Remember back in the day when a tube of SHOE GOO could be found in every runner's gym bag, glove box, work bench, or on the kitchen table? I saw some on sale in a hardware store in Canada a few years ago and sprung for a tube. Just for old times sake. It's been sitting around for those years unopened, but finally I found a use when a pair of my favorite street shoes started disintegrating on the soles. Yes, my disintegrating sole was repaired without turning to the Scriptures, just the Shoe Goo god. In the late 70's and 80's many running stores sold this product and we extended the life of our shoes when the kids were babies and needed formula and diapers and our wives didn't understand the need to fork out $35 for a new pair of New Balance 350's or some Tiger Jayhawks. The sacrifices we made to keep on running the streets.
I also recall that several running shoe stores also performed the service of resoling our shoes. When the outer layer wore down, they had a belt sander in the back room. They'd just sand off that outer layer and glue a new one on. When the corner of the heel wore down you would just build it back up with Shoe Goo. Can't do that anymore because the midsoles use that EVA material or something even more exotic now, and it disintegrates with time. Can't apply a new sole and even if you could the EVA would have lost it's resilience with time. Caveat emptor this stuff will give you a buzz if used in a closed area. Do you have a Shoe Goo story? If so, let us know.
Here is another treat. A few weeks ago John Cobley sent me a mint condition copy of the 1948 US Olympic Trials program. Here are a few pages from the program. I'll soon include a similar post on the Athletic Review of the 1948 games published in England which John also sent.
Excellent work, George. But after old-timers like you are gone, George, who will care. The already apathetic void will be filled with yet more apathy. I say fight back through the nightly use of vast quantities of alcohol. Roy