 If you're interested in heritage style boots, despite the quality and history of English boots from Northampton in particular, your interest probably centres more in the American styles. I'll explain why I think so in a minute, but that being the case, I think we should talk about some American heritage brands and boots. Stay with me and let's take a quick look at some American classics. G'day, welcome to Bootlossophy. If you're new to my channel, my name is Tech, and if you like what you see, don't forget to click on the like and subscribe. I come to you from a widget country in Perth in Western Australia, and I acknowledge the widget people as the traditional custodians of these lands and seas. Today, I'm going to compare some American historic heritage brands represented by their most iconic models. The Red Wing Iron Ranger, the Chippewa Service Boot, the Wolverine Thousand Mile Boot, the Alden Indy, and the Allen Edmonds Higgins Mill. I'll try to identify their common DNA and show you their differences, like finding some long-lost cousins who have grown up different, but came from the same origins. Now, I did mention the heritage Northampton tradition of bootmaking in the introduction. If you're looking at heritage style, quality made, good-you-welted and stitched-down styles, you can't ignore the likes of Crockett and Jones, Joseph Cheney and Sons, Lokes, Churches, Edward Green, John Lobb, just to name a few. And yet, as someone who has found an interest in heritage boots, you would be in the large majority if you admit to knowing much more about American brands. Now, personally, I think there are two reasons. The first is that in the mid-2000s, Asian youth, particularly in Japan, picked up the American heritage clothing trend, including Americana mid-20th century boots. Inevitably, I think, this trend bounced back to the U.S., raising awareness there that all of these great brands that once existed had been on the decline, having been closed or had been bought out by hedge funds. The Gordon Gekos took over troubled cash cows and trimmed them down to basic financial fundamentals and in so many ways, not only lost their American manufacturing base, but also lost their souls. So that American heritage trend that first arose in Asia went back to the U.S. and because it still is the largest buying economy in the world, has also fed the rest of the world's interest. The second reason I think that English brands haven't surfed the trending waves is that they are, and I do not mean this condescendingly, they are slower to move. They are steeped in history. They have deep familial traditions, believe in doing things the old way. And this has meant that they have been slower to react, except for maybe those few that have been taken over by their younger generations. We can have a straw poll. Those of you who are watching, leave a comment below about what historic brands of boots interest you, American or the rest of the world. Let me know. At any rate, here we are. And to compare some iconic American makes and models, I've picked these classic models out of my collection. I have here Red Wing's iconic capto boot, the Iron Ranger. Then the now discontinued Chippewa service boot. Although I notice in social media, Chippewa seems to be active again with a self-titled Chippewa OG account. Next is Wolverine's 1,000-mar boot. Classic elegance, especially in this Chrome XL version. The Alden Indiana Jones boot is next, except this is a 403 model in brown Chrome XL, and the real boot of the movies is the 405 in a kind of reddish brown calf leather. And then finally, I'm adding to this list the Alan Edmonds Higgins Mill. It's an old brand, but not really an old classic boot. It's a service boot that's regenerated from old bones during the service boot trend that emerged in the 2010s. Why have I chosen these models? Well first, they come from American brands running back into history. The oldest brand in this selection is Alden, founded by Charles Alden in 1884 in Massachusetts on the east coast of the US. This model, the 403 fake mock toe, original work boot came about in the 1950s. The second by a close margin is Wolverine. Depending on if you count the founding of a tannery or the actual production of footwear, the Wolverine company started in 1883 in Michigan near the Great Lakes, but production of footwear came a bit later. This Wolverine 1000 mile boot was originally introduced in 1914 as a durable work boot. Chippewa was next oldest founded in 1901. Chippewa started production of footwear in Chippewa Falls in Wisconsin. Chippewa has always produced a work boot like this, except this particular model called the Classic 6 inch service boot came out in the 2000s. But it was based on earlier unnamed work boots made by Chippewa before the First World War. Then came Red Wing in 1905, founded by Charles Beckman in Red Wing, Minnesota. Again starting as work boots the blacksmith and then this iron ranger model emerged in the 1930s. This iron ranger style is probably the boot that kicked off the Americana train in Japan in the 2000s. But there is a heritage twist and I'll tell you about that later. Allen Edmonds is the youngest company founded in 1922 by Albert Allen in Belgium, Wisconsin, later joined by partner Bill Edmonds. This Higgins mill boot isn't actually a heritage boot but rather a heritage style boot first appearing in the 2010s as a response to the service boot regeneration started by Weiberg but based on military boots that they did make in the 1940s. So these grand brands started at