A quadruple-stumper in These Boots from Friday, March 4th: “Boots from this brand, whose logo is seen here, were worn by soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War.”
As you can see above :-), Mr. Trebek even spelled the response when he revealed it. Curious – had any of you heard of Frye boots?
I felt sure I’d have to use the Internet to research this one, as opposed to my books. When I typed “Frye” in Google’s search engine, “Frye boots” was the first choice to appear. The website is thefryecompany.com. According to the site, the company was founded in 1863, and it’s “the oldest continuously operated shoe company in the United States.” The site also mentions the fact about the Civil War that was in the Jeopardy! clue, and adds that the boots were also worn by soldiers in the Spanish-American War (1898) and World War II, including Theodore Roosevelt and General Patton.
I had to wonder what makes these boots so special. They claim both quality materials and attention to detail in the process of making the shoes. I poked around the site a little bit, and found that many of their pairs of shoes cost around $300. I didn’t see where you could buy them in a store. (It appears you have to buy them online or over the phone.) I also saw they appeared in InStyle magazine in October 2010. I didn’t think I was all that unhip, but that’s okay.