This here is a great old pair of engineer boots, unfortunately I don’t know who the maker is at this point. This boot is straight up and down an American classic. Construction suggest 1960s. Double and triple stitched uppers, brass hardware. Cord Armortred Nylon Neoprene soles. Composite heel.
This is an older pair of Irish Setter Boots by Red Wing. This style boot is consistent in cut and quality with boots marketed under the Red Wing name for that time and even today. The boots featured original Vibram Montagnabloc soles made soles, ideal for hunting and hiking. Single layer split leather uppers are triple stitched around the vamp and back strap. Storm welt and gusseted tongue keep the elements at bay as the wearer tromps about the field, snow, mountain or marsh. Closure is completed via six eyelets and three loops making for. easy on and off.
Chestnut brown in color with slightly darker tongues for added style. Boots are stamped inside uppers 10 A, model number there but not legible. Red Wing stamped on the inside of right boot. Leather insole. 7″ uppers and 1 1/8″ heel.
This is the kind of boot heritage lines are trying to reproduce.The example here, a pair of Peters Diamond Brand dress or work boots. My guess, based on style and construction is that these boots are from the 1940s or 50s. Color is a reddish brown, not quite burgundy almost a red clay. Rounded toe is not safety-steel making it an appropriate boot for work or dress by today’s standards. The boot shaft is five inches tall with a one inch heel. Lace up consists of four eyelets, three hooks.
This is a fairly unique pair of Frye western boots. The Black Label inside the right shaft dates them to the 1970s and produced at the company’s Marlborough Massachusetts facility. The boots are quality constructed of thick split grain leather brushed just shy of a suede texture. Stacked leather heel with black rubber grip and leather sole. Ornate details are slight, there is a dark piping that runs up the sides of the boot and around the top. Unlike the Campus boot one often sees from Frye in this era, these boots have the narrow point toe and an angled, shorter leather heel. Like the campus boots these have the leather lined shaft and cloth lined vamp, leather foot bed and reinforcement in the back of the shaft to reduce pull-on wear.
Seen here is a great pair of older Danner insulated and Gore-Tex lined hunting boots. Tongue stamped 60630, a style number no longer in production, but the styling is very similar to what’s known now as the Sierra GTX, Style 63100. The boot consists of a multi panel leather and Cordura upper. Fully attached tongue construction along with the Gore-Tex lining ensure the elements stay locked out. A light quilted insulation on the interior makes these a good boot for almost any season. Old style duck camo on the Cordura works well in the field or on the streets. In fact, Danner has recently collaborated with modern-american outfitter, Ball and Buck on a very similar, updated version.
Other details include an 8″ shaft height, Vibram soles, 8-eye lace up consisting of eyelets, D rings and hooks.
This may have very well been how George Herter described these boots in one of his many volume of mail-order catalogs. Herter, an avoid outdoorsman, entrepreneur, writer and all-around kook, wrote garish product listings with the same panache that he put into his numerous hunting, fishing, cooking and motivational novels. Beyond enjoying a semi-successful writing and publishing career, George Herter also operated one of the most successful mail-order outdoors catalogs since Leon Leonwood Bean. The Waseca, Minnesota based operation ran from 1937 until the early 80s.
This pair of Herter’s Hudson Bay Boots is much like a plain toe hunting boot from Red Wing. The uppers are essentially made up of three pieces, the vamp extends from the toe around the lower areas of the foot to the heel of the boot. The upper connected along the side of the foot, then a back stay conceals the seam up the back. The tongue is solid across the front of the boot keeping the elements out and the boot is laced through a combination of D-rings and hooks. The boots appear to be fully leather lined giving them a little more insulation than a regular single walled boot.
Inside Markings:
7D 12150
S68 1200
This is one beautiful pair of Frye Campus Boots in black. This particular style of boot is indicative of the traditional campus cut popularized in the 60s and 70s. The original Frye Black Label (black being the main color of the logo stitched in the right boot) verifies their authenticity. Around 1979 the black label was discontinued and a white label was introduced. At this time Frye also started embossing the logo on the outside heel of the boot.
The “Campus” style is a take on a traditional western style boot but with a blunt, rounded toe, thick sole and block heel. These boots are usually seen with lighter, banana or medium brown uppers with natural leather soles and heels. This particular boot is midnight black top to bottom, but maintains the natural undyed leather inside. In my researching these boots I found that the 2550 was show as ‘hand stained brown’ in an old Frye ad. I have no knowledge of whether that leather color may have varied in the model number 2550, but given that all other colors of the boot are assigned their own number, It is quite likely that these boots started their life as brown boots and were later dyed, or by some other means made black.
13.5″ shaft
2.25″ heel
Inside Markings:
11 D 4K13068
Made in the USA
These boots are currently available on the BCV eBay store
These older Danner 30520 hiking boots are the bases for what is now known as the Mountain Light 30876. Though not called the mountain light, this version was made significantly lighter than the previous 6490 version primarily from the move to a Gore-tex lining and lighter sole material. Danner was an early adopter of the revolutionary Gore-TEX fabric which made its entrance into outdoor market in the mid 70s. A similar boots marked 3052 was also made, I’ve not yet determined what the extra 0 found here denotes
Much the same as the current Mountain Light these boots feature:
GORE-TEX lining
Vibram Soles
5 D-rings, 2 hook lace-up
Danner tri-fold tongue
5″ shaft
Are Made in the USA and Recraftable
Tongue Markings:
10 D 30520 23A233
Danner
WWII era United States army Air Forces uniform A-1 shearling flight boots. The boots shown here are 10″ tall size XS and may actually be women’s boots. Other pairs I’ve seen were larger and the tongue tag read Mens instead of Wos. Not a war historian, but can’t imagine too many ladies donned these boots in those days. Crown Zippers with ankle and upper belts and buckles for added fit. Shearling lining runs throughout the uppers except for the sole. In each of these boots are two thick wool insoles as well as a wool foot bed. Don’t know if the added soles were standard issue or later additions by the wearer to increase warmth and or fit.
Bits of the US Air Forces logo still visible on the outside of the uppers, but most of the dark tanning has come off. These boots are of a similar era to the Type A-2 jacket seen on my blog, but a little later. The U.S. Army Air Forces became the U.S. Air Forces in 1947.
Tag reads:
OVERSHOE, FLYING, HEAVY, TYPE A-1
SPECIFICATION MIL-0-6540
SIZE………Wos XS 5-6 1/2
STOCK No. AF-8305
BRISTOLITE
U.S. PROPERTY
Great boots from the great northwest. These Danner Boots are like none other that I have come across before and you’ll be hard pressed to find another pair in this style. Marked as 31570 040035, these boots share have similarities with the famous Danner Light in the form of mixed material uppers, but are lower cut with a more casual feel. Still fully lined with Gore-text they ready to take on just about anything, from the city streets to the mountain trails.
In the early 80s, the use of synthetic fabrics in hiking boots began to take hold. Cordura along with Gore-Tex had the ability to greatly reduce the weight of a pair of boots while still allowing for dependability and weather proofing serious hikers had come to expect from their earlier leather tanks. Boots like the Vasque Sundowner and Danner Light exploded in popularity and pretty soon every boot maker had a similar option.
Basecamp Vintage & Archives 