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by Frank Taylor When a Western hero or heel, dies with his boots on — chances are excellent, they were made by San Lucchese of San Antonio, Texas, the uncrowned king of cowboy boot makers. In movie, Texas oil, and celebrity circles, a Lucchese boot is like owning the Rolls-Royce of foot gear. His family are experts in the art of custom fitting boots, and in the last three generations, the Lucchese clan has fashioned more than 200,000 pairs of plain and fancy Western boots. His shop, filled with thousands of foot prints kept filed for reference, is frequently crowded with customers who do business in wholesale lots. Many of them order two-dozen boots at a time. Gene Autry buys 15 pair each year, and John Wayne orders six or more, depending on the kind of films he is working on. Not that a Lucchese boot wears out that quickly - far from it. They are status symbols for'the people who can afford them. Twice a year, the boot maker comes to Hollywood and sets up a mini showroom in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Placing his latest wares on display, Lucchese calls up his old customers to let them know he is in town for a few days. I met San during a recent session in the hotel, and was given a cram course in the finer points of custom boots. As he explained the trade to me, Lucchese picked up a handsome pair of boots, cut along plain lines. "These are $200,” the craftsman said, "and worth every penny. They should last one of my customers ten years with average care." Extra fancy boots, the kind most of Lucchese's patrons order, can run several thousand dollars a pair - depending on the type of hide they are made from. For instance, boots made from anteater, backed with kangaroo leather for strength, will run $600. Ostrich skin runs a bit more, and snake skin can be very costly because it is difficult to handle. There is no shortage of materials for a customer to choose from, since Lucchese keeps 125 different types of leather on hand at all times, so that none of his followers have to wear the same kind of leather twice — unless they want too. Lucchese fills regular orders for boots constructed of many different types of animal skins. Water buffalo, lizard. South African goat, elephant, have all gone through the Lucchese shops, and it is highly probable that almost anything that grows a hide will wind up as a boot, sooner or later. Sometimes, a Lucchese customer is so pleased with a pair of boots, he goes on wearing them for decades. A fairly ordinary pair made from cow hide was sold to a man in 1930, and last year, the old rancher sent Lucchese a letter of request. "He didn't want a new pair of boots,” the craftsman laughs, "he just wanted us to polish his old ones. And they still looked good!" But a reputation isn't made in a day, and the proud name of Lucchese on a pair of boots started with a Samuel Lucchese, grandfather to the present head of the company. Grandpa was born in Palermo, Italy, a town noted for ij's 6 Sam Lucchese-King