varying times around the turn of the 20th century all across the US producing these classics at even more varying times. But they do have a common DNA. A lot of that DNA is based on the typical shoe fashion of the 20th century. Now those of you my age will remember what your fathers wore up to the 50s and 60s. Straight forward smooth leather black or brown shoes. Whether shoes for the office or boots for some digging in the garden there were no commando soles or rough-out uppers or rambler or waxy commando. Just smooth grain black brown or tan leather and probably on leather soles or at least thin rubber soles. So you can't get away from the older models of this bunch and those that followed like the Alden and the Higgins Mill all started model life with smooth grain leather and probably Chrome XL which itself was first tanned by Horween in 1913. Even this chipperware service boot was originally available in Chrome XL as the main choice. This crazy horse leather didn't appear until the 2010s. The other commonalities that apart from the Alden Mocteau they're all similar in design. Originally designed as service boots or work boots. What's the difference really? They are about six inches high in the shaft, low block heel, either cap toe or plain toe. Quite rounded and with some toe bump and they're all good year well too. They generally have flat soles better for working in at the time before the technology of commando lug soles started appearing in the 1930s. One last common history was the war effort. All of these brands made boots for the troops in the First World War but also in the Second World War where production effort was really unequal due to the high numbers of service men and women involved in that war. Apparently as many brands made boots for soldiers the soldiers started to compare brands swapping them preferring obviously those models made to last and those that were sturdier. So at the end of the war returning service men needing civilian boots and shoes stay loyal to the brands that they preferred during the war and help brands like these become popular and successful. I remember my own father talking about his William Lennon British Army boots. He said that it was the only brand that didn't fall apart in the wet tropical jungles during his service against the Japanese in the war. Clearly service men had long memories about what served him well. Let's take a look at each of these boots because they did drift apart as more modern marketing and manufacturing made different calls on the brands and the design and models. I'm going to start with this Alden 403 Indy boot. You can watch my full review up there. Now you all know that this is called the Indy because of Harrison Ford wearing them in the Indiana Jones movies. Before that it was simply called the that model the model 405 work boot. Now before you scoff at these being work boots think back if you're old enough back to the 1970s. Work boots were not technical. There were simply smooth grain leather boots that were sturdy and if you needed toe protection you got something like the Iron Ranger with the cap toe. If you were in a say lighter trade like carpentry you got maybe a thousand mile boot or the Alden 405. Now this is the Alden 403 or the Chrome Excel model built on the true balance last. The difference in this boot from the others is the toe profile. Unlike the other older boots it has a lower profile toe box which is why many today will scoff at the idea that you wore these to do manual labour. The mock toe stitching is merely cosmetic but obviously adds to the different look. The construction is a 270 degree Goodyear welt which gives a sleeker look when you look up the heel. As for how they're built if you've been watching boot review videos you've seen the famous Rose Anvil video. They use leather board in many places instead of real leather and Rose Anvil berates them for doing this and charging the premium price of 600 US dollars. India perhaps weak defence. Alden do say that leather board does have redeeming properties to do specific jobs with India boots such as better moisture wicking. But at any rate one of their chief pros is the way the Alden Indies provide superb arch support and comfort probably unequaled even amongst my P&W boots. This comes from Alden's orthopedic shoe manufacturing heritage. The design of this boot built support in the arch as the foundation of the design. The inside isn't unusual but due to the way the last is narrow in the arch and curves the uppers at that point like a cantilevered support and due to the shape of the true balance last and the use of the Thomas heel as well as a shank all adds up to superb arch support. Many people would pay over the price of materials for that comfort especially if you were to wear it as a work boot or a boot to stand in all day. As befits their users today as in not a work boot it is fully leather lined where once I believe it had a canvas half lining. Another point of difference is the continued use of the smooth neoprene cork sole. While many other manufacturers have moved from this cork infused rubber sole Alden have persevered and honestly it's comfortable and a lot more grippy than you would expect. Next let's take a look at the Alan Edmonds Higgins Mill. Again I'll put a card up there for the full review. Okay this is not a historic boot because it only came out as a service boot response to the service boot trem relatively recently but it has a lot of Alan Edmonds' history in it as a maker of military service boots. This has been