Hockenberry Custom Boot Book

[rmdorman]

Does anyone know where to get a copy of this?  I know he used to sell it and I’d be happy to buy it from whoever has the rights to it now but since he passed and his site is gone I’m not sure there’s anyone to buy it from. 
thanks kindly!

[rmdorman]

Bumping in blind hopes someone knows how to track down a copy of " Custom Western Boot Making", by K.E. Hockenberry. It was originally referenced here but removed. Since then however it looks like Ken has passed and his site closed and there is no one to buy the book from, although I’d be willing. Thanks so much for any leads anyone can provide!

[Wepster]

Not much help I know, but I assume you search the used book sites every few days? Goodwill online? Seaching by ISBN would probably be quicker, if it has one (may not). You have probably seeked out any boot maker and cordwain forums.

I wish you luck. There used to be a nation wide Craigslist search, don't know if it still exists, a retiring or estate of a maker may have one.

[TomE]

I had a similar problem with a harness making book that was out of print.  Searched for a used copy for several years. The new owners of the deceased author's business didn't know if they had rights to the book, didn't seem interested in reprinting it, and inquiries to the family went nowhere.  I found the book by interlibrary loan and photographed it (800 pp).  A year later, a used copy became available from one of the book sellers I had contacted so I bought it.  Might ask Lisa Sorrell https://customboots.net/ if she knows of a copy.  Good luck.

Update:  I see that Lisa Sorrell sells her own book/video course on bootmaking at the website above.

Edited July 31 by TomE

[rmdorman]

6 hours ago, Wepster said:

Not much help I know, but I assume you search the used book sites every few days? Goodwill online? Seaching by ISBN would probably be quicker, if it has one (may not). You have probably seeked out any boot maker and cordwain forums.

I wish you luck. There used to be a nation wide Craigslist search, don't know if it still exists, a retiring or estate of a maker may have one.

I’ve got a couple search notifications out for it.  Someone said I can try searchtempest I’ll give that a shot. I think it was self published so maybe no ISBN but if someone has a copy let me know if I’m wrong about that. Thanks for the response!

[rmdorman]

6 hours ago, TomE said:

I had a similar problem with a harness making book that was out of print.  Searched for a used copy for several years. The new owners of the deceased author's business didn't know if they had rights to the book, didn't seem interested in reprinting it, and inquiries to the family went nowhere.  I found the book by interlibrary loan and photographed it (800 pp).  A year later, a used copy became available from one of the book sellers I had contacted so I bought it.  Might ask Lisa Sorrell https://customboots.net/ if she knows of a copy.  Good luck.

Update:  I see that Lisa Sorrell sells her own book/video course on bootmaking at the website above.

Thank you! I actually have a couple of books - Cottle & McKinney’s book, and DW Frommer - and I’ll eventually get Sorrell’s when I save up for the whole course. My hope is to learn a little bit about how different authors do it, since there are so many variations, and figure out what works for me. 

[TomE]

7 hours ago, rmdorman said:

Thank you! I actually have a couple of books - Cottle & McKinney’s book, and DW Frommer - and I’ll eventually get Sorrell’s when I save up for the whole course. My hope is to learn a little bit about how different authors do it, since there are so many variations, and figure out what works for me. 

Sounds like a great goal.  I think there is much to learn from the old books, even in the age of Youtube.

[AlZilla]

22 hours ago, rmdorman said:

Bumping in blind hopes someone knows how to track down a copy of " Custom Western Boot Making", by K.E. Hockenberry. It was originally referenced here but removed. Since then however it looks like Ken has passed and his site closed and there is no one to buy the book from, although I’d be willing. Thanks so much for any leads anyone can provide!

That is one uncommon book you're looking for!  One result in multiple search engines and it's this thread.

Project Gutenberg doesn't have it.  The Wayback machine lists the other thread you reference, but never archived the thread itself.

Maybe PM Johanna and see if she has the original file rattling around on her computer? Apparently it was an e-book.

[rmdorman]

28 minutes ago, AlZilla said:

That is one uncommon book you're looking for!  One result in multiple search engines and it's this thread.

Project Gutenberg doesn't have it.  The Wayback machine lists the other thread you reference, but never archived the thread itself.

Maybe PM Johanna and see if she has the original file rattling around on her computer? Apparently it was an e-book.

I think it must have been self published. Here’s the place he originally sold it (and a packer book which would have been really cool!) as a spiral bound. 
 

good idea, I sent Johanna a message, we’ll see if I get lucky!

Edited August 1 by rmdorman

[rmdorman]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

Sounds like a great goal.  I think there is much to learn from the old books, even in the age of Youtube.

Yes I’m so grateful to have YouTube available, but it can feel very disjointed jumping around in the process and to different makers. A couple of people show most of their process straight through, but without much explicit instruction. 

Edited August 1 by rmdorman

[AlZilla]

10 hours ago, rmdorman said:

I think it must have been self published. Here’s the place he originally sold it (and a packer book which would have been really cool!) as a spiral bound. 
 

good idea, I sent Johanna a message, we’ll see if I get lucky!

If you strike out with Johanna, how determined are you?  Now you need to track down his descendants.  Ancestry records, death index are places to start.  The archived copy of his website has a specific address in Columbus, Ohio (I won't cite it because it looks like an apartment). Maybe someone related to him still lives there and a letter would get you started.

The website looks like he had some interesting patterns for sale. Who knows, maybe one of his kids has a closet full of dad's "junk"?

[rmdorman]

8 hours ago, AlZilla said:

If you strike out with Johanna, how determined are you?  Now you need to track down his descendants.  Ancestry records, death index are places to start.  The archived copy of his website has a specific address in Columbus, Ohio (I won't cite it because it looks like an apartment). Maybe someone related to him still lives there and a letter would get you started.

The website looks like he had some interesting patterns for sale. Who knows, maybe one of his kids has a closet full of dad's "junk"?

Hah while I’m pretty determined I think I’d feel too much like I was invading privacy. If I stumble on someone though I’d be happy to give them one last sale