Abstract: A shoe stretching last includes a tiptoe portion and a heel portion. A body is connected to the heel portion and a stem is connected to the tiptoe portion and is slidably mounted within the body. A locking plate and a pushing plate are slidably mounted on the stem within the body. A first spring normally biases the locking plate into an inclined condition to prevent sliding movement of the stem toward a position of minimum length of the last. A second spring normally biases the pushing plate to an orthogonal position relative to the stem. A control lever is pivotally mounted on the body for engagement with the pushing plate to move the pushing plate to an inclined position whereupon it grips the stem to lengthen the last. The pivotal movement may be repeated to incrementally increase the length of the last. Upon pivotal movement of the lever in the opposite direction, the lever engages the locking plate to unlock the locking plate from the stem to allow the last to move to the minimum length position.

Abstract: A tie-holder device comprises a support frame and a plurality of hooks rotatably mounted on the support frame and having respective crank-shaped ends associated with a driving bar. The support frame comprises an elongated box-like body which has a supporting function and at the same time encapsulates and protects all the mechanisms of the device.