Roach Stompers

While strolling down Main Street in Fredericksburg last week, Martina and I encountered the pair of boots in the picture below. Although I did not inquire about the materials used to make this rare pair of sawdust scooters, I would conjecture that alligator tail is somehow involved.

We then started talking about the nomenclature for such footwear, and the only term I have honestly ever used is "roach stompers." The reason for this name is that pointy-toed boots are more effective in corners than boots of the round-toed variety. I then began to wonder about how I would describe such a boot in a more genteel, formal setting. Since I don't really like the term "pointy-toed" because it could also be used to describe the shoes worn by elves, I decided to do some research.

After a short google search, I found a very informative Texas Monthly article by Joe Nick Patoski on the anatomy of cowboy boots. In the article, he provides a couple of other names for boots with pointy toes as well as many more interesting facts about Texas' favorite footwear. I have shared a link to the piece below:  

http://www.joenickp.com/texas/bootanatomy.html