By a conservative estimate, there are 1 million shoes in Columbia. When those shoes lose their luster and their owners pay a visit to Milton Dickson’s cobbler shop on Saint Andrews Road, there are new beginnings for lapsed leather and wayward soles. Dickson, who has been repairing shoes 50 of his 60 years, learned the trade in his father’s shop in Branchville, and his father learned from Dickson’s great uncles before him. When he fixes a shoe, he fixes it to last.

“I do have some people come in with shoes that we just need to get rid of,” Dickson says. But for the most part, he’ll fix anything that comes across his counter.

One March morning, Dickson has a plastic tub full of repair jobs to deal with – loafers, dress shoes, work boots, even a few leather jackets and purses. He and his two employees do all the work either by hand or with the assistance of old-fashioned, well-oiled machines.

Using what is essentially a stationary nail gun, he drives a pair of short nails into a brand-new boot sole near the arch, just like his father used to do.

“That’s our identification so we know we did that work,” Dickson says.

Another trade-mark move: Before stitching on a new sole, Dickson always cuts a groove so the thread won’t fray on the pavement.

Dickson’s business hasn’t taken much of a hit during the Great Recession; he

says it’s more likely to be affected by the weather. At the beginning of winter, people who’d worn sandals during the warm months will bring in their winter shoes for mainte- nance. In the summer, when people leave their shoes in hot car trunks, they’ll bring in shoes with the soles curling off at the

toes.

“Anytime it gets 100 degrees,

you can just peel it like a banana,” he says.

Aside from a stint with the Smith-Co-rona typewriter com-

pany, this is the only sort of work Dickson has done.

“My son was actually a shoe repairman after me, but unfor-tunately the Lord

called him to save other souls,” Dickson says. His son is now a youth pastor.

By Paul BowersSpecial Editor / BigE Magazine

“When he fixes a shoe, he fixes it to

last.”

Above Photo: When people choose the latter and pay a visit to Milton Dickson’s cobbler shop on Saint Andrews Road, there are new begin-nings for lapsed leather and wayward soles.

Left Photo: One of Dickson’s assistants rubs neutral polish on shoe leather. He keeps four shelves’ worth of specialized polishes in the middle of his workshop.

RenewedSoles

Columbia resident repairs shoes in cobbler shop for 50 years

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Claire Christopherson