A Boot Collector Feature

Dixon Boot Company

Two Wichita Falls brothers who made boots for Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Patsy Cline, and trained some of the best bootmakers of the next generation.

The Story

Andy and Noble Dixon learned bootmaking from their father, Henry J. Dixon, a preacher and part-time bootmaker; the business dates its start to 1889. Its first shop was in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and right after World War II (accounts give 1945 or 1946) the brothers moved it to Wichita Falls, Texas. They started out making baby and children’s shoes, with Andy buying scrap from the West-Tex Boot Company across the street for the “kiddie” shoes and saving premium hides for cowboy boots. Andy was the front man and fitter; Noble was the bottom man. They quickly became known for classic cowboy boots of real quality, and with more than thirty kinds of leather in stock, they could make very fancy ones.

Their customers ranged from working cowboys and businessmen to Gene Autry, John Wayne, Jack Dempsey, Patsy Cline, and the stars of the Grand Ole Opry. Ernest Tubb wore Dixon’s boots all the time, and when Hank Williams admired them, Tubb brought him along one busy Saturday to pick up a new pair. Hank tore through the shop like a child on Christmas morning, leaving boots and empty boxes everywhere. Andy, known for a short fuse, told Tubb to “reel that little Alabama roughneck in before I do.” Tubb’s answer: “That boy never had two nickels to rub together but all of his pockets are filled with cash today. And he’s going to spend it on Dixon’s boots.” Hank bought the best boots in the shop and kept coming back for more.

A Training Ground

Dixon’s turned out bootmakers as well as boots. Jay Griffith and James Edward “Smitty” Smith both made their reputations there; after Andy retired, Griffith largely ran the shop for Noble. The brothers retired and sold the business in the 1960s. Griffith went on to his own shop in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and Smitty went on to run the Blucher Boot Co.

Reading the Label

The name on the label tells you which era you’re holding. Boots from Andy and Noble’s years read “Dixon’s Boots.” After the sale, the new owners shortened the name to “Dixons,” with no apostrophe and no “Boots.” Collectors say service and quality declined under the new owners, and that shop closed in the early 1980s, so the apostrophe is worth checking. Today’s relaunched company is a separate, modern operation.

What They're Known For

Classic, beautifully made cowboy and cowgirl boots that would hold a stirrup, including striking PeeWee cowgirl boots of the 1950s, and above all the Dixon “Hollywood” toe, which one longtime collector calls the best pointed toe ever made. A Dallas investor group led by Thomas Gleason, which also owns Olsen-Stelzer, relaunched the Dixon name in 2023, and the relaunch drew attention when a pair of Hank Williams’s Dixon boots surfaced with a 1957 letter of authenticity.