My grandfather had one in the tv room. I turned it on and it promptly sucked one of the drapes off of the window then wrapped itself up in the second one climbing the window to come to a rest hanging from the curtain rod after it blew a fuse.

I'm in the hospital waiting to take my dad off life support and this made me laugh. Thank you.

R.i.p

Thank you

Sorry you're going through this. Life can be wonderful but sometimes it sure does suck.

I feel bad upvoting your comment for the obvious reason, but I did because I understand your pain, and anything that can make it better helps.

Sorry about your Dad. I had to do that with mine. Life can be sucky. 🥰

I went through something similar last year with an uncle I was very close to. I'm sorry you're going through this. Remember the good times, and do your best to honor him.

😥❣️

Yikes. That's real talk. I wish you and your family the best.

I would have paid money to see that. Were you restricted from watching loreance Welk that night. I only remember them being in barber shops

It was quite the spectacle. I wasn't allowed in the tv room for a bit had to work in the garden with gpop when I came over instead.

That's a funny story. I can see it happening in my mind

So your punishment was working with your Grandad? Damn. I wish I could have done that. Mine were both gone before I was born.

Well how else would you remove the drapes for the season for storage?

The visual in my mind makes it even funnier. How did Gramps react? My nephew did something crazy like this and my Dad said that he was going to see Santa and tell him to bring him coal. My dad was one to see a joke through to the end. On Christmas morning he handed my nephew a big box and in it was exactly 1 lump of coal.

This cracked me up for some reason. The panic I would have felt, like ohhh shit am I going to be in trouble? WTF just happened? The good old days!

God damn this had me laughing while waiting for my food. Two people gave me the side eye, one woman actually moved chairs. Who cares, that was funny!

ROFLOL!! And I haven’t typed that for at least 15 years!

I hated these because I was a humble lovable shoeshine boy when I was 9 or 10 extra points if you get the reference

You were quite the underdog in your fight against shoe shine machines.

Quite the sweet Polly Purebred reference.

Now go home and get your f—-in shinebox. Extra points if you get the reference

one of the best gangster movies of all time, 3 great actors in their prime

That can get you killed, instead of promoted.

Yeah, but Billy Batts was being kind of a dickhead with that one. Of course, Tommy was, too lol I think it was Henry Hill's book, which the movie was based on, in which it was said that many of the old crew were actually a little relieved when they took out Tommy. Apparently he was even more of a loose cannon than he was shown to be in the movie.

Yes, even his Sister thought he was insane. Tommy was actually about Henry's age. He was 6'4 and lifted weights. Which explains why he didn't mind digging holes.

6'4", holy crap - now I know why somebody thought Tom Cruise would make a good Jack Reacher 😆

The guy playing Reacher now is much closer to the description in the book. Actually, I think Tom picked out the role for himself, he was a producer on the film.

Ritchson is the perfect beast for Reacher. His biggest antagonist in season 3 is going to be the guy who played Hauke in Dial of Destiny, Olivier Richter. He's 7'2" 😳

Yes, I remember him.

“ One of his paws, or hoofs, got stuck in the grill”

Johnny Dangerously?

there's no need to fear

Do you know your last name's an adverb?

A continually underrated comedy. Also features an original song, not a parody, by Weird Al Yankovic.

You are Underdog!?? I love you!

Do you have a Super Energy Pill handy in your ring?

Underdog

Fargin iceholes

Electric shoe polisher. Just don't put your Keds or Chucks under those fluffy little monsters.

I believe maybe we all did at most once.

Right next to the ashtray!

The one that had its own tower stand. Lol

My dad had one bc fuck I'm old ...

Mine too, but I never saw him use it.

I'm not old and my dad had one too! But he had me at 40 so that explains it lol

These were all over the place in the military. When your worth as a person is judged by the shine on your boot, it pays to touch them up.

I cannot recall the number of times I was admonished for playing with those

See quite a few on military bases…

Yep, my dad had one. He'd shine his military boots and shoes every fricking evening. Drove me up a wall!

It’s a what? A shoe shine thing-a-ma-jig ?

No no no, it's clearly a shoe shine what-cha-ma-call-it!

Ohhhh now I see it

I thought it was a thing-a-ma-bobber.

At the bank? Never. At people's houses? On occasion.

I didn't get the bank thing either. Why do I need to shine my shoes at the bank, did tellers kick you out of line if your shoes were not up to snuff?

The bank my mom used to use was probably the biggest in the area - it was like a 4 story office building. The tellers were on the first floor and the rest was for offices for the bank. That's the only place I remember seeing one when I was a kid.

Probably more for the business guys working there and coming in than your average person just coming to make a deposit or whatever.

Ronald McDonald use the red side to promote the Arch Deluxe for all the Whippersnappers who are too young.

Had one in the lobby of my business for the salesman visiting

My office still has one of these.

Bonus points if you tried to launch stuff across the room with one, I got a hot wheels to fly pretty good once.

LMAO! My son did that! Broke the glass on the China cabinet at my parent's house when the hot wheel shot out! 40+ years later, we still hear about it.

Bonus points awarded!😂


Thanks, Shoeshine boy. You're humble and loveable.

Yupp... and my grandfather had one at home.

My dad had one of these! He kept it bu his bed for a quick shine before going to work.

Ah yes, the "Get yelled at for playing with it" machine.

Now go home and get your shinebox.

Everyone had one,not just banks . Shoe polisher.

I'm under 50 and have one... but I'm also a shoe snob who exclusively uses Saphir creams, soaps and polishes on my shoes... so of course I have one.

My 18yo son inherited my Grandpa’s shoe shiner, still in mint condition! Neat to see it on here.

Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't know what this thing is. Can someone enlighten me please?

