Legacies in Leather
February 26, 2024
Written By Jason Jenkins
When telling the tale of Andy Dufresne’s prison escape in the classic 1994 film, “The Shawshank Redemption,” actor and narrator Morgan Freeman explains how Andy wears the warden’s shoes back to his jail cell, shoes that he had buffed to a “high mirror shine,” as instructed. Yet neither the guards nor Freeman’s character, Ellis “Red” Redding, notices the out-of-place footwear.
“I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a man’s shoes?” asks Red.
While a pair of black wingtip brogues may have gone unnoticed, it’s safe to say that Andy wouldn’t have made it out of Shawshank and to the beaches of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, had the warden wore a pair of Ty May’s custom cowboy boots. For the past decade, the former rodeo bull rider and biomedical research facility manager has handcrafted unique boots to his clients’ exact specifications from his shop located on his family’s Century Farm near Sullivan, Mo. “I’ve been around the leather trade my entire life,” May said. “My dad was a farrier and saddle maker, so knowing how to work with leather was a necessity of life. He made us boys do our own boot repair, but I never had any desire to learn leather when I was growing up.”
RODEOS & MONKEY FARMS
Born in Carlsbad, N.M., May moved to Albuquerque with his family when he was six years old. When his father, Rusty, had the opportunity to join a family member’s saddle-making business, the May family headed north to Loveland, Colo. May finished high school there and met his future wife, Lisa.
In high school, May excelled as a rodeo bull rider, earning a rodeo scholarship at Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell. He stayed there for two years before transferring to the University of Wyoming in Laramie, where Lisa was a student. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology.
“I rodeoed full-time for two years after that, mostly as a circuit rider,” May said. “I got busted up more than I ever made any money. I really wanted to get my graduate degree in marine biology, so I rodeoed across the country, going around and checking out different schools.”
His travels landed him in Oregon, where he worked in construction for some cousins in the Portland area while continuing to rodeo on the weekends. When he was laid off during a slow period, a rodeo buddy offered an employment suggestion.
“He kept telling me that I needed to go out to the ‘monkey farm’ and apply for a job,” said May, referring to the Oregon National Primate Research Center. “They hired me for a temporary position, and I eventually worked my way up to assistant operations manager.”
In 2001, May accepted the position of operations manager at the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas. The move rekindled May’s love of rodeo and cowboy culture. His daughter, Kylee, began competing in high school rodeo events. He said that one Saturday morning, he woke up with the desire to try his hand at leather carving and tooling.
“I started messing around and discovered that I really have a passion for it,” May said. “When I get to carving, I can lose an entire day.”
The jump to making boots wasn’t a big one for someone living in south Texas, where the footwear is quite prevalent. He took a boot-making course from Tex Robin, a legendary custom bootmaker from Abilene, Texas, who passed away in 2023.
“Other than that, I’m pretty well self taught,” said the 59-year-old. “Pardon the pun, but I’m one of those monkey-see, monkey-do kind of people.”
May crafted a few pairs of boots during the family’s time in San Antonio. After Kylee graduated high school and elected to attend the University of Missouri, he retired from the research center. The family moved to a farm in Franklin County that had been in Lisa’s family since the Civil War. He converted a two-car garage into his boot shop and opened May’s Custom Boot and Leather in 2013.
CRAFTING A PERFECT FIT
In a world of mass-produced goods where speed and cost-effectiveness are emphasized, May offers the opposite for his customers.
“They crank out factory-made boots as fast and as cheap as they can,” May explained. “They’ll cut corners and skimp here and there. I don’t know how to do that. I won’t cut corners. I do it right, or I won’t do it at all.”
Doing it right begins by measuring a customer’s feet—something May prefers to do himself in the shop. He’ll trace the outline of each foot and take measurements at the ankle and the heel, as well as several measurements of the foot, including the high instep, low instep, waist and ball.
“The ball is the widest part of your foot and the most important when making custom boots,” May said. “The ball of your foot and the ball of the boot need to line up. You could try on a hundred pairs of factory boots and not find one that fits you. A custom boot, when fitted properly, is unlike anything else on your feet because it’s properly fitted to the ball.”
May then selects forms, known as lasts, around which the boots will be shaped. The last will be built up with pieces of leather that create the exact shape of each foot. Every boot is composed of around two dozen separate pieces; ornate boots can have many more.
Various types of leathers—cowhide, buffalo, bison, lizard, snake, alligator, ostrich, elephant, hippo and even shark—are available in a rainbow of colors. While he offers standard “everyday” boots, May also can adorn boots with “fancier” options such as inlays, tooled leather, unique stitching patterns and more.
It takes May about 40 hours to completely handcraft a pair of boots. He currently offers his standard boot with a round toe, 12-inch top and one row of decorative stitching for $1,600. Adding adornments adds to the price. His most expensive pair sold to date cost the customer $3,000.
Custom cowboy boots allow May’s clients to express their personalities and individuality. For Billy and Margy Eckelkamp of Washington, Mo., the custom cowboy-style boots they commissioned him to create became functional mementos of a hunting trip the couple took to Namibia in 2014.
“We each had taken an ostrich on the trip, and we decided to get boots made from the tanned hides,” Eckelkamp said. “We had learned about Ty through the grapevine, and it was a pleasant surprise to find someone who had such skill and craftsmanship so close to home.”
Though she has owned many pairs of boots throughout her life, the ostrich boots were Eckelkamp’s first custom pair. She said they fit and feel distinctively different than any other shoe she’s worn.
“They’re incredibly comfortable, and every time I wear those boots, somebody compliments them,” Eckelkamp said. “I never wear pants over them because I want to really showcase them. They turned out exactly how I envisioned. I’m so proud we’ve got this amazing craftsman in Missouri.”
May’s skills have been recognized within the custom boot community. In 2015, he won the Journeyman Award at the Boot and Saddle Makers Round Up in Wichita Falls, Texas. The honor identified May as an up-and coming bootmaker. In 2018, he won the Artistry Boot award in the intermediate category with a tooled top boot.
Beyond boots, May creates other leather items, including wallets, belts, knife sheaths, rifle slings and anything else a customer might request.
“This past spring, I made a tooled leather mortarboard for a young lady who graduated from Mizzou,” he said. “With every boot and every project, I’m still learning and trying to improve. I’m nowhere near being a master yet.”
For more information on May’s Custom Boot and Leather, call 636-208-1099 or visit www.maybootandleather.com.