Paul Bond Boots
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Paul Bond Boots
Nogales, Arizona
With the namesake founding boot-maker Paul Bond being gone for a number of years people may wonder if the Paul Bond Boot of today is still the renowned Paul Bond Boot from back in the day.
The craftsmen presently involved in the making of a Paul Bond handmade hand-stitched cowboy boot still create with pride, hand work, hard work.
Most of these craftsmen were employed by and/or trained by Paul Bond back in the day.
Featured Craftsmen:
Juan Ariano
Giovanni Galeano
Eleazar Villalba
Jose Luis Ochoa
Jose Cedeno
Fermin Haro
Expanded Image Gallery ~ Paul Bond Boots – Nogales, Arizona
Detailed measurements and notations result in a yellow tag and a hand built last that the boot is built around.
The tag detailing all the custom requests and boot possibilities is tied to the boot and follows it throughout.
After the lasts have served their purpose and are removed from the finished boot they are retired to the third floor of the barn-like structure where all this boot building effort transpires.
Along with the lasts and the names and details notated, there are the stories.
Stories connected with the boots and the people for which the boots are destined.
Someone needs to put the stories on paper.
Juan Ariano can take the measurements and build the lasts.
I caught him shaping, sanding, moistening, stretching, soft gluing, forming, cutting, trimming and nailing: making the toe of the boot.
Nine years ago Mr. Bond taught Juan Ariano how to make the boot.
Sharp knives, sharp edges.
Tools are constantly sharpened.
As is the eye.
Eight types of formed leather toes.
Toe stitching available as well.
“Paul Bond knew about cowboys. He grew up on the family ranch near Carlsbad, New Mexico. By the age of sixteen he was breaking horses for a cavalry remount station, riding bareback broncs at area rodeos, and learning custom boot making at a local saddle shop. Rodeo lured him off his home range and he started going down the road to all the big shows from Fort Worth and Boston, to New York’s Madison Square Garden. He rode bareback horses and also worked up a contract act featuring trick and Roman riding. In the off-seasons, he continued to make custom boots and in the mid-1940s he opened a custom made boot shop back in Carlsbad. He moved the outfit to Nogales, Arizona in 1957. “
“To keep up with the demand for his boots, he needed the skilled leather craftsmen who were abundant along the border. “
Boot pulls tailored to the customer’s order.
Fine, tedious and solitary work.
One would need to be exceedingly comfortable with one’s own company.
Giovanni gave me his name in a big bright voice
Pride.
Thirty years of experience.
Someone hand cuts all those patterns.
Lasts.
Lasts from the past.
Uppers.
The Sock.
A lot happens at Jose Luis’ stations.
Critiquing one’s work with an eye of thirty years.
Soles and heels.
Seven different heel types of varying heights.
Sharp knives, sharp edges.
Stacked leather heels.
Hammers, brads and pegs.
Wooden pegs.
Moistening the pegs and leather soles, then drying in the sun sets the wooden pegs in the leather.
Old school.
Impressive machines.
Repair work as well as new construction.
Machinery that needs daily servicing.
Got it right.
Paul Bond Boots facebook Group Link
Paul Bond Boots .Com facebook Link
Expanded Image Gallery ~ Paul Bond Boots – Nogales, Arizona
Thanks to Michael Ward of Paul Bond Boots for the invitation and hospitality.
One’s Work ~ Link To Similar ‘Work’ Related Posts
SOURCE LINKS
15 of the Best Cowboy Boots You Have Ever Seen
A Tribute To Paul Bond – True West Magazine
