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From the mid-1860s to about 1890, cowboys on horseback drove cattle from Texas to the stockyards of Kansas for shipment further east. Cowboys required footwear with distinctive features made specifically for horseback riding. For instance, narrow pointed toes allow boots to easily slip into stirrups and high heels prevent feet from sliding forward through the stirrups. During the early twentieth century, cowboys, sheriffs, and cattle farmers across the West sported these special boots. During the 1930s and ’40s Hollywood Westerns featuring cowboy crooners Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Tex Ritter made them even more popular for everyday wear. The film stars wore flashy boots made with exotic leathers with embossing and inlays of floral and abstract designs, such as horses, cacti, cattle, and the Star of Texas. Hollywood fashion designer Nudie Cohn (1902–84) created some of the most flamboyant western wear beginning in the late 1940s by applying rhinestones and other flashy embellishments to cowboy boots. Image courtesy of Collectors Weekly. See more shoes from all over the world in "Stepping Out: Shoes in World Culture" on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/ShoesinCulture This image was posted on August 18, 2017.

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