bootblacks

• “Old men in flat caps and fox-fur collars gather to discuss the latest grim economic news, while waiting for a €1 shoe shine from the bootblacks working beneath a fragment of the city's medieval ramparts.”

  The Wall Street Journal: Within Portugal's Cradle

• “In this ancient place "where the wars [of the past] outnumbered the streets" and "even the bootblacks speak seven languages," a 40-year-old, unmarried senior police official named Constantine "Costa" Zannis is in charge of discreetly handling criminal and political matters too delicate for official channels.”

  The Wall Street Journal: Stealth and Daring

• “Not every one I've ever had but I am captivated by bootblacks -- a bit of a dying trade these days -- and I've written two or three stories about them.”

  The Washington Post: Sparing no expense: Reimbursements to remember

• “Not every one I've ever had but I am captivated by bootblacks--a bit of a dying trade these days--and I've written two or three stories about them.”

  The Washington Post: Sparing no expense: Reimbursements to remember

• “And there was a nationwide shortage of bootblacks.”

  "Adventures in Identity Politics."

• “He was immediately drawn into the world of impoverished young bootblacks, newspaper boys, and peddlers.”

  McDonald's Debut

• “Two bootblacks became wide-eyed and rushed for her feet.”

  Flappers and Philosophers

• “I was walking along briskly, dodging bootblacks, pen pushers returning from their midmorning coffee, lottery vendors, and a whole ballet of street sweepers who seemed intent on polishing the streets, using their brooms like paintbrushes, unhurriedly and with a pointillist's strokes.”

  The Shadow of the Wind

• “To the south lived the poor, the maids and laborers, bootblacks and newspaper boys, flower peddlers and taxi drivers, those who sold lottery tickets and all those who ran the hundreds of minor rackets that somehow kept hunger at bay.”

  Simon & Schuster: One River

• “But in the summer of 1985, the city closed down his operation because of a law prohibiting bootblacks from using public space, even though virtually every other type of vendor had access.”

  The Tragedy of American Compassion

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