modernized up by making the toe box sleeker and lower profile than a normal military boot of that age with a bump toe. So you would wear this boot neat casual even with a suit and I think you would not wear this as a rough and tough service or work boot even digging in the garden despite the tough chrome excel. The points of difference some typical Alan Edmonds decorative styling such as the swoop stitch in the quarters. There's no structural reason to have it there just looks good and different. It is fully leather lined for comfort as befits a boot coming from Alan Edmonds as more refined offerings giving more finished look and feel to the boot. The chrome excel used is not particularly well chosen. The clicking seems arbitrary as you can see in the quarters here increasing in some loose grain. It is 360 degree Goodyear welted and so unlike the old and indie it has a ledge protruding at the back above the heel. The welt is a split reverse welt so provides a little more water resistance at the joint of sole and uppers. Inside there is a cork filling and sometimes with a shank, sometimes not. I hear different reports from different cobblers and others on Instagram and YouTube. Someone actually told me that they contacted Alan Edmonds who told them that since the heel is low they didn't feel the need to insert a shank and yet I've seen tear downs where there obviously was a shrink. It's possible that shank or shanklers may depend on when a particular boot was made and what design or structural or dare I say cost cutting activity was happening at that time. I've seen discussion that some shanks pulled out were steel and yet some said they were fibreglass, a real mishmash. And where shank or shanklers this one is not uncomfortable. The arch support is not particularly good or bad. The last is not especially good or bad but it is stylish as you would expect from the company that makes the very stylish brogue Dalton boot. Sizing is the usual half down from Brannock size and the fit is okay. Nothing special. Comfortable enough but again nothing special. The outsole is the ubiquitous rubber day night another turn of the century invention coming from England designed to provide grip while also providing a low profile outsole that could replace dressy leather outsole. In my opinion the comfortable outsole day night is but there are others who disagree because of the initial feeling of the lumps that's caused by the studs. Moving on now to the older models. Here's the Chippewa service boot in crazy horse leather. As I said this has been around in some form or other since the 1930s but this specific design of this boot came out in the late 40s early 50s as a civilian work boot version of a service boot and by the 2000s was called the 6 inch classic service boot. This service boot model is no longer made but if you look at the Chippewa website there is a heritage style work boot that looks very similar. This was one of my first good year well-toed service boots and I really loved this. It has a subtly rounded toe box in the profile as well as from on top so it's comfortable in the toe and the last is nicely snug all around so that it grips but does not squeeze. The slight bump toe looks like what you'd expect a service boot to look like and while you can or could get them in chrome excel and other smooth brown black and burgundy leathers I thought this crazy horse leather which is a kind of oiled new buck was perfect for this design of service boot. It is very soft and supple and unlined in the shaft with a cotton drill lining in the vent. There were some quality issues to see what they were in this full review here but ultimately they didn't get worse. 360 degree Goodyear welter cork filled and steel shanked they are pretty comfortable even though a little hard in the insole but fixed by an aftermarket foam insert. The outsole is Vibram's V-bar sole I think model number 700 which is firm but gives reasonable grip on dry surfaces and a little less grip on wet stuff but it is low profile for casual wear so it doesn't look like you're about to invade the Russian steps. After Chippewa was sold to Warren Buffett's group they substantially rationalized their range and basically seized making the heritage line of boots and I think just about seized production in the US just as heritage style boots were coming back into fashion so not a good call there from the soulless bean counters As I said earlier from their social media I think they're trying to make a heritage style comeback As a plain toe boot there are many similarities with plain toe boots of their era like Redwing's Blacksmith and Beckman boots or like this one coming up the Wolverine 1000 mile Taking a look at the 1000 mile there is definitely a similar look in the bump toe profile and almost squared off sidewalls at the toe My full review of this Wolverine 1000 mile is up here This is not a boot that I wear often even though I do like the look of it Originally designed as a work boot in 1914 with the design sensibilities of that time looking like a dress boot it's a bit of an anomaly today because in this colourate chrome excel and the 270 degree Goodyear welt it does look dressy but with the bump toe it also looks work booty so I'm a bit confused as how to wear it today I think our sensibilities today lean toward more of the Higgins Mill lower profile toe box in dressier boots To be honest, if you glance at it quickly you could mistake it for a pair of Redwing's 9011 Beckman boots showing how close all the designs were in that era The 270 