Online marketing helps step up sales of bronzed baby shoes; Ohio company sees comeback

Years ago, it was common for young parents to send off their baby's first shoes for bronzing as a forever keepsake. But like many popular commodities, bronzed baby shoes fell out of fashion.

The oldest and by far the largest company that bronzes baby shoes started offering the service in 1934 and never stopped. American Bronzing in central Ohio is using social media to help revive the tradition among young parents and grandparents.

CEO Robert Kaynes Jr. says just being able to target the Facebook pages of young mothers has helped boost shipments about 25 percent in the past six months. The 80-year-old company bronzes about 100 baby shoes a day, plus pacifiers, dog collars, cowboy hats and a variety of other memorabilia.