#ShoeBuffer August 9

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August 2026 several of us are going to take on the 30-Day Plugged in Coach4aday Challenge. Each day, we will feature an item from home or office that requires being plugged into a source of electricity to operate. We will reflect on how it makes life easier. For Day 9 it is the SHOE BUFFER.

If you’ve noticed the footwear people wear to work today, you’ve probably also noticed the decline of leather dress shoes. As casual footwear has become the norm, sales of shoe polish and other shoe shine supplies have fallen. If you’re in my age bracket, you probably remember shining your shoes by hand with Kiwi Shoe Polish before heading off to work or church.

In the 1990s, I was upgraded to a suite at a Marriott hotel, where I encountered the device shown below. It was an electric shoe polisher—a reminder that there was once a time when polished shoes were considered an essential part of a professional appearance.

Day 9-Electric Shoe Buffer

There does not appear to be one single inventor of the Electric Shoe Buffer. It was a device that evolved over time.

This machine never became a household necessity, but for much of the 20th century it was a familiar sight in hotels, airports, and office buildings. As business attire became more casual in the 21st century, these once-common machines gradually disappeared along with the daily ritual of shining leather shoes.