Shoe Valet, Esquire Shoe Shine Box & Accessories, Wood, Vintage

• Pattern:  Vintage Wood Shoe Shine Box with Accessories, Esquire Brand
• Made in USA
• Vintage: 1950's - 1960's
• Details: An extremely useful shoe valet, still handy after all these years. It is a promotional item, for Esquire Shoe Polish and reads: "Esquire Shoe Valet De Luxe, Made in USA, Pat Pend". Esquire Shoe Polish was the best selling shoe polish brand in America from the 1940's to the 1960's.  Inside, it contains several shoe shine goodies: the original wooden shine brush with the Esquire name, two smaller applicator brushes, a buffing cloth and several different shoe cream / polish tins (all Kiwi brand).  Some may or may not be of the period, but we're leaving them in there for you.  This wooden valet has seen a lot of use through the years but there is no rust on the metal parts and the brand name is clearly visible, no damage.  Two different color woods were used to make the box, and you can see the dovetail joints, very nicely done!   This piece is large and heavy, please keep that in mind at check-out.  Great gift for a collector, for Father's Day or as a conversation piece in your home. 
• Material:  Valet is wood.  The accessories vary: wood, plastic, tin, fabric
• Dimensions:  Valet:  11.5 inches Tall (including feet and raised foot form), 10.5 inches Long and 6.5 inches Wide
• Condition: Vintage - Used.  Good Vintage Condition. There are lots of scuff marks, stains and scratches, seems just about perfect for a vintage shoe valet, lots of patina!  Please review all pictures and make sure you love this item before purchasing, we can't accept returns. Please remember these are VINTAGE and ANTIQUE items, they are NOT new, every effort has been made to show any scratches, wear and tear and imperfections.

In 1938, during the Great Depression, Sam and Albert Abrams, chemists and entrepreneurs from Brooklyn, who already owned Knomark Manufacturing Company, purchased the Esquire brand.  After a huge advertising campaign in 1944, the company became the best selling shoe polish manufacturer in the US.  In the late1950s, they sold the Esquire brand along with the beautiful Esquire Building on 330 Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn, (a pre-war building, completed in 1914 and now converted to very high-end lofts). In 1957, Revlon acquired the Esquire brand and by1969 they sold it along with other product brands.  The Sara Lee company purchased the Esquire brand in 1987 and discontinued it, as they already owned the Kiwi shoe polish brand.