Shoe Beautician

Mac the Cobbler, like Rome, wasn't built in a day. It began in 1971. I had just returned from service in Viet Nam as a Seabee and enrolled in college on the G. I. Bill. I caught the bus each morning in front of this dingy little shoe repair shop. I watched through the windows for weeks before I figured, that looks beautiful cool and walked in. The shop smelled of polish, leather, dyes and dust. I liked it. I asked the cobbler if he would teach me the trade. He said No way, go to school. That is when I discovered John O'Connel Vocational High school and Technical Institute and Sam Piazza.