degree Goodyear welt the contrast triple stitching on the quarter all forgivable if you thought it was a Beckman the differences are subtle this one is on an oil infused leather sole I bought these from eBay with the rubber toppy sole protector already put on by the previous owner I regret it while it does protect the leather it does also feel less flexible as it was originally intended to feel the rubber protects the leather sole from moisture for sure but I do know that the oil infused leather is also itself water resistant to a degree and is grippier and hardier than naked leather soles like say Grant Stone's leather soles Unlike the Beckman the hardware includes speed hooks which based on original work boot intentions makes it a lot easier to put on and take off the feel of the fit is also subtly different when the heel although the heel measures about the same it feels like a flatter boot and that might be because the arch is somehow sloped down to the ball in a way that's much more subtle inside is a leather insole and cork filler and there is a steel shank all of which makes it feel very comfortable under foot sizing of this is a half down from your true brand size and the fit in this last is very very good hugging the foot securely without squeezing the ball of the foot or the toes finally we come to the granddaddy of the modern work boots service boot fashion trend now I am well aware that many Americans manual workers still wear these as work boots at work but it is fair to say that many many people who buy these do not this is the iconic red wing iron ranger in its most iconic make up amber harness leather watch my full review of an older pair up there if you shut your eyes and drew a typical work or service boot I reckon you would draw this bulbous cap toe block heel typical 6 inch height nickel hardware while the iron ranger first emerged in the 1930s designed for the iron ore miners in the masabi iron range this is actually a modern version of that boot rebuilt and redesigned by the Japanese designer Aki Iwasaki in 2005 yes because of the bulbous cap toe it does look different from the other classics but it maintains the same elements of their DNA this amber harness leather as well as all the other leather offerings on the iron ranger are tanned by the in-house tannery sb foot while chrome excel is also oil infused the amber harness leather is oil tanned and you notice that when you touch this feeling the oils inside the leather almost come off on your hands the pull up is quickly apparent and the suppleness after breaking feels quite different from chrome excel like the 1000 mile it is unlined in the shaft but unlike the 1000 mile the lining at the vamp is a cotton drill material rather than leather it is certainly traditional and interesting that unlike Alden they haven't taken the opportunity to upgrade the lining at this point in time inside the boot is the traditional leather and cork in the insole, midsole and filler and there is a triple ripped steel shank underneath built on the original neo cork outsole the combination makes it very comfortable as you break the boot in but after a lot of hours in it I do find that the edges of the insole start to feel apparent on my foot and I've had to put in a thin leather insert just to take that cut off today's iron rangers have a Vibram 430 mini lug sole providing some better grip even though I've always felt that the neo cork sole is grippy enough except on the slippery iciest conditions the finishing is not as clean as the other boots even the Chippewa despite the QC faults that I mentioned there Redwing is a big company making a lot of boots and this is clearly, although made by hand it is clearly made in a mass production factory then again that's why the other cheapest of the US made boots at US 350 while the 1000 mile the Higgins mill nearly 500 and the Indies are 650 the Chippewa service boots are not made anymore but there is a similar looking classic six inch boot on their website now selling for US 200 but not made in America now as you know I'm not a made in USA fanatic, not being American I'm not even a made in Australia fanatic as a management consultant I believe quality comes from processes not geography but if you did go to Chippewa's website I challenge you to easily find out where they are made a brand that isn't proud of their factory is not exactly transparent now as I end I acknowledge there are other brands of classic American heritage boots that I haven't mentioned that I even have in my collection like the Tharagood classic six inch Mokto I haven't mentioned Whites which is the oldest Pacific Northwest boot brand from back to the American Civil War and I do love my MPs I haven't mentioned brands like Danes and Fry found it in the late 19th early 20th centuries apart from Tharagood as a Mokto and Whites which to me as a P&W brand stands in a separate category anyway the others haven't continued the early 20th century work boot or service boot DNA they are the cousins who move too far away tell me if you agree let me know whether like me you focus on American heritage boots rather than the English and why but most of all don't forget to like and subscribe looking at all of these their style lives on in today's brands in Truman's Grant Stone Parkhurst Caswell Thursday you know all the names they live on in the work boot service boot styles produced by makers like the Indonesian handmade makers service boot style will live on forever stick with me and find out until the next time take care and see you soon