Acme Boots: History

The Acme Shoe Company was founded in the late 20s during the Great Depression where 2 Chicago shoe manufacturers decided decided to move their business from Illinois to Tennessee.

The two, Jessel Cohn and Sidney Cohn –Jessel’s son set up shop in a 2-storey building on Crossland Avenue and called their company the Acme Shoe Manufacturing Company. There were initially 100 employees of the shoe company and they produced sandals for children and infants. The production of Acme boots was introduced in 1935 when the senior Cohn saw western boots that costs $65 –a rather expensive pair at the time. Since it was rather expensive, the old Cohn took the boots home to study how it was made –noting of course every detail of the shoes’ construction. After his in depth study of it, he and his son Sidney saw that they could actually produce western boots and sell it for a more affordable price. This is how Acme boots were born.

After some time, the Cohns decided to drop their infant and children’s footwear to produce boots hence the name Acme Boots came to life. By the 1940s, the company became one of the largest cowboy boot makers in the history of the United States and remained the largest maker of boots in the world up to the mid-80s.

Acme Boots was later on held by different corporations including Dallas’ Arena Brands which licensed Acme Boots to the Texas Boot Company in the year 2000. It was sold 2 years later to Berkshire Hathaway and placed under the label Double-H Boots.

Today, boots from Acme are still one of the most affordable cowboy boots one can buy but do not be fooled by the prices because the company still produces sturdy yet fashionable cowboy boots to boot. Through the years, the line was improved in terms of comfort and cushioning making it a great choice if you are looking for inexpensive and very comfortable cowboy boots.