Big Bad Bootery!
July 27th, 2006
This place has been a familiar sight on Rt. 9 since I can remember, yet I’ve never been inside. I remember when my sister and I were little we were puzzled because we couldn’t tell if the store was called “Walter Dyer is Leather” or if Walter Dyer was actually a guy made out of leather (creepy!). It was also fun to shout out “Big Bad Bootery!” when we drove by. Even now Ethan has heard me mutter “bigbadbootery” in the car when we pass it. You’d think for the sake of the blog I’d go in there and check it out but I just can’t. Not because I don’t think they have good stuff, but I don’t want to ruin the vision of what I think it must look like inside. I always pictured it looking like a saloon out of the old west with a second floor balcony and playing Bob Seger on the radio. I just like to keep that part of my childhood to connect with and going in there would end the mystique of what it’s like inside. BUT, if anyone is looking for leather products I think you should go. It looks like they have some good stuff. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll finally go in there and get a big belt buckle or something.
Awesome - Chaps are on SALE
Comment by OneTiredMomma July 27, 2006 @ 10:33 pm
They used to have radio ads that said something like “Look for the big ugly sign!”
Comment by adamg July 28, 2006 @ 6:53 pm
It actually DOES kinda look the way you imagine it inside. I don’t think you’d be disappointed.
Comment by Perry September 15, 2006 @ 3:25 pm
You should go in. It smells good in there.
I got the best leather jaceket there in high school and my husband got one there about 5 years ago custom made to fit him.
Comment by Kris October 21, 2006 @ 2:16 am
I think I will go in one of these days they’ll probably close one day and I’ll have wished I went in there.
Comment by michelle October 21, 2006 @ 4:42 am
You’ve GOT to go inside!! It is exactly the way you think it should be - give it a try!
Comment by Laura & Tyler January 31, 2007 @ 8:13 pm
Walter Dyer opened when I was in high school. Nice to know something good that hasn’t closed.
You should definitely go in. I bought my favorite handbag in there–shoulder bag, actually, with a strap fashioned after the one on an M-16 rifle. This was during VietNam, so it was way cool. I used that thing till it fell apart, years later. Good stuff. Wish I still lived close enough to shop there.
Comment by Catherine September 23, 2007 @ 4:15 am
What a blast from the past..I actually worked for walter Dyer in 1977..worked at the factory and the Big bad bootery. Garby taught me how to stitch the leather vests. two weeks practice on just the button holes. I now own my own leather shop for the past 17 years. I jsu showed someone the other day my fabulous 2-d-ring moccasins from the 70’s … a treasured item, still look like new. Walter made the best leather goods … and what a character he was….great memories.
Comment by MG August 10, 2008 @ 12:12 am