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A Vernon cobbler shop closes, an era ends
VERNON — Ray LeFort is an inventor. But the tools of his trade are
not high-tech or digital, but old-fashioned leather, hand tools, dye,
glue and ingenuity.
LeFort recently closed his cobbler shop, Ray's Shoe Repair in Vernon, because of ill health.
LeFort, who has been a cobbler for more than 40 years, has had his shop in Vernon since 2015, when he and his family moved here from the Worcester, Mass., area.
"We found the perfect house and we looked a long time," LeFort said. His closed and almost-empty shop is next to the Vernon Post Office.
He sat at his kitchen table, looking at his thick scrapbook of unusual repairs, in addition to the usual heels and soles.
His scrapbook shows ingenious, inventive repairs: There didn't seem to be anything he couldn't or didn't fix: heels chewed off, high heels snapped off thanks to air grates, the uppers of a beloved pair of Frye boots ripped away and reconstructed out of matching leather. LeFort spent most of his career fixing everything from shoes, boots and pocketbooks. His trademark is a cartoon of a puppy having its way with a boot — and dogs are really a cobbler's best friend, if you think about it. Dogs cause a lot of damage, and LeFort always thought of a way to make repairs.
People brought him mold-covered leather motorcycle jackets, and he would restore them to wearable comfort. People asked him to fix their ballet or tap shoes, put in zippers in their riding boots or remove the fake fur from the cuff of another.
He's stitched and repaired worn American flags, and he has made machinery parts.
He's taken a beloved leather jacket and turned it into a purse. He's replaced tassels on mocassins — you guessed it — eaten by the owner's dog. He put a new toe on a pair of expensive wing-tipped banker's shoes. He's cut down high boots; he's built up short boots. He's installed Velcro closures or elastic instead of ties. He's even repaired a Western saddle eaten by a horse.
"The horse ate the whole side of the saddle," he said, with photographic proof. He's repaired a leather couch — yup, chewed by the family dog.
The biggest mistake people make with their shoes is not keeping them clean and oiled. A big jug of Neatsfoot oil sits on LeFort's kitchen table.
He's made orthopedic shoes, building up one shoe to accommodate someone with a shorter leg.
http://www.vssewingmachine.com/sewing-machine-showroom-perambur/
He's repaired an expensive pair of boots whose owner put them in the
microwave oven to dry them out — not the recommended method, he said.
The microwave warped the soles and heels.
He's fixed umbrellas, and repaired a suit of armor. He's even taken the electric flashers out of a pair of sexy high heels — the 'work shoes" of a pole dancer, he said.
He's made a leather harness for an iguana and repaired Dunkin' Donut foam cozies. "I did six of them," he said. He replaced the pull on a salad spinner for a customer.
In closing up his shop, he has sold most of his heavy cobbler's machinery and equipment to a Rutland-area cobbler. He kept one machine, an industrial Singer sewing machine, and he hopes his health rebounds enough so he can do some sewing, like putting new zippers in jackets.
Most of his career was in the Worcester, Mass., area. He said while there were about a dozen cobblers in the Worcester area, he had been able to earn a good living and support his wife and children during that time.
He said his Vernon shop was the only cobbler in a 50-mile radius. People would mail shoes to him for repairs all the time.
During economic downtimes, his wife, Judy LeFort, got a part-time job away from the cobbler's shop.While some might think hard times mean boom times for repair shops, she said people don't repair their shoes and boots during hard times, simply because there isn't enough money for anything.
Ray LeFort has strong opinions about the quality of most shoes sold today. He isn't fond of the molded and plastic-injected shoes most people wear today, but repaired them all the same.
"The molded, injected garbage? split right in the middle? I rebuilt it," he said. When asked who makes quality shoes today, he refused to answer.
"I could fix anything. I was that good," he said.
"Are you bragging?" Judy LeFort asked with the easy rapport of a long-married couple.
"Yeah," he said. "I can do anything."
LeFort recently closed his cobbler shop, Ray's Shoe Repair in Vernon, because of ill health.
LeFort, who has been a cobbler for more than 40 years, has had his shop in Vernon since 2015, when he and his family moved here from the Worcester, Mass., area.
"We found the perfect house and we looked a long time," LeFort said. His closed and almost-empty shop is next to the Vernon Post Office.
He sat at his kitchen table, looking at his thick scrapbook of unusual repairs, in addition to the usual heels and soles.
His scrapbook shows ingenious, inventive repairs: There didn't seem to be anything he couldn't or didn't fix: heels chewed off, high heels snapped off thanks to air grates, the uppers of a beloved pair of Frye boots ripped away and reconstructed out of matching leather. LeFort spent most of his career fixing everything from shoes, boots and pocketbooks. His trademark is a cartoon of a puppy having its way with a boot — and dogs are really a cobbler's best friend, if you think about it. Dogs cause a lot of damage, and LeFort always thought of a way to make repairs.
People brought him mold-covered leather motorcycle jackets, and he would restore them to wearable comfort. People asked him to fix their ballet or tap shoes, put in zippers in their riding boots or remove the fake fur from the cuff of another.
He's stitched and repaired worn American flags, and he has made machinery parts.
He's taken a beloved leather jacket and turned it into a purse. He's replaced tassels on mocassins — you guessed it — eaten by the owner's dog. He put a new toe on a pair of expensive wing-tipped banker's shoes. He's cut down high boots; he's built up short boots. He's installed Velcro closures or elastic instead of ties. He's even repaired a Western saddle eaten by a horse.
"The horse ate the whole side of the saddle," he said, with photographic proof. He's repaired a leather couch — yup, chewed by the family dog.
The biggest mistake people make with their shoes is not keeping them clean and oiled. A big jug of Neatsfoot oil sits on LeFort's kitchen table.
He's made orthopedic shoes, building up one shoe to accommodate someone with a shorter leg.
http://www.vssewingmachine.com/sewing-machine-showroom-perambur/
He's fixed umbrellas, and repaired a suit of armor. He's even taken the electric flashers out of a pair of sexy high heels — the 'work shoes" of a pole dancer, he said.
He's made a leather harness for an iguana and repaired Dunkin' Donut foam cozies. "I did six of them," he said. He replaced the pull on a salad spinner for a customer.
In closing up his shop, he has sold most of his heavy cobbler's machinery and equipment to a Rutland-area cobbler. He kept one machine, an industrial Singer sewing machine, and he hopes his health rebounds enough so he can do some sewing, like putting new zippers in jackets.
Most of his career was in the Worcester, Mass., area. He said while there were about a dozen cobblers in the Worcester area, he had been able to earn a good living and support his wife and children during that time.
He said his Vernon shop was the only cobbler in a 50-mile radius. People would mail shoes to him for repairs all the time.
During economic downtimes, his wife, Judy LeFort, got a part-time job away from the cobbler's shop.While some might think hard times mean boom times for repair shops, she said people don't repair their shoes and boots during hard times, simply because there isn't enough money for anything.
Ray LeFort has strong opinions about the quality of most shoes sold today. He isn't fond of the molded and plastic-injected shoes most people wear today, but repaired them all the same.
"The molded, injected garbage? split right in the middle? I rebuilt it," he said. When asked who makes quality shoes today, he refused to answer.
"I could fix anything. I was that good," he said.
"Are you bragging?" Judy LeFort asked with the easy rapport of a long-married couple.
"Yeah," he said. "I can do anything."
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