Two Cowboys on a Journey: Alberta Boot Company Calgary - Alberta

You Better Like Them a Lot


Ben Gerwing is the third generation, and the most recent caretaker at the Alberta Boot Company. He grew up in the factory. As young entrepreneur he is equally at home with customers in the front of the shop, than he is at designing, or stitching a pair of soles on a custom pair.

As typically happens with iconic producer businesses, the business is now much more than the Gerwing family. Like Smithbilt Hats, the company became an Albertan institution thanks to the Western traditions of the city and surrounds. It is an icon for every Canadian Cowboy and for those that still appreciate old school hand crafted quality leather footwear. The RCMP shops at Alberta Boot Company for their boots. So does many other law enforcement agencies in North America.

You can only get it at their store in Southern Calgary. You have to make the trip. Alberta Boot Company is now the only traditional leather boot manufacturer left in Western Canada, and one of the few businesses in its category that still make quality footwear that lasts. In Ben's own words: "When you buy a pair of Alberta Boots, you better like them. They are going to be with you for a very long time."


There are good reasons why Cowboy boots look the way they do. They are workwear first, and has been for centuries. Ben has a real appreciation for the tradition in the category. However, it is some of his newer designs in leather shoes that caught our eyes. He is modestly hand crafting very stylish half boots and leather shoes for a newer market. You just have to go and see them for yourself to appreciate them.

Alberta Boot was an idea that came from Clement Gerwing, Ben's grandfather, in the mid 1970's. He was selling western boots from Mexico and Quebec out of his wholesale footwear store. The demand for well made western boots was high and he didn't like the quality and products coming in. This was when he decided to start a new venture at an age many were considering retirement. Over a course of two years, in 1978 Alberta Boots was ready to go.

35 years later, they still make all their boots the same way they did at the beginning, even using quite a few of the original machines to add to the allure and individuality of every pair of boots produced.

Alberta Boot Company has outfitted Royalty, movie stars, entertainers, celebrities, athletes, public figures, religious leaders, and most importantly - ordinary people from all over the world who are intrigued by the mystique of the Wild West! "There is no greater compliment that we could receive," Ben Gerwing says, "than when a customer comes into our store and lays down their hard earned money for a pair of Alberta Boots. The fact that well-known people are wearing our product is an exciting thing, but it is the support of our regular clientele and the efforts of our dedicated staff that have brought our company to where it is today."

Observations


Unfortunately, there are not a lot of reasons to visit Albert Boot Company, often. 

The problem is that they make their boots so well that unless you are a collector, you have to invent reasons to visit. This is exactly what I do to have an excuse for a trip to Calgary for boot shopping. Every family member or friend that visit us in Alberta is carted off within the first week of their arrival for their first pair of boots. Real Cowboy Boots.

Every sibling that reaches the ripe age of eighteen also gets their custom pair of Alberta Boots. Why eighteen? Because the boots are so well made, you better be sure they fit. You are going to fall in love with them and wear them a long, long time.

It is easy to spot the people that wear Alberta Boots during the Calgary Stampede. They are the people with the smiles on their faces, because the boots are also really comfortable. The imported variety, that is taken out of the cupboard only for the once a year celebration, has a tendency to destroy your feet, and your love for the iconic western cultural celebration.

A trusty boot is like all well made garments. It takes on the character of the person that wears it. Alberta Boots are no different. Once you made friends with a pair of bull hides, they are friends for life. 

One particular event stays with me from a prior visit to the store. An old cowboy came through the door with a pair of Alberta Boots in need of a lot of attention.  After he was kindly informed that his boots were beyond resuscitation and repair this time, he just shrugged and left them on the counter. "I'll pick them up next week when you're done." he said in passing. On closer inspection, his boots has already been re-made several times, and apparently he is refusing to let go. That made an impression on me about the loyalty to, and love affair people have with their Alberta Boots.

If you ask me why I wear Alberta boots. Because an Alberta Boot ultimately becomes my boot. Ben and his team understand that very well. 

Hendrik van Wyk

Alberta Boot Cowboy

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Photos

Boot Nest

Alien

New Generation

Nothing to be said...

Boots

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Smithbilt Hats, Calgary - Alberta

The White Hatters of Calgary

(Learn: **** Inspire: ** Amaze: **** Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

The company Smithbilt Hats Inc. has been crafting hats since 1919. After doing research on what type of business to open, a young entrepreneurial Morris Shumiatcher went to his local bank and borrowed $300 to buy Calgary Hat Works, and Smithbilt Hats was born. This means the company is actually older than the ninety-seven years it had its name.

In 1946 they've made the first white Cowboy Hat. The White Hat would become the internationally recognized symbol of the Calgary Stampede and the City of Calgary. In 1949, Mayor Don Mackay donned a White Smithbilt on a mission to promote Calgary and began handing out the White Hat to visiting dignitaries. The City of Calgary continues this tradition today. 

Most Calgarians know this story already, but do we still remember what it is all about?

Today, not many people wear hats and even fewer wear cowboy hats. This changes in this part of the world during Stampede, which takes place the first weeks of July every year. For this event, everyone in the region dusts off their cowboy hats and for one amazing week they are all Cowboys and Cowgirls again.

