Are you ready to come with me inside the Anderson Bean boot factory? Let’s go check it out & before I go any further I have to say that I can’t really give a better tour than marketing director Steven Kahla did but I can certainly try. I would have to write a short novel if I wanted to include everything so I’m just going to include the highlights & if you want more, than I encourage you to take a trip to Mercedes, Texas.
We started off in the hide room, this is where you see all of the different colors & hide options that the boots are made of. It was one of my favorite places & this above black & metallic carved leather was one of the prettiest pieces in the bunch.
There were rolls & rolls of piping everywhere, of course I was drawn to the colorful roll.
Sewing machines hard at work for Anderson Bean. These do the stitching patterns on the tops of the boots. I’m going to do a separate tour for Rios of Mercedes but can anyone guess what you would see if you were in the Rios of Mercedes factory at this point right now (hint – how about someone hand stitching the tops one at a time).
A stack of finished boot tops ready to go on to the next step.
Hmmm these boots seem to be missing something…
Ahhh yes, I found the missing pieces. Here is where you find all of your boot sizes.
The toes & foot of the boot are sculpted into the proper sizes. The leather is hand stretched using water to help the process & then the boots must sit on racks to dry.
Now these boots are ready for some soles & support.
Arch support is added to the boots of the boots & lemon wood pegs. There are more pegs in Rios of Mercedes boots than in Anderson Bean boots, another difference in the two.
A heel waiting to go on a boot (another Anderson Bean & Rios of Mercedes difference).
The boots then undergo even more steps of smoothing out any imperfections & filing down any rough or uneven spots on the heels of the boots.
The last step is quality control, the boots are inspected throughly before they are boxed & ready for shipping.
In the end Anderson Bean delivers a boot that is made in the United States & made with excellent quality & out of great materials. Anderson Bean supports US businesses by purchasing hides from tanneries in the United States as well.
This is just a basic overview of what happens in the factory, I never even imagined there were so many steps to creating a beautiful cowboy boot. I hope you enjoyed my tour, later we will swing by Rios of Mercedes.
Want to see more from Anderson Bean? Check out this video.
Somsi says
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Ashley @ The North Carolina Cowgirl says
I always wondered how boots were made and shaped..it’s great to finally find out how! I bet you wanted to take home every pair you saw! I know I sure would lol. 🙂
Melissa says
Holy smokes I want those pink boots!
tracy says
Wow, it takes a lot of work to make beautiful boots. I am so loving the brown and pink ones in your last photo.
Sharon says
It is always fun to see how things are made especially the things you really like. Sounds as if you had a great tour.
I can’t wait to see Rios of Mercedes tour because of the hand stitched work . . .to me that loving labor makes those boots sound like works of art.
Marti says
I would have been attracted to the piping as well more like mesmerized by it. I love color what a fascinating tour I never knew there were so many steps to creating a pair of cowboy boots. Those sewing machines are probably just as cool to watch because they must seem like they’re alive. Looking forward to your other post on the Rios of Mercedes boots.
Marti
Xenia Kuhn says
So much great leather. I could so many great designs with that. mmm 🙂
FaShionRoLLa
Kacie says
I don’t think I could control myself with all that gorgeous leather in the first photos…I’d be rolling around in it. And those pink boots in the last picture? Sticking out of my purse with 5 other pairs. You have some amazing will power, my friend. 🙂
Thanks for the mini field trip! Great post, looks like alot of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!