Tips on Purchasing the Western Boot as a Gift

As the holiday season approaches – or as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and other special occasions loom on nearly every horizon all year long – here’s a great way to surprise and honor recipients who appreciate the unique: Get them a pair of western boots, or a western boot gift certificate!

There are very few people on the planet who would not thrill to the sight and smell of a brand-new pair of western boots. For some, it will call back memories of simpler days when all the good guys on TV and radio and in motion pictures wore white hats and all the bad guys wore black and chewed and spit tobacco. For others, it will recall the trials and travails of pioneer ancestors who wended their way slowly across a continent burgeoning with promise and perils. For still others, it will just elicit a grin as wide as all outdoors for what might seem to be no reason at all.

There’s just something about a pair of western boots that makes most wearers feel rugged, individual, unique -- and so filled with potential that we can hardly sit still. Many of us were reared watching cowboys win the west, join the posse, go after claim jumpers, and ride the rascals out of town on a rail. All wore these boots. None seemed to feel inadequate for the job each had to do to keep a town or a territory safe.

“Empty Saddles” can bring us to tears, as if we really knew the dead cowboys the song sadly laments. Western boots conquered mountain, meadow, stream, river, and beavers, otters, elk, mountain lion and rattlesnake.

Giving a western boot as a gift is as personal and as special as the memories the gift plumbs up from the core of the receiver’s being.

The challenge may be in trying to keep such a special surprise a secret. You’ll need to know the recipient’s boot size. You may find a clever way to “stumble upon” a western boot website while they’re nearby, exclaiming, “Hey, come take a look at this! I never knew there were so many different options for this kind of thing!” “This kind of thing” will bring them running, and your grin will keep them in thrall as you show a few surprising samples. This is when you can oh-so-casually inquire, “Which of these western boots do you like best? I like these…” If you play your cards right, there will be no suspicion whatsoever: just a fun jaunt down memory lane as you talk about the shows you watched as kids… Get that going, and you’ll get your answer.

Since western boots are such an individual thing, if you can’t get a definite answer out of your intended recipient, consider getting a gift certificate to a western boot store. Opening a gift card containing enough money for a pair of western boots, western boot socks, and a boot care kit should elicit a smile just a little wider than the Grand Canyon…