A Boot Collector Feature

Bona Allen

A Georgia tannery that became one of the largest leather goods makers in the country — saddles first, but boots and shoes by the thousands, every day.

The Story

Bonaparte "Bona" Allen Sr. learned the tanning trade from his father, Washington Allen, and established his own company in Buford, Georgia, in 1873. Over the following decades it grew into the nation's largest producer of hand-tooled saddles and related equipment, supplying everything from postal bags to baseball gloves — the company even provided raw materials to Spalding for its baseball manufacturing. At its height in 1932, Bona Allen employed 2,200 workers, and its boot-and-shoe division alone was turning out thousands of pairs daily. Its saddles appeared in Sears mail-order catalogs and were used by Hollywood cowboys including Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, and the company won a blue ribbon at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. After founder John Allen's death, the company was sold to Tandy Corporation in 1968. A devastating tannery fire in December 1981 proved to be the end — Tandy chose not to rebuild, and the remaining 160 employees were laid off. The main tannery building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

What They're Known For

Among collectors, surviving Bona Allen boots are prized for the same high-quality leather work the company built its saddlery reputation on, including exotic options like ostrich and bullhide. It's a piece of genuine American tannery history — a company that touched saddles, sports equipment, and footwear alike before a fire brought a century of production to an end.