the Cobbler
I took these in late April, 2017, while visiting the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The overwhelming smell of leather, shoe polish, and history emanates through the musty air of a 109-year old shoe repair shop in Hot Springs. Stepping into John’s Shoe Repair is like stepping back in time, gaining a rare and curious glimpse into the craft of a vintage guild. Mr. David Garner has plied his trade in the same space on Central Avenue since 1955 in the historic Arkansas resort town where he has lived for much of his life. He began learning the cobbler trade as a 15-year old apprentice in a historic local business which originally opened in 1908, where some of the repair equipment predates even Mr. Garner’s arrival at the shop. Sixty years later and in a much different time, Mr. Garner is as much a Hot Springs mainstay as the Art Deco that adorns the ornate bath houses, or even the steam that rises from the thermal waters, a living component of local history.
Read MoreThe overwhelming smell of leather, shoe polish, and history emanates through the musty air of a 109-year old shoe repair shop in Hot Springs. Stepping into John’s Shoe Repair is like stepping back in time, gaining a rare and curious glimpse into the craft of a vintage guild. Mr. David Garner has plied his trade in the same space on Central Avenue since 1955 in the historic Arkansas resort town where he has lived for much of his life. He began learning the cobbler trade as a 15-year old apprentice in a historic local business which originally opened in 1908, where some of the repair equipment predates even Mr. Garner’s arrival at the shop. Sixty years later and in a much different time, Mr. Garner is as much a Hot Springs mainstay as the Art Deco that adorns the ornate bath houses, or even the steam that rises from the thermal waters, a living component of local history.
