Sunday, 22 October 2023
A failure selling bootlaces
All that the street had to give for the moment was a bishop and an actor mounting the steps of the Garrick Club, an old lady with a black bonnet and a milk-jug, a young man in a hurry and a failure selling bootlaces.
Hugh Walpole – The Captives (1920)
Doesn’t happen now, no failure has to sell bootlaces or even admit to being a failure. Politics, a life on benefits, a sinecure here, a charity there. We rid ourselves of failures selling bootlaces decades ago.
A good thing too, but not an unalloyed good. It’s a reminder that there are quite a few people in public life who should be selling bootlaces.
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7 comments:
If we had bootlace-sellers today, I can't help thinking that they would be aggressive and mildly threatening.
I can't bear slip-on shoes. They slip off too easily. I am therefore stoutly pro-boot lace. Or Velcro if you must.
Did you know velcro was invented by Thomas Edison?
Sam - I'm sure you are right, today they would be aggressive. They would also have a magazine to sell such as The Boot Issue.
dearieme - I have a pair of slip-ons for driving if I'm going to change footwear when we reach our destination, but wouldn't wear them otherwise. I know velcro isn't traditionally seen as a Thomas Edison invention unless there is some hint buried among his numerous patents.
It was a private joke directed at the American belief that Edison invented everything. Whereas he didn't even invent the light bulb.
I assume he did invent the phonograph but that may be because I've never looked into it.
dearieme - I thought it might be a dig at the light bulb claim. I've never looked into his inventions either, just looking though his list of patents would be too daunting.
Swan invented the first successful, practical lightbulb. He won his patent case against Edison.
The first house illuminated with lightbulbs was, of course, Swan's own. For years it was said that the first public building illuminated with light bulbs was in Newcastle. Then someone pointed out an earlier example in Glasgow. (True? Dunno.) Then there came a claim for an even earlier use in Dundee. (Ditto.)
The first town illuminated with light bulbs was in the south of England - its name escapes me. The first modern electric power station was built in London.
In the light of this history (sorry) the American tale of competition between Edison and Tesla as pioneers seems rather irrelevant.
dearieme - yes, there is a strong simplifying aspect to popular history. It's something I've noticed when the grandkids talk about their history lessons, but they have to begin somewhere. Yet telling them about uncertainty and complexity would be no bad thing too.
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