What is the history of Lucchese boots?

Sam Lucchese came here from Italy around 1880 and he made his way down to San Antonio, Texas. At that point, Fort Sam Houston was gearing up with soldiers and militiamen. Sam Lucchese brought his shoe trade with him and he saw an opportunity to build boots for the soldiers at the fort, and that's when he established the boot company in 1883. At that point, he was such a well-known boot maker in that area that he started becoming more of a custom boot maker. And he developed something called a "twisted cone last," which is one of our hallmarks to what we do. It's such an important part of the way the Lucchese boot fits. It actually twisted as opposed to being flat, making it as perfect as you can get to the anatomy of your foot as possible. So when you step into a boot it literally feels like you are in a sock. That's how great it fits. So he started making boots for the soldiers and everything started going for him. He started doing boots for presidents and kings and Hollywood stars. From that point (around the 1920s), he started becoming known for his custom boots; just as far as the decorations on them, the fit, and more importantly at that time - who he made boots for. So he made boots for John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Betty Compson, all the presidents from that point on. Sam Lucchese had a son named Cosimo Lucchese and Cosimo Lucchese took over the company once his father Sam Lucchese Sr. couldn't work anymore and unfortunately later passed on. Cosimo had a son name Sam Lucchese Jr., which carried the company to about 1980 when he passed away. The company was still in San Antonio at this point and we actually moved to El Paso in January 1987. We have been here ever since and currently we are owned by a company called Arena Brand and our sister companies are Resistol, Stetson and Charlie 1 Horse.