I might add that when a shoe is spit shined all over...as some in the military insisted upon doing...it will, inevitably be spit shined over areas that are subject to creasing.
Spit shines require a build up of wax. I've seen spit shines that were almost a sixteenth of an inch thick of accumulated wax. That kind of build up usually looks terrible when it has creased and cracked. Worse it is bad for the leather...causing the leather itself to crack.

But the point is that a heavy build up is not necessarily a sign that the shoes are patent leather. When spit shined like that they can, indeed look "like they have been painted and buffed for a century."