Above: # 9013 Beckman Boot
Red Wings are a long established American shoe company, probably best known for their tough work boots. Started in 1905 in Red Wing, MN by a local shoe store owner named Charles Beckman, the company has gone on to thrive ever since, and has really become a very iconic American brand. My memories of seeing them growing up are mostly associated with guys who made their livings buildings houses, or working in the forests, or something similar. To me, Red Wings have always been the ultimate no-nonsense boots. But beyond their utilitarian roots, Red Wings have always had a very cool sense of style about them, going back decades. The coolest of the cool from throughout their long history have been collected together in their Heritage line, and that’s what we’re wearing.
The Heritage boots differ pretty greatly from Red Wings modern collection, in looks and construction. First of all, the Heritage boots are really just the timeless classics that Red Wings has made for decades. So while one half of the company tries out new materials and looks, the Heritage line sticks with what they know works. In an age where it seems every company is constantly throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and fixing things that weren’t broken to begin with, this is a really refreshing and welcome approach. In keeping with this ethos, Red Wings does it all themselves, from providing the leather form their own tannery, to building everything in the same town the company started in over a century ago. More than that, these boots and shoes are actually still manually made on machines that go back a hundred years in some cases. The company boasts that even today they have third and fourth generation shoe-makers working in their factory, working on the same machines their parents and grandparents did. Again, in an age where people often change jobs as frequently as they change their socks, this is pretty cool.
Building boots at the factory in Red Wing, MN…
