This is the Red Wing Heritage Blacksmith boot, it’s one of the more timeless of the legendary American company’s boot designs, and each is made in their factory in the town of Red Wing, Minnesota.
Traditional blacksmith boots were made from thick leather with high tops – to help resist burning from sparks and embers. They had rubber soles, and just as with these Red Wing boots, they can have their soles replaced when they get worn down after years of use.
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. Image courtesy of the Red Wing Shoe Company.
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.
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 Blacksmith boot comes in your choice of four leathers – Briar Oil Slick, Charcoal Rough & Tough, Bourbon Yuma, or Copper Yuma. Red Wing notes that the design of the boot protects feet and ankles from hot cinders at the forge, and that it’s also the kind of boot worn in fields and workshops by day, and then shined up in the evening to attend social events.
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 Heritage Blacksmith Boot
This is the Red Wing Heritage Blacksmith boot, it was introduced in 2014 as a 6-inch plain-toe boot with construction and styling that closely follows the company’s classic boot line, and it wouldn’t look a whisker out of place on the feet of a blacksmith in the 1800s.
The Blacksmith boot comes in your choice of four leathers – Briar Oil Slick, Charcoal Rough & Tough, Bourbon Yuma, or Copper Yuma. Red Wing notes that the design of the boot protects feet and ankles from hot cinders at the forge, and that it’s also the kind of boot worn in fields and workshops by day, and then shined up in the evening to attend social events.
It has a Vibram 430 Mini-Lug sole, this is a rubber sole with more grip than the old-style cork sole, it also lasts a lot longer. The upper is attached with a three-quarter (270º) Goodyear welt, so the boot can be resoled, and it’s sewn with Puritan triple stitching.
A cork-filled midsole and a steel shank sit beneath a vegetable-tanned leather insole, and the interior is of the boot is unlined. It’s built on Red Wing’s No. 8 last, which has a rounded “bump” toe that leaves the toes room to move.
This is the Red Wing Heritage Blacksmith boot, it was introduced in 2014 as a 6-inch plain-toe boot with construction and styling that closely follows the company’s classic boot line, and it wouldn’t look a whisker out of place on the feet of a blacksmith in the 1800s.
The hooks and eyelets are dull gilt, and sizing runs in half sizes from 7 to 12, plus 13, in regular (D) and wider (EE) widths. All four versions of this boot are made in the USA from S.B. Foot Tanning Company leather, using traditional methods and techniques.
The Red Wing Heritage Blacksmith boot is now available to buy direct from the official Red Wing Amazon store here, and at the time of writing all sizes are available.
Images courtesy of Red Wing
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