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In reply to the discussion: So, what "Shithole" country did your ancestors come from? [View all]politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)144. I beg to differ. "Shinola" the shoe polish came first before the luxury goods Shinola Detroit
company, though the Shinola Detroit company later developed a shoe polish and legally acquired the name. (see below)
History
The name "Shinola" was trademarked in 1903,[1] and the shoe polish company of that name was founded at 822 Jay Street, Rochester, New York in 1907.[2] The name was thereafter acquired and a new company revived under the old name. It gained popularity during World War I and World War II as an effective shoe polish.
The original trademark was filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1929 and registered in 1930 by '2 IN 1-SHINOLA-BIXBY CORPORATION' (NJ, USA).[3] According to a review in the trade magazine Commercial America, the tin polish container was notable for having a "key" that could be turned to separate the lid from the can, an innovation of the time.[2] In a 1945 ad that ran in Popular Mechanics magazine, Shinola marketed itself as a wax that could also be used as a polish for scratches in furniture, a polish for linoleum, and a finish for toy models (e.g. airplanes).[4]
Ultimately, the company went out of business in 1960.[5]
In popular culture
Shinola was immortalized in colloquial English by the phrase "You don't know shit from Shinola" which first became widely popular during World War II.[9][10]
In the 1979 film comedy The Jerk, the character Navin R. Johnson (played by Steve Martin) is tested by "Daddy" (Richard Ward) on whether he knows the difference between shit and Shinola before leaving home.[11][12][13]
The phrase was used to a similar effect in Cleopatra Jones.[12]
The 1992 movie Basic Instinct features Gus telling Dr. Lamott, "Most times I can't tell shit from Shinola, Doc. What was all that you just said?"[14][15]
Dolly Parton wrote the song "Shinola" which also uses a lyric that plays on the colloquial phrase for her 2008 Backwoods Barbie album.[16]
Ween released a 2005 B-side and unreleased odds and ends compilation album titled, Shinola, Vol. 1 on Chocodog Records which plays on the colloquial phrase.[17][18]
The phrase has been grist for the mill for various musicians and artists. See Shinola (Energy Orchard album), an album by early 1990s Irish band Energy Orchard; Shinola (John Scofield album), a live album recorded in 1981 by jazz musician John Scofield;[19] Shinola, an indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina that existed from 19941997;[20] and Shynola, a group of visual artists from the UK that had exhibitions titled "Shinola."[21]
Comedian George Carlin used the phrase in his famously banned shtick, "Filthy Words", a/k/a "Seven dirty words" which became immortalized in FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, a First Amendment constitutional decision by the Supreme Court of the United States.[22]
Shinola Detroita luxury lifestyle brand that sells watches, bicycles, Shinola shoe polish, and other goodslegally acquired the name after the company's founder heard the expression "shit from Shinola" used during a dinner party. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has used the phrase.[23]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinola_(shoe_polish)
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I never understood why you left. The neighborhood went to hell and back afterwards. Now you can't
politicaljunkie41910
Jan 2018
#83
I beg to differ. "Shinola" the shoe polish came first before the luxury goods Shinola Detroit
politicaljunkie41910
Jan 2018
#144
Italy and Ireland. I got DNA from Other Shitholes, I mean, Garden Spots
TheOther95Percent
Jan 2018
#91
Lithuania (or Russia, depending on the year and the borders) and White Russia
no_hypocrisy
Jan 2018
#101
Scots-Irish from Northern Ireland in mid 1700s (paternal) & 1700s From England (maternal).
CottonBear
Jan 2018
#119
Cut it out! Cut it out! Cut it out! The hell's the matter with you?! Stupid!
Algernon Moncrieff
Jan 2018
#129