From: overhung@dontemailme.com   
      
   In article <20040405002350.29353.00000692@mb-m11.aol.com>, ooreroom@aol.com   
   says...   
   >   
   >I think you would see an evolution of style   
   >that has taken eliments of several ideas   
   >and cultures.   
      
   I was born and spent my childhood in El Paso, Texas.   
   That was long enough ago that Tony Lama was a person,   
   not a boot, and he just happened to be a boot maker   
   too. My first pair of "cowboy" boots, with high heels   
   and pointed toes, came from his hands. At that time   
   he had a small storefront shop on the south side of   
   downtown El Paso. I was probably eight years old,   
   because I remember how painful it was to break my   
   feet into the high arch of those boots. You didn't   
   break the boot in to your foot, just the opposite.   
   You wore your boots for about an hour at a time until   
   your foot was accustomed to wearing them longer.   
      
   We could also buy much cheaper boots in Juarez, Mexico - just a   
   short walk across the Rio Grande from Lama's shop.   
   But they were, at that time, all made from untanned   
   leather (we called it "green" leather) and would   
   stink to high heavens after being worn on sweaty feet   
   for any length of time.   
      
   I still wear Tony Lama boots, probably made today   
   in China or somewhere just as unlikely.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)