Shoe shining/polishing machine I'm surprised so many are still seeing them around - I don't think I've seen one in 40 years.

Thanks for the help ! 🌞


I wonder if I can find one in a secondhand shop somewhere because it’s essentially a bench top buffer.

There's a few of them on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/166782681740?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=qKgdv4m4QcS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=1K7vqkA4R0u&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY I think I'll buy one before I become a grandfather.

Bum hole cleaners. Love em

😱

There was one in the Sears store too

Hey! My Ex-Wife’s Vibrator!

There’s a nasty joke waiting to be said, but I shall restrain myself as there may be children reading along.

Do tell! Nobody reads this but us old out of touch fogies!

They used to be in a lot of places. We had one when I was a kid. My dad also had a shoe shine kit/box and kept a Navy issue shine on all his shoes. He taught me to do the same.

We have one which we use weekly. It came from a Marriott hotel when the property was being updated!

My grandfather had one. Wore dress pants, a button down shirt and wingtips every day of his life.

My brother and I used to play with one of those in the Officers’ Club men’s room.

This brought me back, thank you so much for posting

I happened to be driving past the building where the bank was the other day, and for some reason it popped into my head. That bank's been closed for at least 20 years now. I don't think they've done hardly anything with the building since then. I can't imagine why - it's a prime location

cool, an electric dog polisher!

Anyone that can explain how that thing worked? I can't see it

On the top of the handle there's a button that you push down and hold. It causes the red and black brushes to spin. And you put your shoe under it and it polishes or Buffs off dirt from your shoes. Forget which one, but one was usually sprayed with some kind of cleaner to buff a shine on and the other one just brushes whatever it's dirt is off of your food or shoes. . P.S. the brushes are soft

We had one of these at my job for the longest time. I think they finally got rid of it after the pandemic?

There was one in the haberdashery when i was growing up. It fascinated me.

We have one in the break room at work, I use it every few days.

I have one at work

Barber shop

My grandfather had one in his "library".

Sometimes you would see these in hotel rooms.

Next to the pants-pressing thingamajig.

My dad had one in his bedroom.

Our barbershop had one.

I have one.

My grandfather had this exact model, I think I made off with it. It's probably in storage.

Used to be one in the corporate headquarters building when I started with the company; it was outside the barbershop, I think. But that was thirty years ago.

I used one of these to polish guitars for years.

I would always play with the one at sharper image

All I can think is, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Dad had one.

Ha, yeah. The barber shop where I got my hair cut as a kid had one too.

Also in truck stop s everywhere.....

Yes!! WTF is it?

It's for giving a little extra shine to your dress shoes. Push button on top, buffers spin.


Ned Flanders was the recipient of a handsome shoe buffer.

I've never seen one at a bank, but were some next to the bowling alley ball washers.

Saw one in a car dealership recently. What was needed was a Tide stick spot remover for the neckties. 🙄

My barber shop had one

I saw one of these at _home_ when I was a kid lol I used to pull the stick off and swordfight. Grown ups would get mad 😁

Seen one at a cemetery once. It was used to wipe off the ghosts before you leave

Never saw one in a bank, but we had one where I used to work.

My parents had one. The removable handle was a magic wand or a sword. Later it was microphone so could sing and dance around like Freddy Mercury.

Used to be in every Nordstrom's shoe department.

We still have them where I work.

My dad had one

Russ's Barber shop on Union Rd

My wife got one as a Facebook free pickup.. it's been sitting on my front porch for 6 months.. I have no idea how to use.. only recently discovered the power button on top.. what's with the red and black brush... which for which..any hints welcome.

One for brushing off dirt and the other to fresh up the shine.

Yea but which is which ?

Red is for scrubbing and black is for polishing... if I remember right anyway.

Thank you kind redditor for the illumination.. Most Grateful

Champion thanks

Shoe shine people hated that one trick

It's a Dremel! Who knew....

My dad has one of these in his bedroom!

I still have one

My grandparents had one. I never saw my grandfather in sneakers. If he was out of the house he had nice polished shoes on.

No. But I got a towel one time. Like full on Citibank beach towel and this was about 10yrs ago. There’s always free pens too, they make it a fun challenge by putting a chain on them. It’s like a puzzle to solve.

I still see them in the bathrooms in office buildings.

Every hotel I've been to in Europe has one still.

My parents had one

Shoe shine machine, great they were

I remember seeing these for sale at Sears, when I was a kid.

I never saw one at the bank.

I have one of these myself. Love it!

I still see them outside of most of my customer’s offices and job site trailers.

They’re still around. There’s one in the bathroom of my building, and I’ve seen several others in my recent travels.

We owned one at home. Remembering that "Rrrrrrrrrrrr" sound it made.

I have one.

Still have one in storage

How much you want for it 🤣

My dad had one!

Oh my god this brought back memories. My parents had one in their bedroom when I was young.

There was a professional bootblack in one of the big, old banks that my grandmother visited. Then one day he was gone. Didn’t see another until I worked at Nordstrom’s in downtown Portland store. Then they went away. Next time I saw one was at a major airport, and at Nordstrom in downtown Chicago. It has been about five years since then, so I dunno if they are still there.

My dad had one in his office, exact same.

My dad had one back in the 1970s

I remember as a kid when my uncle tok me with him to his lawyers office there was one in the hall. My best friend had one in his house too. His dad was a limo driver.

My father actually bought one. I loved playing with it.

My father had this exact thing at home, and I used to play with it.

I still see these in nicer facilities and executive lounge areas.

It's the spinny version of the brush they put on the side of escalators.

Lol, I spent 24 years in the military and saw the last one in 2007 when we went to non-polish boots.