Go for the Gold » Midas Touch Found in Columbus, Ohio
image via Flickr user CWhatPhotos
Dip those Docs in gold, forever preserving this
iconic ‘90s footwear and emblem of teen angst.
Investigative journalism is not our usual beat, but a recent parental text message to Lo set us off on an unexpected quest: “Mom wants to know: do you need to keep those old Doc Marten boots?”
“Yes!!!” we replied immediately, thinking of all the trouble those boots got into with us in junior high. If they could write a book – well, we wouldn’t let our little Henri read it. “Dip ‘em in gold,” we added sarcastically. And then we did the classic double-take: maybe we should dip those Docs in gold, forever preserving our iconic ‘90s footwear and emblem of teen angst. And why stop there? Bronzed baby booties may be a parental cliché, but there’s a ton of stuff we’d be willing to glaze in gold if we know how.
Enter Valley Forge Gifts. “You can preserve almost anything from a hard-won game ball to a unique gag gift,” their website claims. We discovered that, like most retailers offering the service, they outsource to American Bronzing – the oldest and largest bronzing company in America. Since they were established in Columbus, Ohio, in 1934, AB has bronzed over 14,000,000 baby shoes. They use authentic electroplating – not painting – using multiple layers of real-metal plating to coat your keepsake. All 22 steps of the process are done by hand, and the workmanship is covered by a full 25-year warranty.
We contacted longtime American Bronzing staff associate Sue Maynard and inquired about gold. “We used to coat objects in gold – until about a year and a half ago. With the sky-rocketing cost of gold, it just wasn’t profitable anymore, so we stopped offering it.” You can, however, still bronze those boots! Our pair of Docs would run to $75-100 with an 8-10 week turnaround. “The metal shines like a brand new copper penny,” Sue says. Doc Martens, welcome to the new Bronze Age.
