To banish that down at heel feeling

... you need only say "Dinkies" Please!
Apparently.

This is the advertising slogan printed on this unused gusseted brown paper bag that is the perfect size to accommodate a pair of repaired shoes. We have a whole pile of them left over from when my father-in-law packed in his trade a cobbler. It must date from the 1950s or early 1960s.

He kept much of his equipment for decades after and whenever we visited (this very house that we live in now) the first thing he would do would be look at our heels. If they were down (and mine usually were, as I'm very heavy on heels) he would whip them into the garage and put new heels on them. None of your modern staple guns - he crafted the shapes himself by hand, in smooth, easy (-looking) movements. And he used quality materials - as he did when he was in business. A lost art that Mr PP often regrets never learning.

What do you do with a pile of pristine paper bags like these? Well, as coincidence will have it, there are some up on eBay even now. I must watch and see if they sell. I expect the seller wants to find an appreciative home for them, rather than make money. It's so hard to clear this sort of clutter, I find.

I dedicate this blip to St Crispin, patron saint of cobblers. And to my father-in-law's memory. (Just googled St Crispin's day and it was 25 October: shame - should have dug these out a couple of weeks ago!)