The house was built by
Mahlon Haines “The Shoe Wizard” of York.
He also built a shoe dog
house for his great dane, Countess.
With the weather I’m
not surprised we were the only ones on the tour this morning.
We went inside and
were greeted by the owner of the shoe house.
Her and her husband bought it a couple of years ago. Mike, a friend of hers was our guide for
today.
Mahlon Haines was born
in 1875. He moved to York at age
thirty. He bought $127 worth of shoes,
sold them and used the profits to buy more shoes. He built a shoe sales empire that included
more than 40 stores.
Front door into
the house.
The Shoe House was
built in 1948 as an advertising gimmick.
The building is modeled after a high-topped work shoe.
It has a wood frame
structure covered with wire lath and coated with a cement stucco.
It measures 48 feet in
length, 17 feet at the widest part and 25 feet in height.
Every window
has this shoe motif.
It is said he made his
fortune by selling himself through outlandish antics and a flair for dramatic
advertising.
It’s not certain how
many different advertising fans were made but there are over 200 fans in the house now.
Salt and Pepper
shakers, shoe horns, makeup mirrors, shoe shine kits, etc. There was advertisement on everything.
Haines originally
built the house to give older couples who couldn’t afford a vacation a chance
to get away for a while. There was no
costs to stay here at his invitation. Eventually it was
opened for newlyweds too.
The
sitting room or parlor was our first stop.
There are three bedrooms. One bedroom was for the invited guests.
The maid had her own
room.
The chauffer had her
own room. She would drive the guests
into town for dinner.
The carport was in the
arch of the shoe. It is now the gift
shop.
Even the original
mailbox was shaped like a shoe.
Our tour ended in the
kitchen. It is unclear what color the
original walls were painted because all the pictures are in black and white.
Mahlon Haines built a
house across the street from the shoe house for himself and his second
wife. After his death his wife was left
financially comfortable. The rest of his
fortune he gave away.
The best part of the
tour was the history of Mahlon Haines. The
shoe can be seen from the road if you don’t want to take the tour. By the time we finished our tour there were several people waiting in the gift shop to take the tour.
I did buy a magnet.
I find it interesting how many fortunes across the US are made from these small starts. That is just one thing that makes this country great.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun - I love shoes! It is such a good thing that you have so many interesting inside things to do since the weather doesn't seem to be cooperating!
ReplyDelete