It may actually snow in Chicago today, so it’s time to don some sturdy boots that don’t mind a bit of slush. These are Lucchese “San Antonios,” made about thirty years ago when the Lucchese Boot Company was making just one kind of “factory” boot in the eponymous Texas town. It was perhaps the best mass-produced boot ever made in America: the quality was impeccable, almost equivalent to that of a custom boot. But you bought them off the rack. Now, sadly, the company makes at least three lines of boots, with the bottom two being flimsy and the top line, the Lucchese “classics,” being of good quality but not as good as the standard boot of yore.
Here are some sturdy Lucchese San Antonios. They will never wear out; I can just get them resoled if they need it. They show a bit of their age, but I like that.
Agrarian, vintage, reliable, tenacious, and slightly tattered. The quintessential November boot.
I took my cowboy boots with me when I Entered the College of the U of Chicago. (During the Hutchins-Adler days, when The College was a distinct entity, with a dedicated faculty – that is, faculty who taught only in The College, not in any of the Graduate Divisions) In the winter the UC campus becomes a sea of mud – cowboy boots (which have been waterproofed with saddle soap) are ideal for negotiating across campus.
I have a pair of Lucchese that are 30 years old, to the exact year. I almost missed a plane in order to buy these boots. The taxi driver could not find Lucchese. I found that suspicious, but what are you going to do? I have never sprung for a pair of custom boots but, with that in mind, these are easily the best pair of boots I’ve had. I would have bought more over the years, but for the waning in quality and reputation that Jerry described.
Later the same year I bought the boots a dorm neighbor decided they looked better on him and stole them right out of my closet. A few weeks later, during which I was sure I would never see them again, I noticed them sitting in his room (sloppy!) during an open door whole floor party. Naturally, I took them back. And explained to him how not cool stealing my boots was.
…And that dorm neighbor’s name was Bernie Madoff, right?
If these are foul-weather boots, one wonders about fowl-leather boots….
b&
Fowl leather for foul weather. You’ve got the slogan, now you need the merchandise! I feel a bit like Larry Tate!
It is snowing here now but I’ve treated all my boots & my salt resistant ones I wear on slushy days (they are made in Canada in Montreal – La Canadienne and those things can take a lot of abuse and look new).
I’m really hoping they won’t have needed to salt bridges as I’m driving my summer car that doesn’t get salty!
I share your angst about salt trucks, and I’m really impressed that there’s someone else who feels the same way.
Happily, I think I avoided salt but I didn’t have an ice scraper o get the ice & snow off, so I turned the heat on high then I used a soft rag that I keep in the trunk.
I should’ve used a credit card, duh!
I hate the salt. I get my car that I drive in winter “pickled” with oil treatment to prevent rust.
A reference to Bob Wills is obvious, but with boots like these, you might attract Emmylou Harris.