Vintage vamps

Internet business taps into popularity of cast-iron bootjack

Naughty Nellies aren't as sinful as they sound.

Nan Schwartz developed a fascination and passion for Naughty Nellies when she came upon one at an auction in Wyoming about 20 years ago. She was actually looking for antique spurs for her late husband, Stan Schwartz, but when she saw the unique bootjack, she began seeking them out.

A Naughty Nellie is a bootjack dating back to the 19th century that is in the form of a woman.

"When I saw my first Naughty Nellie I went crazy, and I was hooked," Schwartz said sitting in her kitchen. "I just thought that this was a piece of history, a piece of Americana."

The bootjack is a cast iron mold of a woman's body with her hands behind her head and her legs parted. She is dressed in a bustier top, nickers and boots. How does it work? For example, if you are removing your right shoe, you place the front of your left foot on Nellie's face, place your right heel between her legs and pull. The boot then slides off with relative ease, presumably making the Naughty Nellie one of the only females in the lives of many traveling ranchers.

Bootjacks have been around since the early 1800s in various shapes and forms, all of which work in essentially the same fashion.

Nan Schwartz and her late husband were the owners of Schwartz's Big and Tall men's clothing store for about 40 years. She and her mother, Jayne Achter, began reproducing the ladies about 5 and a half years ago.

"It was actually my mother's idea," Schwartz, 66, said. "She said, 'What do you have around here that we can turn into a business?' And I thought, well, we can try this."

The next day Schwartz visited a patent attorney, and Nannie's Naughty Nellies was born. The Nannie's is not because Schwartz' first name is Nan, but because both Schwartz' and Achter's grandchildren call them Nannie.

Working with family can be a challenge for many, but this charismatic duo seem to have no problems getting along. Schwartz's sense of humor and general zest for life combined with Achter's lightheartedness and serenity keep the relationship warm, lighthearted and fun.

When Schwartz and Achter were starting out they were making the Nellies themselves, but that proved to be too time consuming and dangerous.

"At tops we could make 15 a day, and they weren't painted," Schwartz, 66, said. "And they were so hot when they came out you could literally fry an egg on it," she said of the original resin that was being used to create the ladies.

Schwartz and Achter, a retired interior designer, now have the Nellies made abroad and they distribute the pieces from a North Las Vegas warehouse.

The women's home is decorated with various forms of art, including African folk art. Most of the original Naughty Nellies that Schwartz has collected over the years, about 100 in all, are displayed on the walls of the bar.

A more recent addition to the ladies's reproductions is a Naughty Nellie that, as legend has it, was modeled after Helen Bonham, who was crowned Miss Cheyenne, Wyo., at the Cheyenne Frontier Days in 1917. Supposedly a blacksmith was so taken with the young woman, he created an original bootjack for her.

"Actually we didn't know anybody wanted the replicas of the used-looking Naughty Nellies, but they do," Achter, 86, said of their newest replicas. "They're doing well."

The mother and daughter team were having their replicas of the Nellie bootjacks made of resin, and the Nellie was then adhered to a piece of wood with a suede lined heel slot. Then it became clear that people were interested in the exact replica of the original 1917 model based on Miss Cheyenne. This Nellie is the same form of the others, she is a little used looking, and is dressed in a blue bustier, red nickers and black boots.

The items are sold primarily on their Web site, www.nanniesnaughtynellies.com. The bootjacks were sold at a locally owned store for a while, but that is no longer the case, although, several retail stores out of state sell the Nellies. Schwartz and Achter's products can be found in stores in such places as New York; Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles; Denver; and Sante Fe, N.M.

Nannie's Naughty Nellies also offers the alluring ladies affixed to paper towel holders, waste baskets, napkin holders, tissue box holders, toilet paper holders, a clock, shelves, plaques, bookends and a box.

"We're taking the girls off their backs," Schwartz said.

Schwartz' goal for the business "is to break even," she said laughing. She is pleased that the owners of her products include director Cameron Crowe and actors and actresses such as James Caan, Demi Moore, Drew Barrymore and Ashton Kutcher.

"It's hard to start a new project. At a later age, it is difficult," Schwartz said. "But we're having a blast." Achter, looking on, nodded and agreed.