Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Enid Justin, Texas lady Bootmaker






Enid Justin was a boot making legend. Yes, her boots were a factory made boot, but when she was running the show, the quality was the best of that type.

She was born in a bootmaking family, her father being H. J. "Daddy Joe" Justin, founder of Justin Boots. She started working in the Nocona Texas shop when she was a small girl, mostly filling envelopes and other clerical work. When she dropped out of school at the age of 15, she started to work at the factory, stitching tops. She married in 1915, at the age of 23. Her husband, telegraph operator Julius Stelzer, started out an illustrious career in bootmaking after the wedding, working for "Daddy Joe." He became top-notched in assembling factory production boots. In 1918, Enid lost her baby daughter, Anna Jo, and her father. In 1925, her brothers, who operated Justin Boots, decided to move the factory to Fort Worth. Enid, believing that "Daddy Joe" would have never left his beloved Nocona Texas, declined the move and decided to start a new boot company in Nocona.

Imagine a woman back in the 1920s, starting a company usually run by men, and whose customers were a majority of men, cowboys, ranchers, oil men, roughnecks, and businessmen. She did it, and did quite well. She expanded her business, moved to a larger plant in Nocona, and eventually additional plants in Vernon, and Gainesville. She did it, even after two divorces, and the loss of her only child. Even though she was divorced and childless, she gave her heart and opened her pocketbook to her beloved town. She donated money to city parks and girls and boys Little League programs. She continued on, slowing down in the late 1970s after health issues. She merged her company with Justin Industries in 1981, with a promise that Nocona Boots would stay in her beloved Nocona Texas until she passed away in 1990. In 1999, Justin closed the Nocona plant, and moved operations to El Paso, TX.