Shoeshiner
Videos
Shoeshiner or boot polisher is an occupation in which a person cleans and buffs shoes and then applies a waxy paste to give a shiny appearance and a protective coating. They are often known as shoeshi
A boot polisher on a railway platform in Mumbai, India.
The earliest reliably dated photograph of a person, taken in spring 1838 by Daguerre, shows a person getting a shoeshine.
The Independent Shoe-Black by John Thomson, 1877.
Shoeshiner at work in Tepotzotlan, Mexico.
William Bentvena
Videos
William Joseph Bentvena, also known as “Billy Batts”, was an American mobster with the Gambino crime family who was a longtime friend of John Gotti in the 1960s. After spending six years in prison for
Shoeshiner
…real-life experiences of Henry Hill and the people he met through the Vario brothers, who owned a shoeshine stand and other businesses. In real life, William "Billy Batts" Bentvena taunted Thomas "Two Gun Tommy" DeSimone, calling him "spit-shine Tommy". DeSimone retorted by yelling, "Shine these fuckin' shoes", and then executing…
Bentvena in the 1950s