C. A. Hyer

History

C. A. Hyer was the son who, according to Cowboys & Indians, took over the Olathe, Kansas boot company when his father, C.H. Hyer, died in 1921. The magazine reports that in the decades that followed business declined, and that in the 1970s financial trouble forced the sale of the company.

Wikipedia’s Hyer Boot Company entry says that after Charles H. Hyer’s 1921 death his sons continued to run the company, without naming C. A. specifically, and Olathe Boot Company’s own heritage page says Edward Hyer and later “his three sons” joined the business, again without naming them. Sources differ on whether C. A. Hyer worked the bench himself or simply took over management — the magazine’s own verb is “took over.” Zach Lawless, a great-great-grandson who later relaunched the Hyer brand, is described in the Cowboys & Indians piece as an entrepreneur learning the trade with a partner company rather than a historic bench hand. No style number survives for C. A. Hyer’s own work.

Sources

• Lindsay Whelchel, “Ride HYER With The Relaunch Of The Historical Boot Brand,” Cowboys & Indians, 17 March 2023
• Wikipedia, “Hyer Boots”
• Olathe Boot Company, “Heritage — Since 1875”