Riser Home & Boot Shop, Illinois, United States

5Taylor B 5:00 PM May 11, 2021

Riser's Cheap Boot & Shoe Manufactory
In the pioneer days, a shoemaker was one of the most important contributors to the prosperity and welfare of a community. So it was with George C. Riser of Nauvoo, Illinois, who was one of 14 businesses selling shoes and boots that formed a union called the Boot & Shoe Association. George and Christiana Riser married in 1841, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1842 and lived in their 16-feet by 16-feet red brick house at 350 Main Street, on the northwest corner of Main and Parley Streets, near the Brigham Young Home, from 1843 to 1846. Although Riser left Nauvoo with few resources, he opened a boot shop in a tent as soon as he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in September 1847. He thus claimed to be the first shoemaker in the valley. When he left for Utah, Riser sold his house for $130, one-tenth of what it was worth. When touring Riser's house, visitors learn how an 1840s shoemaker used different grades of leather and wood to construct shoes, how a boot factory operated, how pioneers "personalized" their shoes. Riser advertised his business as "Cheap Boot & Shoe Manufactory." His prices ranged from 45 cents for children's shoes to $5.50 for men's "fine boots." See Riser's workshop with shoe models and tools that are authentic reproductions of instruments used in the 1840s. Shoes were made by hand out of leather prepared by local tanners. The first step was to measure the wearer's foot and then select a matching wooden form to build the shoe around. Several rounds of cutting, hand-stitching, gluing and nailing were required to craft a sturdy shoe or boot in a variety of styles.