1918 Blucher Custom Boots, Style No. 200

Vera McGinnis

Made for Vera McGinnis, the first Cowgirl to wear pants in the rodeo arena, by the Blucher Custom Boot Company in 1918. This is the pair of boots I reach for whenever someone asks me "How can a pair of cowboy boots be a work of art?".


More than hide and glue and thread and sweat and tools and blood and tears. These boots are. They have a presence. A voice that speaks of life and death and immortality. Everything in-between and ever-after.


If you're an "old hand" here, you know I'm a fan of Blucher boots... they made a boot that walked the walk and talked the talk. Vera McGinnis loved to rodeo. A World Champion Rodeo Trick Rider and Rodeo Relay Rider, Vera wore Blucher Boots.

Vera McGinnis In The Drunken Ride. Pendleton Round Up. W.S. Bowman

In 1934, her racehorse fell. Vera's back was broken in five places. Her neck, her right hip and some ribs were also broken. The doctors told her she would never ride or walk again. Sometimes it's hard, if not impossible, to keep a Cowgirl down. She rode and walked again.


Vera was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1979 and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame in 1985. A natural athelete, Vera recalled the day she decided to quit her office job and join the rodeo:

"If I'd pulled up right then, I likely would have missed the years of hardship, heartache, fun, adventure, a smidgen of fame, and finally, a broken body. But I'm glad I didn't, for I can honestly say the glamor never faded. It dimmed once in a while when I was hurt or overworked, but after a rest I always felt that I wouldn't trade being a rodeo cowgirl for any other profession."

- Alva Johnston, "Tenor on Horseback," Saturday Evening Post, September 2, 1939

Licks and kicks aplenty. Hard work and hard knocks. Made tough. Made beautiful. These Blucher Custom boots are as charismatic as the lady that wore them. Vera's autobiography, Rodeo Road; My Life As a Pioneer Cowgirl, is an entertaining recollection of her time.


Vera McGinnis died in 1990.

Her boots are still kicking...

Boot Photography: J. Davis
Blucher Boots, Collection: J. Davis
Vintage Photographs, Collection: J. Davis

G.C. Blucher Boot Co. Catalog No. 30

Catalogs were an integral part of any Boot makers' mail-order kit. This Blucher Catalog was mailed on June 24th, 1948, in response to an inquiry by Mr. Marion M. Madden of Detroit, Michigan.















































Also included in the kit was an instruction sheet, order form, tape measure, reply envelope and this letter from W.L. Flournoy.

Collection: J. Davis

Vintage Nocona Cowgirl Boots

Miss Enid Justin and the boot makers at Nocona worked hard to make a Western boot that deserved to be called "The Better Boot". They did a darn good job of it too.


The Nocona Boot Co. Catalog No. 77 offered many styles of Cowboy boots from Nocona's Golden Age. I've started to digitize the catalog and will publish it when I've finished. Speaking of catalogs... I've finished digitizing the 1948 Blucher Boot Catalog. I'll publish it here in the next week or two.


These are "stock" Nocona Cowgirl boots from the 30s. They belonged to a San Angelo cowgirl and are as fine a pair of boots as any "factory" Cowgirl boots I've ever seen...



1940s Nocona Cowgirl Boots. Custom order. High style from Nocona's "Golden Age". Beautiful boots that speak to me of different times.

By the way, the Blucher Boot Co. web site is back up and running. Check it out.

Photography: J. Davis

Blucher Boot Website

1948 G.C. Blucher Boot Co. Catalog No. 30

The Blucher Boot Company website is no longer published. A friend and fellow collector asked me if they’re still making Cowboy boots. I talked to Smitty a couple of weeks ago and yes, they’re still doing what they do best. Making the finest Cowboys boots one pair at a time.

Smitty’s not much on computers, email or the web. “Show me a computer that can make a pair of boots. Maybe then.” I don’t think renewing the Blucher website is at the top of his list. I doubt it’s even on the list.

Understandably so. Blucher is a small shop. They make Blucher Cowboy Boots. Favored by cowboys from the Great Basin, Smitty and crew continue to make the same cowboy boots Gus Blucher made famous many years ago. Smitty understands and has a deep respect for the tradition and history of the “brand.”

Here’s some boots in the G.C. Blucher Boot Co. Catalog No. 30. The catalog was included in a Self-Measuring Kit mailed in 1948. I'm in the process of digitizing the entire kit and catalog. I'll post it when it's complete.

"Tested and Proven by Stirrup, Weather and Time."

Blucher Boot Company still makes these styles...

and all the other styles in this catalog.


"Shop Made Expressly For You!"

Interested in a pair of Blucher Cowboy boots? Classic Traditional Cowboy Boots. They're the Best. Talk to Smitty. He’s a helluva nice guy. He'll "boot you up" right.

G.C. Blucher Boot Co. Catalog 30: Collection: J. Davis