Question:
I have recently come into the posession of a set of of boots marked Tex Tan
made in Brownsville, Texas. I am looking for any information on the boot
maker or company. Is it still in existence? Since it has sewn in labels, I
would guess that they are about 20 to 30 years old. Any information would
be appreciated.
I also have a set of boots made in Mexico marked Zodiac Frontier. Any
information would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
I've never seen any Tex Tan boots. They're not in the top of the line,
not in the same class as the formerly great names, Justin, Tony Lama,
Lucchese, and Nocona, all of whom have fallen prey to one or the other
of the conglomerates, Justin and Acme, who bought out all those old
family shops. (The quality of all of their boots have deteriorated
badly, as things are wont to do when accountants make decisions, rather
than craftsmen.)
I should not be surprised to find that Tex Tan had most or all of their
work done in Mexico and/or the far east. Even Lucchese is doing assembly
in Mexico now. Now, some of the finest bootmakers on Earth are found in
Mexico. But the leather's the thing, and a great deal of Mexican leather
is poorly tanned, even to the point of the urine odor coming out in some
of the worst. I imagine that Zodiac Frontier is a label applied to
generic Mexican boots.
Even some of the lesser brand older boots are better than the name brand
modern boots. Even lesser old ones might have steel shanks and leather
between the footbed and outsole. Lots of so-called top-of-the-line boots
today have plastic shanks and pressed paper inside. Any boot repairman
can cite chapter and verse about the sad situation and how folks wrongly
assume they're getting good boots because they paid big money and expect
the repairman to maintain them. (For that matter, the pool of genuinely
good boot men is dwindling. Operations like the various Boot Hospital
shops send most work to a mass repair plant staffed by minimally trained
folks. If you find a good bootmaker, treasure him or her.)
I don't buy the new ones. I hunt for old first-line boots and have new
boots made by my local bootmaker. Fortunately, many boots are bought on
a whim and hardly worn, eventually to be found in garage sales and flea
markets. My favorites are a pair of old Lucchese goats in their classic
"black cherry", the like of which Lucchese today can't make.
