Shoes today can be more of a fashion statement than a practical item of footwear – unlike the boots and shoes worn by the Barossa pioneers. Among the settlers were numerous tradespeople keen to establish business in the area, one being the Bootmaker.
Boots and shoes were important because walking was free and often the only mode of travel in the early years. Walking beyond the Barossa to Adelaide or further to conduct business was not unusual.
Most small Barossa towns had their own Bootmaker to make, sell and repair shoes.
Mr JG Pfeiffer, a bootmaker at Moculta from 1873, sometimes prepared his own boot leather using hides bought from local farmers, but usually leather was bought direct from a local tannery.
In the 1860s, August Riedel started a boot and shoe making business in the main street of Nuriootpa. A 1940s photo shows the substantial Riedel home with six large pillars and battlement parapet around the roof edge – all removed during 1980s renovations. Attached to the side of the house was August’s workshop (currently Nuri Indian Takeaway).
Soon after the Riedel property was sold in 1918, Mr. C Thiele opened the ‘Cash Boot Palace’. Interestingly, he advertised ‘New stock from Melbourne’, suggesting he was a retailer of boots, rather than a maker.
‘The Big Boot Store’ of Mr B Riebe at Tanunda advertised in 1915, a ‘Large Assortment of Imported and Colonial Boots & Shoes’ but also ‘Boots & Shoes Made to Order’, showing a mix of both imported and locally made footwear.