The Fight for Quality Boots: A Snohomish Shopping Tale
Before e-commerce, Snohomish loggers relied on local merchants like Billy Edwards to bypass 'cheap California' imports in favor of high-quality, handmade footwear.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In Olympia we called on Benj. Vincent and treated ourselves to a pair of his excellent boots; he there informed us that his boots are for sale by L. L. Andrews at La Conner, Clothier English at Mt. Vernon on the Skagit, and Billy Edwards at Snohomish. Mr. Edwards has just received a large consignment of this superior brand of boots, which the boys are quick to buy and pay cash for, because they want a nice boot for the Christmas Ball, and don't think it pays to buy a California boot, made by John Chinaman, when Billy will supply them with a first-class article made by so good a house as Vincent's.
“They don't think it pays to buy a California boot... when Billy will supply them with a first-class article.”
This 1870 clipping highlights a long-standing tension in Snohomish: the struggle between importing cheap, mass-produced goods and investing in local, durable craftsmanship. Today, while the 'buy local' movement has evolved, the core desire for quality items that hold up to our rugged Pacific Northwest terrain remains a cornerstone of the regional identity.
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