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Text By Ellen Gardner •
Photography by Jim Arndt
When it comes to cowboy boots, there are working boots, for the serious
business of riding the range, herding cattle, and other chores needed to run a
ranch; and there are dress boots, for Sunday-go-to-meetings and other special
occasions. And then there are fancy or show boots, first popularized by silent
movie star Tom Mix in the 1920s and ‘30s.Gene Autry and Roy Rogers followed
closely on Mix’s flamboyant heels as Hollywood continued its love affair with
the cowboy mystique. Through the years, country music stars like Hank Williams,
Tex Ritter, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, and Dwight Yoakam got on the Happy
Trail, too.
(a) These “Stars and Stripes Forever” boots by Dave Little of Little’s Boots in
San Antonio, Texas, were made for Jim Arndt, collector and photographer of
one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted cowboy boots.
(b) The years from the 1940s to 1965 are known by collectors as the golden
age for custom cowboy boots. Jim says this pair from a private collection was
likely made in the ‘50s, but the maker is unknown.
(c) (d) and (e) A trio of boots old and new from various collections.
Very few working cowboys would die with these boots on, but for those who
appreciate sculptures in leather, they’re just the ticket. “Show boots see more
concrete than cactus,” wrote Tyler Beard.
(f) The movie Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta in 1980 and Top Gun with Tom
Cruise led to a renaissance of custom boot making that continues today with
companies like Toronto’s Liberty Boots, makers of this fanciful footwear.
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