Boot Manufacturer
Blucher Custom Boot Company
Gus Blucher founded Blucher Custom Boot Company in Cheyenne in 1915 after a long Justin apprenticeship, then moved to Olathe for shipping access; he died 1932. The firm later moved through Oklahoma (Fairfax / Okmulgee / Beggs; Guthrie also appears in some accounts). James “Smitty” Smith operates in Beggs from 2001. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum holds 218 Blucher fitting books with 110,000+ customer records — primary provenance path for collectors.
Why collectors care
Blucher is one of the few titles where the archival record is richer than shop folklore. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Dickinson Research Center holds 218 Blucher “Fitting Books” / day books (1915–1982) acquired 2001, with a searchable index exceeding about 110,000–111,000 customer records. A typical leaf can carry name, address, order date, price/payments, style number, materials, special instructions, sizes, heel height, a carbon-blue foot outline, and an “out” date.
That archive alone justifies a Library page: collectors, families, and historians reconnect unlabeled or family-attributed pairs to a dated order — and the books document custom-boot economics across two world wars, the Depression, and the TV-western boom.
Oklahoma Historical Society encyclopedia text credits Gus Blucher with pioneering leather inlay design and custom boots by mail order after a long Justin apprenticeship — placing Blucher next to H.J. Justin / C.H. Hyer / Olathe Boot Company geography without collapsing the houses.
Life / location spine
| Year / span | Event | Source weight |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-1915 | G.C. / C.G. “Gus” Blucher works for Justin (Spanish Fort / Nocona-area operations). Justin-years counts conflict: OHS about 20; NCWHM 27; OK Mag quotes Smith “until 1913” | Flag the span — hire date is not established as a single figure |
| 1915 | Incorporates Blucher Custom Boot Company in Cheyenne, Wyoming | NCWHM strong |
| 1918–1919 | Moves to Olathe, Kansas for railroad / central shipping; Vol. 20 (1919–20) includes lists up to Olathe resumption — paper seam | NCWHM |
| 1932 | Gus dies age 57; company continues | OK Mag |
| 1969 | Moves to Fairfax, Oklahoma (NCWHM); Mays-family period visited by LA Times 1992 | NCWHM + LAT |
| 1997 | OK Mag: to Okmulgee | OK Mag |
| OHS 2010 | After 1932 “moved several times, ultimately settling at Guthrie,” then Beggs — conflict | Published claim that still needs reconciliation |
| 2001 | Smith (OSU Okmulgee shoe/boot/saddle program alum; worked Blucher 1970s) buys; moves to Beggs; True West notes partner Patrick Hale at takeover; NCWHM acquires the fitting books | Strong |
| Present | One-maker Beggs shop; about 2-year waits / about 1 month bench time per pair in OK Mag reporting; still uses 1915 catalog language / “Gus Blucher's rules” (True West / Smith) | Shop continuity of patterns, not Gus's hand |
Location-sequence conflicts
Prefer NCWHM + OK Mag for Fairfax / Okmulgee / Beggs; treat OHS “Guthrie” as a published claim that may be a short stop, an owner address, or encyclopedia compression.
Mail-order custom and inlay
Blucher's commercial innovation was scale-by-post: measurements and foot outlines mailed in; the shop built and shipped. That is why fitting books look the way they do — parallel to Justin / Hyer measuring-kit culture.
OHS and period press (including a Los Angeles Times Fairfax visit) repeat that Gus was among the first to push inlaid leather decoration from workwear into fashion display. OK Mag describes about 38 original stitch / inlay patterns still offered from historic catalog language (butterflies, doves, flowers, cattle, plus customer designs).
Shop practice under Smith (OK Mag): measure/outline → materials/style → wooden last (some lasts dated to the 1920s) → cut/paste tops → sew → crimp vamps → soles/heels → finish. Interior stamp lore: “Blucher Boot Company, made expressly for,” with the customer name penned. One 1915 sewing machine is still cited for vamps/counters/pull straps — a continuity claim, not proof every operation is pre-industrial.
Fitting books as ID resource
The NCWHM essay “Feet, Boots, and Measuring Tape” uses the books as cultural biography. Museum-cited examples include:
- Douglas Fairbanks — 25 Feb 1919 kangaroo boots, 2-inch heels (right-foot outline in Vol. 20).
- Rodeo figures Vera McGinnis, Lorena Trickey, Chester Byers, Reine Hafley Shelton.
- Clowns Pinky Gist, Red Sublett.
- Western actors Guinn “Big Boy” Williams, Buck Jones.
Reading a famous name in the books
Secondary lists also name Tom Mix, John Wayne, Emmett Dalton, Buffalo Bill Cody, and others. Prefer museum-cited volume/page examples over undated “famous customers” marketing lists. Celebrity presence in a fitting book proves an order existed — it does not authenticate a pair without matching style notes and provenance.
Researchers: search the index via NCWHM ArchivesSpace (collection 2001.022); request volume/page pulls from the Dickinson Research Center. Separate inlay style family from proof of maker — inlays spread widely after Blucher's generation.
Period labeling for collectors
| Period | Reading |
|---|---|
| Gus era (1915–1932) | Founder hand / early Cheyenne–Olathe |
| Mid-century company | Post-Gus continuation; Olathe into Fairfax |
| Fairfax / Mays period | LA Times 1992 window; Urban Cowboy–adjacent custom market |
| Smith Beggs (2001–) | Continuous patterns and name; not Gus's hand |
How to use this entry
- Start attribution with a fitting-book search when customer name or decade is known.
- Read beside H.J. Justin (apprenticeship) and C.H. Hyer / Olathe Boot Company (Kansas boot geography — different houses).
- Flag location-sequence conflicts rather than picking a single blog timeline.
Known for
Mail-order custom pioneer; leather inlay; NCWHM 218 fitting books (1915–1982)