Every year, as we put away our hats after the festivities of the Stampede, I cannot help but wonder if there is still a place for a Cowboy in today's world? Is there still significance to the symbol of a Cowboy hat in today's Calgary and western society in general? 

Some may argue the city has lost its heritage in favour of becoming a typical North American metropolis, that it is indistinguishable from places such as Denver or Houston. Just a smaller version. Have we become what many feared may come from the multicultural melting pot, where everyone is somebody and nobody is actually anybody? What happened to the real Cowboys among us?

If you ask the older folk, they tell you quickly about the value system of the typical Cowboy. There are many versions, but it usually goes something like this:

• Honour: No one carries honour like a cowboy. To him, it's like breathing. It is who he is.
• Loyalty: He rides for the brand, for his family and for his people.
• Independence: The west and what it stands for is inbred in a cowboy. Some may call him a rebel. The pioneering spirit is what sets him apart.
• Bravery: A cowboy, whether working or rodeo, faces elements and dangerous animals without fear. He perseveres with his conviction and is ready to face the consequences, whether they are good or bad.
• A sense of Self: A cowboy has a unique ability to be himself. As Paul Brandt put it in his song for Alberta: "Independence in their veins." A person identifies himself with Cowboy is a person that knows who he is, and can be.

I reason that these are values that still prevail in today's world. In our travels, we've found them often, and in particular, prevailing amongst the people that make things: The Producers. The people responsible for the foundation of our economy and our society: 

• Honour: Producers realize that you don't take something that doesn't belong to you. You earn what you have through honourable hard work, by building something that provides value to the people around you.
• Loyalty: They are loyal to their identity, family, workers and communities. They are particularly loyal to the people that value who they are and appreciates them for what they do.
• Independence: The Producers are the people that ask: "Why not?". Their independence moves creative innovation and drives us forward to find better ways to live, care and look after ourselves and our world we live in.
• Bravery: Ask anyone that dares to establish a producing and manufacturing business just how hard it is to be successful. While you fight for a place in the market you are confronted with heavy taxes, levies, licenses, legislation and regulations. Every non-producer and service provider out there is determined to milk you as Producer, in every way possible for the very last drop of benefit they can extract from your efforts. Producers are the bravest among us.
• A sense of Self: Every Producer and maker know the satisfaction and value they derive from what they make. Many will tell you, they would be doing it, even if they cannot make a living from it. They have a rare gift of self-worth. Their skills and values cannot easily be taken from them.

For the similar values between that of a Cowboy and a Producer, I wear my Cowboy hat proudly - now a Smithbilt hat. I subscribe to the values of a Cowboy, and I salute the Producers amongst us, who dare to make something and make a difference.

Impressions

We thought we had the wrong building when looking for the Smithbilt shop and factory. We drove by a number of times before we realized that this is in fact where we should be. The Smithbilt branded truck outside confirmed our suspicions. The five-decade-old sign outside the building finally gave up the ghost this winter, which didn't make it any easier to know if we've arrived. You really must know the folks at Smithbilt personally, or be very, very committed to find the home of Calgary's white hat, to get to it.

Brian Hanson, today's proprietor, greeted us at the door in typical Cowboy fashion with a strong straight handshake and a firm look in the eye. We commented about the sign, and he assured us that Smithbilt is finally heading to a new building later this year. They are still debating if the sign should come along. 

When you see the photographs against the wall of this iconic company you realize just how profound a place this is. Even the Dalai Lama has one of Smithbilt's hats, and he wore it (for the photo opportunity at least), which goes against his faith. 

As Brian took us through their manufacturing processes we saw equipment and processes that are decades old. All are still doing the job for which they were originally invented, designed and built. 

I will let the video tell the rest of the story. 

The most pivotal observation of the day is the recognition that Smithbilt Hats is a piece of Calgary and a piece of what remains of the Cowboy values and heritage. Brian and his team of investors are only caretakers of this iconic brand, which will hopefully survive another one hundred years.

One proud part of me want Smithbilt to be the biggest hat business in the world, and for everyone to know about this amazing business, its heritage and its people. The other part wants to keep it a secret and preserve what it is. It is our brand, my Smithbilt. A happy place for a weary Cowboy in need of a new hat, and an opportunity to reminisce over the good times.

Hendrik van Wyk

Smithbilt Cowboy Hat-Wearing Producer

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Quality Control

It Fits Now

The Original

Hatters

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White Hatters

When Maker Becomes Artist

The ultimate fulfilment for producers and makers is when craft becomes art. The logical step from here is to pass this knowledge on to the next generation.

I dabble in leather carving (www.hendrikvanwyk.com).

On my maker journey, leather carving inspired me to make beautiful and useful articles. The articles I make has the potential to outlast me if I take care of them. It also means that once I have a well made article, I probably won't need another one soon.

My journey taught me about meaning and purpose. It provided the mind space and satisfaction to create. The articles I make are useful and valuable to me. Making it is almost a meditation. Other people recognized the beauty and uniqueness of the articles. As a result, I've produced some custom items for a select few clients.

It is therefore inspiring to see a select group of craftspeople sharing these values, and investing in the perpetuation of their craft. Be introduced to the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association.

Who knows, maybe we get a chance to meet these folks soon...

Hopefully we get to feature their craft, their motivation and also introduce people to the possibility of learning how to make things themselves.



Hendrik

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