Spit Shine - still can!

[Sgt Jim]

My daughter joined a rotc unit when she was in high school.She had ask me to spit shine her shoes,i told her i would show her how and shine them the first time.Her rotc instructor had been a COL in the Air Force ,and ask her who had shined her shoes,she told him that her dad had.he then told the rest of the class that this was the way he wanted there shoes to look like. then ask her what branch of the service her dad had been inand she told him i was a Marine,he then told the class that a Marine could shave his face in them shoes ,Nuf said

[Quinbo]

My Navy wife had an upcoming inspection and I volunteered to shine her boots. I said they will be so shiney you will need sunglasses to look at them. They'll be so shiney that if it was a clear lake you'll be able to see your toes. By golly I did as promised and as soon as she put them on all that wax and hard work became a cracked mirror and a trail of polish. Worn boots polish up better and hold their shine. Brand new wall locker boots shined up look outstanding but as soon as you put them on the polish looks like a can of worms. Putting them on and walking around then brushing and a final coat of polish is the only way to go. I learned that the hard way

[madsox]

... Brand new wall locker boots shined up look outstanding but as soon as you put them on the polish looks like a can of worms. Putting them on and walking around then brushing and a final coat of polish is the only way to go. I learned that the hard way

Oh, yeah, you gots to wear 'em a few times first. My Drill Instructors taught us that the hard way - had us polishing up that inspection pair of boots during First Phase, then when we'd spent a couple weeks learning how to shine, took us out for a lap around the grinder (no PT, just ordinary drill).

Then the Senior formed us up for inspection.

Oh, did we spend some time in the pit after that one!

And then we had to clean and re-polish the boots, of course. Man, the Corps sure makes you remember things when you need to!

madsox out...

[cw2533]

Memories, I still can remember my first pair of boon dockers and combat boots in boot camp <1958> they were the rough leather type and we were only allowed to use saddle soap. After boot camp we had to spit shine them and what a job that was I bet I used 3 cans of polish to make them smooth leather. That made for some long hours of shinging.

[Zulu 36]

Nothing like a good piece of leather hand worked to a high gloss.

I taught my oldest daughter how to shine her shoes and boots while she was AF ROTC at UMich. Like with SgtJim, her commander spotted her shoes right away and pointed her out as a positive example too.

She still spit shines her boots and/or shoes (usually boots) daily for work while deployed to Germany. She doesn't have the new rough-side out boots yet and isn't really looking forward to them. She appreciates a well polished piece of leather too. Bless her heart.

[silverdollar]

Memories, I still can remember my first pair of boon dockers and combat boots in boot camp <1958> they were the rough leather type and we were only allowed to use saddle soap. After boot camp we had to spit shine them and what a job that was I bet I used 3 cans of polish to make them smooth leather. That made for some long hours of shinging.

Did you use a tent peg to smooth the leather down before using polish?

[cw2533]

Yes I used a tent peg and anything else that i could grip easily. Those were the good old days.

[westvirginiawar]

Something about traditions and Marines. I was given a pair of Hersey's by a GySgt who had just retired when I came home on boot leave in 2002. He told me I had to keep the tradition going for the Marines from my home town. For my first year in the fleet I spent every Sunday worken those shoes. I still wear them for the Ball and Messnights. So starting this week I'm going to break them out of the wall locker and get them ready.

[advanced]

Back in 67, before going to the Nam I was an MP. No one was as spit shined as we were. Our secret for spit shining our shoes for guard mount was aqua-velva aftershave.