorry!

George immediately goes into action starting in on Tom, but don’t worry...

He hasn’t forgotten about me. George can work on multiple clients all at once, it can make you dizzy if you watch too closely!

They’re looking good so far, great work, by a master craftsman!

And it’s back to Tom for a little polish on his shoes, and then...

Back to me for what appears to be the final buff.

Okay, we’re just about there...

Wow, shining like a pair of new dimes! Great work by George, as always!

And without missing a beat, George is back working on Tom’s shoes.

Here’s a longshot of George in action.

This cracks me up, because underneath an article entitled, “Talking Trash,” is a photo of my old pal John Williams. I last saw John when I was doing the 365 bar crawl and he had me on his show on WGN in Chicago. Check out this post for pictures from that day.

I didn’t get a shot of George’s vintage cash register last time, but I got it this today!

Here’s George showing a photo of himself at the White House, how cool is that?

And a parting shot of the master’s hands. Thanks to George for a great shoe shine and a nice visit. George told me that things have been really slow due to the weather. If you need a shoeshine and who doesn’t this time of year, why don’t you stop in and see George and get the shoeshine of your life? We’ll see you all tomorrow!

George’s Shoeshine and Hatters World Headquarters
101 NE Adams St.
Peoria
309-676-0624

The floppy boot stomped down into the ground,
The farmer screamed and blew the sky off the mountains,
Eye sockets looked down on the chestbone mountains.

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