These Boots Were Made For........ Ed!

Not too long ago I went to the home of member Ed Dodrill.  His home told so much more about Ed than I am able to glean from our monthly meetings, where we are all so busy saying "Hi!" to everyone present, we rarely get the chance to learn more about one another.  Ed has lived a fascinating life and he has always been generous with his stories of his time as a reporter, a cowboy poet, and long-time Las Vegas resident, but what I recently learned about Ed is he is very, very talented as a designer and he LOVES cowboy boots.  

Enter Ed's home and you find a western theme throughout.  What drew me most is collection of cowboy boots.  The boots are on display and each one is unique.  Why?  Because Ed designs them himself.  He told me he sketches the images he likes, sends them off to a guy who puts the one-of-a-kind boot together and then sends them back to Ed.  Here's what Ed has to say about his boot, ummmm, fetish...............................

Here's one of Ed's Cowboy Outfits!

Yes, I wear cowboy boots. Of course I still wear socks!

I wore my first pair of cowboy boots when I was about 5 or 6 years old. My mother made the mistake of asking me what I wanted for my birthday. They were black with white diamonds on the top. The high heel was about ¼ of an inch higher than normal shoes.
After they wore out, I still kept wearing them until the socks were black when I took the boots off. A pair of boots, but not cowboy boots, finally replaced them. Everyone noticed. I was able to talk mother into cowboy boots every once in a while. I was content knowing the boots would last longer if I also wore shoes. When my oldest brother got married, I was the best man and that required a present. Acme boots. Just as they were getting very tight, the other brother got married. New boots! I was the only student at John Adams High School, in Queens, New York City, who wore cowboy boots.
I never had to drop everything to tie a shoelace. Another advantage, and I’m not telling, is that a person in cowboy boots doesn’t have to wear socks. If so, they don’t have to match.  Next time you are at an airport, watch the flow of traffic to or from the airplanes. Those who wear boots keep them shined!

Shortly after getting my first job with a newspaper, I purchased a few pair. making sure they did not clash with the rest of my wardrobe. Weekends were spent at a dude ranch, learning to ride. Boots were a must. The boot comments stopped. The idiot who owned a horse in New York City was the new topic of ridicule.

I wore shoes in the Army but was lucky enough to be stationed in Oklahoma, near the Texas border. I found my way to the Nocona boot factory in Texas and opted for a pair of custom-made black boots that were affordable on a private’s pay. Several pair followed
After moving to Las Vegas I landed a job at the Las Vegas Sun. One day Rex Bell, the District Attorney, dropped by my office and told me to meet him at the coffee shop at the Sahara Hotel at 8 a.m. Saturday. After breakfast we walked over to the convention center where I purchased three pair of Justin boots at wholesale cost. I am still wearing them.

Years later my wife and I took a trip that included El Paso, Texas. We visited a boot maker who advertised in a publication I received. After the visit we took a walk and saw a little run-down shop with a sign that read: RJ Boots. We walked inside. There was a large hole in the roof where there had been a fire and RJ, the boot maker, hadn’t gotten around to getting it repaired. After looking around I figured he was more interested in making boots and the quality of the boots was impressive. We ordered a pair for my wife. We were sold. RJ made all the boots in the photo. I would spend a year working on a design and them a computer wiz friend of mine would make a clear pattern.
After RJ was robbed and beat up, he ended his career and I stopped ordering custom made boots.  I am not extravagant. I have only a dozen pair of those fancy boots. The other 50 pairs are off-the-shelf. 

Ed gets LOTS of attention for his boot creations!