_ in our continuing search for people who do what they like, and who do it well, with pride and great love, we came to the workshop of beck boots on georgia street in amarillo, texas.
_ harry beck's family has been in the bootmaking business for almost a hundred years, and he takes massive pride in keeping his business small and manageable. he's been the other way, selling to department stores and operating huge factories, and he prefers it this way.
_ so much intense hand labor goes into each pair of boots, only six pairs are made a day.
_ the workshop itself is in back of the showroom, and while you look for shoes you can hear someone banging nails and smoothing out a sole.
_ though harry's proud of his product, he's even more proud of his customers, and his website (www.beckboots.com) lists hundreds of pictures of customers in his store. we think we're up there now, awkward in cowboy boots and shorts, but also comfortable, on account of the snug fits.
_ in the front of the store there's a display case filled with boots worn to perfection. though this isn't it, there's a great pair of gray suede boots that were tramped through a cattleyard for a decade or two. the color's not quite gray anymore.
_ this guy is of course our favorite. those are the bowed legs of a true adventurer.
_ the showroom at beck boots prominently displays the filing cabinets of all past customers.
_ while ten feet away the bootmakers toil away in the workshop, carrying on at their steady, constant pace.
_ a third of the working space is taken up by walls holding the casts of customer's feet.
_ now beck's is working the internet, and in a google search for 'cowboy boots' they came up second. you can order a fitting kit over the internet, and a rectangle of pink styrofoam will arrive at your front door within a week. you stand on top of it in bare feet, and sink, leaving an impression of your arches and toes.
_ the workers are all friends or family, one son helped his father out, another friend recruited another friend etc. the community is tight around the worktables, and on friday, with harry, they all break bread together.
_ beck boots was started by harry's father and uncle, and has moved around the country, from texas to los angeles and now back again. these pictures are in the entryway, and you can't, or are not allowed, to miss them.