Acme Boots
Encyclopedia
History
Acme Boots was founded in 1929, during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Two Chicago shoe manufacturers, Jessel Cohn and his son, Sidney, decided to move their children’s and infants' shoemaking plant from Chicago, Illinois to Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and the fifth largest city in the state. The population was 132,929 in 2010 United States Census...
.
They set up their business in a two-story brick building on Crossland Avenue and called it the Acme Shoe Manufacturing Company. They hired 100 employees and began producing sandal-like footwear for children and infants under the name Just-Kids. The shoes sold for 40 to 50 cents a pair. The Cohns continued their children’s business until 1935, when the senior Cohn returned home from a business trip to Texas. While there, Cohn saw a pair of western boots that cost $65.00, well beyond the reach of the average shoe buyer at the time.
Cohn took a pair of boots back to Clarksville to see how they were made. He studied the boots carefully, noting every detail of their construction. After his inspection, he and his son decided they could produce the same boots on an assembly line, allowing them to sell the boots for a better price.
A short time later, the Cohns dropped their children’s footwear line in favor of the boots and re-named the company Acme Boots. In the 1940s, Acme Boots became the largest maker of cowboy boots and remained the world's largest until the mid 1980s.
Acme Boots has since been held by various corporations, including Arena Brands of Dallas, Texas, which licensed the Acme Brand to the Texas Boot Company of Lebanon, Tennessee in 2000.
In 2002, Texas Boot put the Acme Boot brand up for sale, where it was purchased by H.H. Brown, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
, and placed under the Double-H Boots
Double-H Boots
Double-H Boots manufactures western footwear. It is owned by H.H. Brown, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.-History:Double-H Boots began in 1955 in Richland, Pennsylvania. The original factory location was an area shoe company that had other facilities in the Reading area and had no future needs...
brand label, where it remains today. Acme was purchased to create a price point product story to complement the Double-H brand of western boots and footwear.
Using the manufacturing facilities, technology and resources of H.H. Brown, the Acme Boot line has improved comfort and cushioning, updated the leathers and materials while maintaining competitive pricing.