Acme Boots was the name of a company that produced boots. It eventually just became a brand name, and was last owned by H.H. Brown, until it was placed under their Double-H Boots brand label.

Etymology

Acme (ακμή; English transliteration: ''akmē'') is

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

for "(highest) point, edge; peak of anything", being used in English with the meaning of "prime" or "the best", initially when referring to a period in someone's life and then extending to anything or anyone who reaches perfection in a certain regard.acme
at Merriam-Webster online. Accessed 19 Nov. 2022.

History

During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, two Chicago shoe manufacturers, Jessel Cohn and his son, Sidney, decided to move their children's and infants' shoemaking plant from

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States ce ...

. 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 Cohns continued their children's business until 1935, when the senior Cohn returned home from a business trip to Texas. Shortly after, the Cohns dropped their children's footwear line in favor of making western boots and renamed the company Acme Boots. In the 1940s, Acme Boots became the largest maker of

cowboy boots Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a High-heeled footwear#Men and heels, high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no l ...

and remained the world's largest until the mid-1980s. Acme Boots has since been held by various corporations, including

Arena Brands An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

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 Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...

, and placed under the Double-H Boots brand label, where it remains today.

References

External links

H. H. Brown Corporate Division website
{{Berkshire Hathaway Shoe companies of the United States Clothing companies established in 1929 Companies based in Chicago Berkshire Hathaway