1860 – 1880s
FEBRUARY 24, 1868
Salvatore Lucchese, future founder of Lucchese, is born in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. His father, Gaetano Lucchese, is a shoemaker.
NOVEMBER 26, 1882
Salvatore Lucchese immigrates to the United States of America. He reportedly arrives in Galveston, Texas by ship, which sailed from Palermo, Italy. Salvatore Lucchese arrived with his brother Joseph Lucchese.
1883
Salvatore and Joseph Lucchese move to San Antonio, Texas to set up a bootmaking shop at Fort Sam Houston, a United States Cavalry School in San Antonio.
DID YOU KNOW ?
In 1883 Salvatore Lucchese immigrates to the United States of America. He reportedly arrives in Galveston, Texas by ship, which sailed from Palermo, Italy. Salvatore Lucchese arrived with his brother Joseph Lucchese.
1890s
1890
Salvatore and his brothers Joseph, Michael and Antonio purchase the first “inseamer” machine shipped to the Southwest United States. Sam Lucchese said of his grandfather, “If he got any word of a new machine, he wanted to be the first to try it.”
DECEMBER 4, 1897
Mr. W. Shock becomes the earliest entry in the Lucchese company measuring boots. His boots consist of kangaroo with a 1.5-inch heel, totaling $9.00.
JULY 4, 1898
First Reg. Texas Volunteer Cavalry marches in front of Lucchese Bros. Store on East Houston Street in San Antonio, Texas.
1900s
1907
Founder Salvatore hunts with sons Cosimo and Gaetano.
1910s
NOVEMBER 16th 1910
Lorenzo Quesada of Mexico purchases a pair of Moroccan Calf boots, becoming the earliest recorded international purchase of Lucchese boots.
1912
Salvatore Lucchese purchases the Teatro Zaragoza, a Mexican-American theater in San Antonio.
1920s
December 5th 1921
Robert J. Kleberg Sr. of the King Ranch (one of the largest ranches in the world, located in South Texas) purchases a pair of Lucchese lace boots at a price of $37.50. Under Kleberg’s direction, the ranch operation grew from 600,000 acres to 1,300,000 acres.
1923
Salvatore Lucchese suffers a stroke. Cosimo Lucchese, his son, returns to Lucchese to run the family business for his father. He’d previously ventured out to create his own boot company in 1921.
August 9th 1927
Gen. Frank Purdy Lahm purchases a pair of Lucchese military boots for a price of $40.00. General Lahm was known as the “the father of Air Force flight training.” He met the Wright Brothers in 1907 and used his interest in flying to become the Army’s first certified pilot in 1909.
1927
Lucchese founder Salvatore with grandsons Sam (Sammy) and Bob Lucchese.
January 25th 1929
While playing dominoes at home with his family, Lucchese founder Salvatore dies in San Antonio.
May 28th 1929
Lucchese is incorporated in San Antonio Texas by S.L. Gill (President), Cosimo Lucchese (Vice-President) and M. Millken (Secretary).
1930s
February 3rd 1930
Ed F. Echols purchases a pair of Lucchese cowboy boots and a pair of Lucchese shoes. After working as a cowboy in Texas, he traveled to Arizona via covered wagon in 1902. Echols is considered the driving force behind the beginning and growth of professional rodeo in Tucson.
February 13th 1931
Charles Kreuz, Sr. of Luling, Texas purchases a pair of cowboy boots. Mr. Kreuz founded world-famous barbecue outpost, Kreuz Market, in 1900, which still operates today.
March 31st 1934
Actress Josephine Hutchinson purchases a pair of Lucchese cowboy boots (noted to be “not too stiff in legs”) at a price of $23.50. She was one of a handful of actresses able to make the transition from silent movies to “talkies.”
June 12th 1934
Lt. Col. L.J. Maitland purchases a pair of Lucchese military dress shoes at a price of $35.00. In 1927, L.J. Maitland, along with A.F. Hegenberger, made the first airplane flight from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii, flying 2,425 miles in 23 hours.
December 2nd 1935
Jimmy Doolittle of St. Louis purchases a pair of Lucchese boots. Doolittle, an Army flight instructor stateside during World War I, gained fame during the 1920s for numerous speed and distance records. Doolittle received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House for planning and leading his raid on Japan.
