This is the Red Wing Classic Moc®, it’s one of the iconic American company’s most famous boot designs, and it’s been in production since the 1950s. Importantly, each pair is still made in the USA, in the town of Red Wing, Minnesota.
These boots have been worn by everyone from hikers and hunters to Hollywood movie stars, including Steve McQueen and Jack Nicholson – the latter wore them in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
This is the Red Wing Classic Moc®, it’s one of the iconic American company’s most famous boot designs, and it’s been in production since the 1950s. Importantly, each pair is still made in the USA, in the town of Red Wing, Minnesota.
History Speedrun: Red Wing
Charles H. Beckman founded the Red Wing Shoe Company in Red Wing, Minnesota, in February of 1905. He was a German immigrant who’d survived the sinking of the S.S. Atlantic off Nova Scotia in 1873, worked at the local tannery, and eventually opened his own shoe store on Red Wing’s Main Street.
Years of working behind that counter in that little store had shown him what his customers actually needed – work boots built to last years in jobs that required heavy manual labor, not the generic footwear the shoe market offered at the time. He raised money from 14 local investors and set out to make boots himself.
The first Red Wings used pegged-and-nailed construction, this was standard for the era, but by 1909 the company had switched to welted construction, which saw the the sole stitched to the upper. This made for a longer-lasting boot, but it also meant the boots could be re-soled and made to last much longer.
During the 1910s Red Wing adopted the Tredstrate last, this was a foot-shaped mold that improved fit. During the First World War, Red Wing built the 1088 Pershing Boot for U.S. troops and brought women into the factory for the first time to meet demand – an essential move given that much of the male population was away at war
J.R. Sweasy took on the company presidency in 1921 and would be the first of four generations of Sweasys to run the company. In the 1920s the company bought a fleet of Puritan triple-stitch sewing machines. Some are still working on the factory floor today.
These boots have been worn by everyone from hikers and hunters to Hollywood movie stars, including Steve McQueen and Jack Nicholson – the latter wore them in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Two boots from the decades that followed became the company’s most important – the Iron Ranger, developed in the 1930s for iron miners on Minnesota’s Mesabi Range. It combined a thick leather upper, an oil-resistant sole, brass speed hooks, and a double-layer leather toe cap for some protection against abrasion and knocks.
The design of the Iron Ranger has barely changed in the decades since. The Moc-Toe Boot followed, Steve McQueen wore them, so did Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (as noted in the intro). President Eisenhower was presented a pair in 1960.
S.B. Foot Tanning Company, which had supplied Red Wing’s leather since 1905, became a wholly owned subsidiary in 1986. Its hides shod American troops in both World Wars and Vietnam.
Japanese buyers pulled Red Wing into the world of fashion in the 1970s – and American travelers noticed. J. Crew ordered 3,000 pairs of Classic Red Wing Mocs in 2007, sold out of them almost immediately – Red Wing launched its men’s Heritage line that year. A women’s Heritage line followed a few years later to meet demand.
The company is still headquartered in Red Wing, Minnesota, it’s still family owned, and it’s still building many of its Red Wing-branded and Heritage boots at American plants in Red Wing and Potosi, Missouri. Allison Gettings (J.R. Sweasy’s great-granddaughter) now serves as its first female CEO, the fourth generation of her family to run it.
The Red Wing Classic Moc®
This is the Red Wing Classic Moc #875, it’s a 6-inch men’s boot from the company’s Heritage line, and each one is made at Red Wing’s Minnesota factory in the USA. Its silhouette is the shape most people picture when they think of Red Wing – a moc toe with an oiled leather upper, and a white Traction Tred wedge sole. The design has been in continuous production since the early 1950s, when it was first developed for hunters and sportsmen.
Construction is traditional throughout, the upper uses full-grain oiled Oro Legacy leather from Red Wing’s own S.B. Foot Tanning Company, finished with an oil blend rather than added pigment so the natural grain and marks stay visible.
The boots use triple-stitching throughout, a Goodyear leather welt attaches the sole, and nickel eyelets carry the laces. The boot is fully resoleable at Red Wing’s in-house repair shop in Minnesota, meaning its lifespan can be measured in decades rather than years – so long as it’s looked after.
The boots use triple-stitching throughout, a Goodyear leather welt attaches the sole, and nickel eyelets carry the laces. The boot is fully resoleable at Red Wing’s in-house repair shop in Minnesota, meaning its lifespan can be measured in decades rather than years – so long as it’s looked after.
The 875 is built on the No. 23 last, developed in the 1950s with extra room through the forefoot and instep for a versatile fit. Sizes run from 6 to 15 in four widths (B (narrow), D (regular), E (wide), and EE (extra wide)). It’s offered in over ten leather colorways, including Oro, Briar, Hawthorne, Oro Russet, Black, Black Cherry, Alpine, Olive, Dusty Blue, Chocolate, and Sandstone.
These boots are now available to buy direct from the official Red Wings Amazon store here, and interestingly they come with a slightly lower MSRP than from the online Red Wings store.
Images courtesy of Red Wing
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