In the past, it was common to hear through the city, the long sound of the whistle of the so-called “scissors sharpeners”, when they walked the streets, looking for customers. In the past century, there were many customers who resorted to their services, namely embroiderers, tailors, shoemakers and then women from the cutouts, from the embroidery houses, who took their scissors and knives to sharpen them. The knives, scissors and trimmers were sharpened on the stone, driven by a system of straps and pedal.

With the technological evolution and the progressive extinction of some of these professions, the number of customers decreased, leading this traditional craft to extinction.

In 2004, Luís Gomes Júnior donated to the “Museu Etnográfico da Madeira”, his sharpening machine, scissors and other tools, which he used for many years in his daily life, guaranteeing “the future of the past”.

Born in 1926, he learned to craft with his father, Luís Gomes, a native of Galicia. When he started his profession, he walked the streets of the city and some rural areas. In the 50's of the last century, it settled in Mercado dos Lavradores, next to a tree, existing in “Largo da Feira”. Who remember?

Credits: 600 Years of Madeira and Porto Santo