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Although Summar worked every day as a mine electrician, he decided to do his friends' baby shoes at night to pay for the cost of his hobby. He had bought copper, chemicals, and an electro-plating tank. He had learned about copper-plating baby shoes while studying electricity at a trade school. He spent $34 on a copper-plating course which he saw advertised in a magazine. He thought his investment would give him something to do in his spare time plus providing a saving on presents for his family.

Summar, however, did not expect that his hobby would attract as much attention as it soon did. Others outside the neighborhood wanted baby shoes electro-plated, and Summar was swamped with orders. To help him with his work, he formed a partnership with his son-in-law, Collis Collins.

TODAY, THE partners work on the shoes in a workshop in the basement of the Summar home. As they have needed more equipment, they have bought chemicals, a paint sprayer, and electric motors for buffing wheels for about $150. Originally Summar had spent only $100 on equipment and chemicals.

The equipment and materials they use—equipment which anyone interested in copper-plating baby shoes will need—are:

Pans for heating hot paraffin.

Jars for metallic powders.

Electro-plating tank, 2½ feet by 15 inches by 15 inches, lead-lined to resist corrosion by acid.

Crocks for chemicals to remove oxide.

Electric emery wheel.

Cotton buffing wheel.

Pieces of cloth.

Copper chemicals, metallic powder, paraffin, bronze paint, plaster of Paris and lacquer.

Now their workshop resembles a shoe factory with its equipment and long rows of shoes in different stages of the process.

THE PARTNERS believe the process requires more patience than skill. First, the shoes are laced and tied. Then, they are dipped in hot paraffin, which penetrates the pores of the leather and, as it hardens, the leather becomes hard. Thus, the shoes retain their shape and characteristic wrinkles.

Excess paraffin is removed with a machine buffer, and the shoes are dusted with a metallic powder which adheres to the paraffin. This forms a metal coating over the shoes which conducts electricity and attracts copper molecues while in the plating tank. The copper-plating tank contains an acid solution in which pieces of copper are suspended. By an electro-chemical process, the copper dissolves and is deposited on the shoes. The shoes must be left in the tank for twenty-four hours to complete the plating process. The shoes are tied to a revolving spindle which constantly moves them around in the solution to keep the plating even.

Most amateurs fail to get an even coating of copper on the shoes, as often copper is deposited in tiny lumps on the shoe making the surface rough. After many experiments and research, Summar has refined the process to eliminate this fault.

Since the inside of the shoes was not coated with the metallic powder before plating, there will be almost no copper-plating on the inside. However. the inside will be preserved because it is covered with paraffin. In addition, the inside is sprayed with bronze paint before the outside of the shoe is polished.

After plating, the shoes are dipped in a chemical solution to remove oxide which forms on the copper. Then, the finishing process begins. Rough spots are smoothed on an electric emery wheel. For the actual polishing, there are three steps. First, the shoes are polished on a cotton buffing wheel. Second, they are dusted with a polishing compound and polished again on the buffing wheel. Third, they are shined by hand with a soft cloth.

A PROCESS which some prefer because it is cheaper is the bronze process. It does not involve electro-plating. The shoes are filled with plaster of Paris so that they will retain their shape. The laces are pinned in a characteristic position, and a bronze paint is sprayed over the shoes. This paint forms a metallic bronze coating on the shoes, preserving their wrinkles and shape. The bronze is polished on the buffing wheel and sprayed with clear lacquer to prevent tarnishing.

The finished products so attracted people that some brought their children's baby shoes to, the partners. However, it soon became necessary to solicit. At present, the wives of the two men work as saleswomen while the men do the shoes in their spare time. Mrs. Myrtle Summar and Mrs. Wilma Collins go from house to house in Eldorado, where they are well-known, showing samples of bronze and plated baby shoes.

In the first week of their selling, they had orders for $300 worth of work. When the local market tapers off, the women drive to the neighboring towns of Harrisburg, McLeansboro, Mt. Carmel and Carmi, where they take orders for an average of $200 a week. They also have samples of their work in jewelry stores in these towns.

The Summars and Collinses are careful in their selling techniques, for they know about salesmen who have taken money and shoes and disappeared without returning any work. For this reason, the women take only shoes away with them. Customers receive their shoes C.O.D. Thus, a selling obstacle is overcome.

Another selling point is that they deliver shoes in as short time as two weeks even though the men work only in the evening. Some companies take as long as six months to process a pair of shoes.

Another advantage is that the Summars and Collinses charge less than others for the same quality of work. As proof that their selling points payoff, their business has increased to $1,000 a month recently.

Housewives are pleasantly surprised when they find out about the low prices charged for the work. One bronzed baby shoe is only $3.45; two, $5.85. One plated baby shoe is $4.50; two, $8.85. Most persons prefer the more expensive copper-plating process, as it has a better luster.

MORE THAN seventy-five per cent of the customers want the shoes mounted on book ends, picture frames, ash trays, pen holders, bud vase stands, or mirror shelves. These accessories are extra, of course, and sometimes cost more than the shoes themselves. But the partners like to use only the best cast bronze with their shoes. Summar and Collins guarantee these accessories not to break and replace any damaged ones.

The partners are just as careful with the shoes themselves as with the mountings, since the shoes have a value to the owners for which even money cannot compensate. When they receive the shoes, they first write the name on the bottom of the shoe. When the shoes are ready to be dipped in paraffin, they write the name on a tag which is tied to the shoes. Before the shoes are put in the acid-plating solution, a number corresponding to the one on the sales ticket is stamped on the bottom of the shoes. This number remains on the shoes throughout the processes and can be checked to determine to whom the shoes belong. In this way, the right shoes get back to the right owner.

This time and effort is more than repaid by the sentiment and interesting experiences behind the Summars' and Collinses' profitable hobby. The partners recall one customer who bought a new pair of baby shoes, put them on her baby, and immediately took them off to be able to say that the baby had worn the shoes. Others have taken the shoes right off their children.

Many people have saved shoes as long as twenty years, so strong was the sentiment attached, One of the partners' most interesting customers was an English war bride who wanted the shoes her three-year-old had worn in England bronzed.

Men are interested, too, the partners discovered. Fathers sometimes bring the baby's shoes around to have bronzed as a surprise for their wives.

VARIATIONS ON the baby shoe bronzing idea are becoming increasingly popular. Women have wanted the men to bronze skillets to hang on their kitchen walls; to bronze antiques for their collections; and to bronze door knockers and other items.

After only four months of their partnership, Summar and Collins are preparing to move into a larger workshop to take care of their profitable hobby. They are remodeling a building behind the Summar home and have purchased $1,000 worth of equipment. A new electro-plating tank will hold twelve pairs of shoes each twenty-four hours, compared to the three-pair capacity of the old tank.

In addition to the financial gain, these craftsmen are rewarded by the satisfaction of giving their customers a lasting keepsake.