History
George Melancthon Wetmore (August 31, 1858 June 10, 1923) was born in Gates, New York and, after attending military school, got a degree at the Rochester Business Institute. At age 18, he went to work for the American Chemical Manufacturing and Mining Company, which was founded in Rochester, New York (near Brown's Race Historic District, Brown's Race) in 1877. The company was primarily focused on carpet cleaning, but sold several specialty products, including boot and shoe polish. Wetmore found that the polish was cheaply made, did not hold or bond well, and 95% of it was dyed black using lamp black. Wetmore designed a replacement and initially called it SHINOL′A. In 1886, Wetmore was promoted to vice president, and a few years later, to president of the company. By 1909, the company had moved to a larger facility to handle increasing orders. Shinola polish was noted for its distinct dark green tin with red and gold lettering. The tin came with a patented key "for the convenient lifting of the lid". Shinola was produced in several colors: black, white, oxblood, red, tan, and brown. Several Shinola-branded shoe shining accessories were sold as well, such as shoehorns and the Shinola Home Set which included a polisher, bristle dauber, and the polish itself.''Commercial America'' staff (July 1912), "Shinola Polish and Polishers". ''Commercial America''. 9 (1):33 Known by 1917 as simply The Shinola Company, the firm saw success expand globally, selling especially well in Europe, during the rise of World War I as many young men entered the military and were expected to be well-dressed during training. The company used a series of slogans to promote the product. For example, “Makes old shoes look like new. Keeps new shoes from looking old.” It became the largest manufacturer of the product in the world circa 1917, being carried into war by doughboys. After Wetmore's death in 1923, the company was sold and became part of the "2 in 1-Shinola-Bixby Corp.", beginning a series of acquisitions related to the brand. In the 1940s, the polish became a product of Best Foods and was renamed to Shinola (losing the apostrophe). Corn Products Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey later merged with Best Foods, and sold tins of the product as "New Shinola Wax", featuring a revised formula, as well as selling in a liquid form. In a 1945 ad that ran in ''Popular Mechanics'' magazine, Shinola marketed itself as a wax that could also be used as a polish for scratches in furniture, a polish for linoleum, and a finish for toy models (''e.g.'' airplanes). By the 1950s, it was sold as "Shinola Leather and Saddle Soap" by RIT Products, a division of Best Foods. In 1960, the company went out of business and the brand ceased to be produced. In 2011, venture capitalist Tom Kartsotis bought the rights to the brand name for a new retail company, Shinola (retail company), Shinola. The company was founded in 2012, and produces several specialty goods, such as watches and leather goods, as well as a Shinola shoe polish manufactured by C.A. Zoes Manufacturing in Chicago.Cultural impact
Shinola was immortalized in colloquialism, colloquial English language, English by the phrase "wikt:know shit from Shinola, You don't know shit from Shinola", which during World War II became widely popular and a barracks staple. Some have even theorized that the popular expression was a long term detriment to the brand's identity. Nevertheless, the company did try to find other evocative promotional phrases, ''e.g.'', "Your shoes are showing", which they used in advertisements. *In the 1979 film comedy ''The Jerk,'' the character Navin R. Johnson (played by Steve Martin) is tested by "Daddy" (Richard Ward (actor), Richard Ward) on whether he knows the difference between shit and Shinola before leaving home. *The phrase was used to a similar effect in ''Cleopatra Jones''. *The 1992 movie ''Basic Instinct'' features Gus telling Dr. Lamott, "Most times I can't tell shit from Shinola, Doc. What was all that you just said?" *Dolly Parton wrote the song "Shinola" which also uses a lyric that plays on the colloquial phrase for her 2008 ''Backwoods Barbie'' album. *Ween released a 2005 B-side and unreleased odds and ends compilation album titled, ''Shinola, Vol. 1'' on Chocodog Records which plays on the colloquial phrase. *The phrase has been Grist#"Grist for the mill", grist for the mill for various musicians and artists. See Shinola (Energy Orchard album), ''Shinola'' (Energy Orchard album), an album by early 1990s Irish band Energy Orchard; Shinola (John Scofield album), ''Shinola'' (John Scofield album), a live album recorded in 1981 by jazz musician John Scofield; Shinola (band), Shinola, an indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina that existed from 1994–1997; and Shynola, a group of visual artists from the UK that had exhibitions titled "Shinola".Rutledge, James: BBC, "Filmmakers Shynola get animated with Collective.", August 29, 2003References
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Further reading
* *''Popular Science'' (September 1945), Vol. 147, No. 3 p 248External links
{{wiktionary-inline, know shit from Shinola 1877 establishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1877 Cleaning products Footwear accessories Shoe polish Companies based in Rochester, New York Chemical companies established in 1877 Chemical companies disestablished in 1960 1960 disestablishments in New York (state) Products and services discontinued in 1960