A series of images of Shoe Shiners in the NYTimes, showing on their hands their most valuable tool, the rag:
But all shoe shiners have one thing in common: the rag, the most disposable and yet the most indispensable tool of their trade. A long strip of fabric that gets twisted around fingers and then back over the flat of the hand, the rag works the polish into the deepest cracks, then buffs it till it gleams.