Storytelling Bus Stops: The Bootmaker

Gábor Fix (Ajkarendek, 1861 - Veszprém, 1925) was a master bootmaker from a Swabian family in Ajkarendek. As was customary, one of the sons had to learn a trade. This is how he ended up as a bootmaker's apprentice in Veszprém. He married in 1894, his (first) wife was Rozália Ertl Földesi, and they had 6 children. His workshop and house were in Cserhát, in Kőkép Street. Grandfather (Gábor Fix) used to prepare the material for the boots to be made every day early in the morning (at 3 o'clock in the morning). The finished boots were taken to the fairs and the surrounding villages by horse-drawn carriage and were then sold. The money was often used to buy several pigs, which were processed at home (pigs were slaughtered every week in winter to feed the large family). He supplied boots for the bishopric, for the leaders of the various churches and for the inhabitants of the surrounding villages (Herend, Bánd, Veszprémfajsz), mainly groom's boots. When raw materials were scarce during World War I, he once bought a whole wagonload of used leather from the military and made new boots from it, lining them with waterproof lining (out of urine bladder) and refurbishing them. After the war, he received many thank-you letters from soldiers who wrote to say that these boots had saved them from having to have their feet cut off because the boots didn't get soaked. Gábor Fix was also involved in political life. As he was one of the biggest taxpayers (a so-called 'virilist'), he was elected as a member of the city council. He also served as vice-president of the Catholic Circle.