1940s
April 7th 1942
Singer and actor Bing Crosby writes to Lucchese, requesting a catalog and a pair of boots to be made for him in “nice, soft leather — the best you have in stock.”
October 23rd 1944
Academy Award winning actor Gregory Peck visits Lucchese.
June 22nd 1945
Actor Gary Cooper visits Lucchese. Cooper’s career spanning from 1925 until his death. Across the one hundred films he starred in, he received five Academy Award nominations for Best Actor. His stoic onscreen demeanor made him a favorite in the western genre.
1949
Acme Boot Company commissioned Lucchese to build a collection of state boots for an advertising campaign. It took Lucchese four years to build the entire collection. Each state boot features unique and exact colors for the states flag, capitol, bird, flower and state commodity. Master bootmakers Cosimo Lucchese, Jesse Garcia and Carlos Hernandez Jr. contributed to this project.
1950s
December 1st 1952
Senator (and future U.S. President) Lyndon Baines Johnson visits Lucchese.
February 9th 1955
Cowboy, singer-songwriter and actor Rex Allen visits Lucchese and purchases three pairs of cowboy boots. Allen had the distinction of making the final “singing western” movie. His narration work with Walt Disney Films earned him the nickname “The Voice of the West.”
November 5th 1956
Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor visits Lucchese. Born in Budapest, Gabor became a famous socialite and film star in America.
1960s
February 13th 1960
Actor, singer and businessman Jimmy Dean visits Lucchese. Though today he may best be known as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit “Big Bad John.”
January 5th 1961
Fifteen days before the U.S. Presidential inauguration, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, daughter of President-elect John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, has her feet measured for a pair of Lucchese boots, a gift from Vice President-elect Lyndon Johnson. Soon after the Kennedy family arrived in the White House, Caroline would also be given a pony by LBJ named Macaroni.
April 7th 1961
Texas “Tex” Schramm, then Vice-President and General Manager of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, contacted Lucchese to make custom Dallas Cowboys boots. Reportedly, there were 66 pairs made for players, coaches and staff.
November 7th 1963
Sandra Dee and Jimmy Stewart visit Lucchese. Sandra Dee began her professional career as a model and transitioned into film, where she became one of the most popular stars of the 1960s.
July 5th 1968
U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson is photographed on his ranch in Stonewall, Texas wearing Lucchese boots.
1970s
June 17th 1970
Blue Bell Corporation purchases Lucchese.
April 18th 1972
President LBJ sends a letter to Sam Lucchese, thanking him for thinking of him and encouraging the president to “get back in the saddle.” Says the president: “I trust that you know that when I am able to do that, it will be in a pair of Lucchese boots.”
Apr-76
A photo runs in National Geographic magazine of the Lucchese factory, where boots are shown during the lasting process.
May 9th 1977
An article titled “Sam Lucchese’s Boots are for the Rhinestone Cowboy in Everyone” runs in People magazine.
1980s
May 19th 1982
U.S. President Ronald Reagan presents King Hassan II of Morocco with a pair of Lucchese boots.
Jun-86
Lucchese announces it will move its operations from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas.
January 19th 1989
Lucchese produces a pair of “inaugural boots” for incoming U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
2000s
Jan-08
Lucchese releases the 125th Anniversary Boot, of which only 125 pairs would be produced and sold for $12,500 a pair.
June 11th 2008
Prince Harry of Wales leads the Lucchese Polo team against Audi for the Stanford Commodore’s Cup.
August 4th 2008
Lucchese announces a partnership with the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club.
October 1st 2008
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger purchases a Lucchese 125th Anniversary Boot.
December 17th 2008
Texas Governor Rick Perry is measured for a pair of Lucchese’s 125th Anniversary Boots.
June 19th 2009
The 81st Texas Legislature introduces House Bill 226, relating to the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Lucchese.
2010s
January 2011
Lucchese Collegiate Boots, a collection of 17 university logo embroidered cowboy boots, are introduced.
February 23rd 2011
Lucchese is announced as the official boot of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.
September 3rd 2012
Lucchese Polo team captures its third consecutive Bombardier Pacific Coast Open Championship at Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club.