Blackola Shoe Polish shone among stuff made in York

Glen Rock's John Hufnagel was looking in a box of cookbooks in the search for advertisements to go with a story he was researching about his area of southern York County.

In a bit of serendipity, he found a booklet from York dated 1904. He had acquired it about 20 years ago, probably because it had an ad on its pages for Foust Distillery that operated near Glen Rock at that time.

He scanned several photos, which I included in the photo gallery below.

"I thought the shoe polish picture was interesting," he wrote.

That's the photo above, and I found it interesting, indeed. One can imagine that this wasn't the cleanest place to work. How would you ever wash the stuff out of clothing? York specialized in making practical, hands-on stuff then - tire chains, false teeth, wallpaper and the like.

York City directories at the York County History Center Archives list Blackola's factory at either West College Avenue or West Princess Street and Oak Lane.

It's an example of York's diversified industrial base in play at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

And to prove this industrial might,World Polish Mfg.Co., maker of Blackola, wasn't the only shoe polish manufacturer operating in York, Pa., in 1904.

Rex Polish Co., had a shop at the rear of 209 N. Queen St.