• Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center
• Archive & Finding Aids

Introduction
Biography
Scope & Content Note
Subject Terms
Accession Information
Processing Information
Ownership & Literary Rights
Restrictions on Access
Preferred Citation
Container List

GUIDE to the
BLUCHER CUSTOM BOOT COMPANY RECORDS, 1915-1999
BLUCHER CUSTOM BOOT COMPANY. Records, 1915-1999.
218 fitting books; 11 document boxes.
Location: 0561-0582.


Introduction:

According to Tyler Beard in his Art of the Boot "Blucher boots have always been famous for high heels, underslung and delicately tapered to just kiss the ground. These undershot heels gave rise to the company motto, ‘They never slip a stirrup.'" Beard goes on to say that "part of the Blucher legacy is that they made ‘cowboy boots for cowboys.'" Additionally they made boots for the Hollywood cowboy heroes, such as Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Ben Johnson and John Wayne.

Biography:

In 1915 G. C. "Gus" Blucher incorporated the Blucher Custom Boot Company in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Employed by the Justin Boot Company for twenty seven years, Blucher had left Nocona, Texas with Archer LaForce, who later founded the Western Boot Company in Tucson, Arizona. By 1915, according to Irvin Farman in his Standard of the West: The Justin Story, "The Justins were employing twenty-five bootmakers who were turning out twenty-five pairs of boots daily."

Credited with making the first cowboy boot in his shop in Spanish Fort, Texas in 1879, H. J. Justin with the assistance of his wife designed a "revolutionary self-measuring kit that made it possible for customers throughout the nation to order Justin boots by mail" according to Farman. It was not only a success for Justin but lucrative for other bootmakers as well, including the fledgling Blucher Company.

Believed by many to have moved his operations to Olathe, Kansas in 1918, Blucher probably moved to Olathe sometime after March 1919. The fitting book reflects inactivity between March 14, 1919 and November 20, 1920. Blucher established himself across the street from Hyer Boots, a well-known competitor. Gus Blucher died in 1932. In 1969 the operation was moved to 350 North Main Street in Fairfax, Oklahoma where it produced its first new pair on May 4, 1970. Ironically, that pair was returned. Percy Hall bought the company in 1975 at a sheriff's auction and re-opened the business in April 1976. By the end of the 1970s Dr. George Martin owned the company. In 1997 Clyde Aldridge purchased the suffering company and moved it to Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

Scope and Content:

The Blucher Custom Boot Company Collection contains 218 "Fitting Books" which are day books dating between 1915 and 1982 and used to record customer transactions. A typical entry on a Day Book page includes: Name of customer, address, date of order, price of boots & payments made, Style number, boot material, i.e. kangaroo, calf; style preferences, i.e. color; customer instructions, shoe sizes, heel size; Carbon blue outline of customer's foot probably transferred from original patron order form; notation of date "out" meaning date boots completed or repaired and sent to customer. From what volumes are present, one can assume that volume 1 of the day books is missing. Pages 153 through 197 of Volume 20, 1919-1920 contains names and addresses of customers up to the point Blucher resumes business at Olathe, Kansas.

Five volumes dating between 1915 and 1936 are indexes to the earlier "Fitting books." Names of individuals in the indexes are organized by the first letter of the surname, but not alphabetized beyond that. From what indexes are present, one can assume that Index F-R to Day books 20-90, 191-1936 is missing.

1969 order form and several catalogs dating between 1989 and 1998 are included. Corporate records dating between 1986 and 1999 are present. There is restricted public access to these records until May 11, 2011.

There are no business correspondence, no contemporary clippings about the company through time, and no accounting records beyond what is available in the "Fitting books." There are no photographs and advertising materials beyond the catalogs.

The Fitting books do reflect the ups and downs of the boot business through two world wars, through the depression years, through the 1950s and the golden age of television westerns. Some consider the golden age of boot making occurred between 1940 and 1965. Certainly this collection reflects the economics, geographical influences, and artistic & design changes of this era.


Subject Terms:

Accession Information:

On May 11, 2001 with Bobby Weaver acting as its agent the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum purchased the collection from Clyde and Peggy Aldridge at 1917 Fareview Drive in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

Processing Information:

Jeanne Gaunce and Chuck Rand inventoried the volumes, associated catalogs and archival records following their accessioning. Rand produced a container list on May 25, 2001. On August 21, 2001 Rand completed a formal finding aid. Volunteers are currently indexing volumes by surname and/or company. These indexes are being entered into a local database accessible in the reading room.

Ownership & Literary Rights:

The Blucher Custom Boot Company Records is the physical property of the Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to this Museum. It is the responsibility of the researcher and his/her publisher to obtain permission to publish from the Museum.

Restrictions on Access:

This collection is open for research. The corporate records are restricted from public use until May 11, 2011.

Preferred Citation:

Blucher Custom Boot Company Records, Volume #, Date, Dickinson Research Center, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK.

Container List:

Inventory of the Blucher Custom Boot Company Collection, 1915-1999