Wednesday, August 6, 2014

ENGINEER BOOT LEXICON PART XVIII


"GallenKamp's"

The Gallenkamp's Shoes brand was a popular California brand for over eighty years and up until the end of its run, operated some 700 retail outlets around the country. The company was founded at the start of the twentieth century a prominent San Francisco family.
 
www.vintageengineerboots.com

This pair of amazingly worn Vintage Engineer Boot with highly sought after patina surprisingly took quite some time to finally go to the best offer. Had these been any of the “big” brands of the day, they wouldn’t have lasted any more than a couple of hours on the auction block and would have easily been snatched up for the asking price of $1,100. These were worth every cent of eleven bones and anywhere up to fifteen, if ya ask me.


The uniqueness of the boots – form the brand to the buckles – should have set off all kinds of alarms with collectors, but it comes to show that deep down we are all “brand whores.” I was very close to pulling the trigger on the asking price, but I would have had to swap the buckles and that didn’t sit right with me – these deserve to be left as-is until it became absolutely necessary for an overhaul.





Brand: GallenKamp's
Circa: 1940's
Color: Brown
Size: 7 ½
Leather: Cowhide (Sorry to burst your bubble y’all, but not all Vintage Engineer Boots were cut from Horsehide)
Soles/Heels: Leather
Hardware: Nickel
Sold for: Best offer from $1,100



The deep cuts didn’t bother me. This would’ve been an easy at-home repair.


Bottom line is that everyone who contemplated bidding should regret not pulling the trigger on these classics.  I do!

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