Knowing Their Skit from Shinola: How the American Watch Brand Played a Part in SNL’s 50th Anniversary

There’s a scene in the 1979 critically acclaimed comedy The Jerk where Steve Martin’s title character is about to leave the Mississippi family that raised him to embark on a life of his own. His adoptive father, played by Richard Ward, attempts to give Martin’s character a life lesson by walking him across their family farm and pointing out the difference between animal manure and a can of shoe polish.

“Now that you’re going out into the world, there’s, uh, something you should know,” states Ward’s character. “You see that?” he says, pointing to a patch of ground off-screen. To which Martin’s character replies, “Yeah.” “That’s shit,” says the father before holding up a small round can of shoe polish, following up with, “And this… Shinola.”
 

Shinola shoe polish was first introduced in Rochester, NY in 1877 and stood the test of time (pun slightly intended) as a household name until the company went under in 1960. The product was made of a tarry material sold in circular tins and, while available in various colors, was mostly sold in brown and black.

During the 1940s and largely with World War II American soldiers, the expression “You don’t know shit from Shinola” became popular, thus thrusting the idiom into a variety of pop-culture references such as the aforementioned scene from, The Jerk, a line in the movie Basic Instinct, and even a nod in a 2008 Dolly Parton song.
 

Fast forward to 2011, former co-founder of Fossil, Tom Kartsotis, restarts the Shinola brand name with a central focus on bringing timepiece manufacturing to the once-thriving but at the time struggling city of Detroit, Michigan. The name was certainly tied to the heritage brand once highly regarded in the United States. However, it was also used in a very tongue-in-cheek type of way, as Kartsotis’ hope for the new brand would be that people would know shit from Shinola when it came to American-assembled watches.

Current SNL cast members and writers John Higgins and James Austin Johnson – both big fans of Shinola – worked with the watchmaker to create personalized timepieces for the current cast as well as select writers and producers to honor the 50th Anniversary of the NBC series.
 

The base model used for the commemorative occasion is the Runwell 41mm, featuring a stainless steel case accentuated with a slate blue dial. In honor of the monumental anniversary, the watches were customized on the caseback with the number “50” etched in the same font as the “SNL 50” logo, accompanied by the words, “LIVE FROM NEW YORK” and “BUILT IN DETROIT.”
 

The standard wooden watch box Shinola is known for was also customized with an “SNL 50 – The Anniversary Season” sleeve, which was featured on the Shinola Instagram page along with additional images of the timepiece shared by Higgens himself on his Instagram stories.
 

This isn’t the first time Shinola has partnered with an organization to commemorate a milestone moment. Back in 2023, when the Philadelphia Eagles football team re-introduced their notorious “Kelly Green” jerseys, staff members were gifted special edition Shinola Kelly Green watches emblazoned with the Eagles’ old logo (fun fact: these are now selling on eBay for an incredible amount after the Eagles 2025 Super Bowl win).
 

Despite some growing pains, Shinola has managed to be a steady face of American watchmaking since its founding in 2011. Yes, one could argue that not all the parts are made in America (which Shinola clearly states on their timepieces), but there aren’t many things in this country more American than the city of Detroit, the desire to be different, and of course… Saturday Night Live.