On Wednesday we went with the Camera Club on the annual Mystery Trip. Carl arranges the trips and will never tell where we are going; we follow along until we get to our destination. This year's trip was to Nogales, Arizona, to the Paul Bond Boot Company.
Boots of every color and fashion are made here.
Our guide explained how Paul Bond started the Boot Company and then walked us through showing us step by step how the boots are made.
Every boot is custom made and starts with a "last" which is a mold of the buyer's foot. Every boot is made to fit perfectly. They have made boots for such notables as: John Wayne, Paul Newman, and Willie Nelson to name just a few. The least expensive boot I saw there was $550.00 and he told us they can go as high as $3000.00.
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| Row after row of "lasts" with size and name of buyer marked on them |
Each boot is sewn by hand (no digital machines here) on a one needle sewing machine. The artisan (because that is what they are) stitches one line of design then goes back and stitches another. It was amazing.
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| One of the sewing machines they use |
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| A pair of Ostrich/Alligator boots ready for soles |
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| Python skin ready to be boots |
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| Alligator skins |
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| New soles and heels without the dye |
They sell the boots all over the world; the day we were there they were packing up a pair of boots special ordered and off to Paris, France.
After seeing all the work that goes into these boots, that are guaranteed to fit perfectly and last a lifetime, I can see why the price is so high!
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| A group picture |
It was an interesting and enjoyable day! Thanks Carl for all your hard work.
That same evening we went with Shirlie, Scott and Yvonne over to Marilee and Alan's to see their new Scottie puppy. Her name is Maize. What a cutie. She reminded me so much of Katie's Sebastian when he was a puppy.
