COWBOY

Finding Cowboy Memorabilia: the Race Is On

I always wanted a lot of fringe. David Anderson fancied silver studs. I had fringe on the hem of my leather riding skirt and, of course, all over my vest, on the edge of my gloves and even on the band of my cowboy hat. David had silver studs covering his chaps, all over the crown of his Stetson, and in a neat row on his holster. But if you think we were decked out if you had the eyes to see the magic costumes two seven year olds could create in 1950s North Dakota you would be even more astonished at the saddles and bridles we conjured up for the horses we so desperately wanted. No horse ever wore a saddle as finely crafted as the ones we imagined me for my "Queenie," David for"Midnight." We were splendid in our fine duds aboard our horses as we wore ourselves out with smart gallop imitations on summer afternoons. It had been a long time since I thought about that girlhood fantasy; decades since I abandoned the idea of ever really having a Queenie. And then I started paging through a catalog of cowboy collectibles, and there (OPPOSITE PAGE) For collectors of cowboy memorabilia, the market ranges from fancy boots to Western movie posters, as these treasures from the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles attest. (ABOVE) These McChasney double-mounted galley spurs from High Noon of Los Angeles make an impressive addition to a collection.

was a dress that looked so very much like the fringed cowgirl outfit I always pretended I wore. And a few pages later, there were chaps just like the ones David always described. These didn't have to be fantasies anymore. Cowboys virtually all things cowboy have become so popular, almost anyone can reach back into memory and pull out a cowboy fantasy and find it offered for sale. You've got to search, but that's what collecting is all about: finding that special treasure. I went searching and found the only thing keeping me from the fringed cowgirl outfit I always wanted was the $800 asking price. And I can't even bring myself to tell David his fancy duds just went at auction for $11,000.

Jam-packed. That's the word to describe The Bit & Spur in Dewey, Arizona - an antique store with a decidedly Western attitude.

Jam-packed with the state's largest collection-under-one-roof of cowboy gear: spurs, chaps, hats, boots, tack, rare guns you name it, if a cowboy used it, Doug Dishon has it.

"I've traded everything from Victorian to prehistoric, but when I got into cowboy gear about 10 years ago, I found I never liked anything as much," he remembers.

His customers come from around the world. But even casual visitors who just happen upon the store find they want to dally. "People come in and get caught up," Dishon says.

He has a Japanese collector who stops in once or twice a year and "buys a lot." Onecustomer came in specifically to purchase a set of spurs and left several thousand dollars later with a heap of items. He sells "tons" to Easterners who never had cowboys of their own.

"Western collectibles are a form of art," he says. "Most of it is in the hands of families who won't let it go. It's hard to acquire." But what is available speaks of a special time in American history and a special breed of American. Owning something that belonged to a cowboy puts you in touch with all that. "You get a feel for the cowboy who used that item," Dishon notes.

He warns that collectors need to be careful about things like Western law enforcement badges, which too often are fake. "But," he adds, "most of the things cowboys used were handcrafted and signed with stamps, so they're hard to counterfeit. The average guy today wouldn't know how to go about making it and faking it." "People are into collecting Americana, and what is more intrinsically American than Cowboys and Indians?"

That's how Linda Kohn of Los Angeles describes the fascination that has made cowboy collectibles one of the hottest trends in the country." "I first collected belt buckles," she says, "and then I got fascinated with horsehair belts they were made in the prison system until the '40s. And then I started looking for spurs, and after that it was bits and then chaps and then clothing and then saddles and then parade saddles and then anything made by Edward H. Bohlin."

By then, Kohn and her partner, Joseph Sherwood, were not just collectors but owners of High Noon, a California company specializing in Western collectibles. Each year the outfit sponsors a respected show in Phoenix which attracts collectors in droves.

There's a terrific bonus in this collecting business: the people who have turned their own passion for cowboy things into a business will spend hours with you discussing it all, a great way to learn what's out there.

If you're a new collector, you need to understand there's nothing "supermarket" about thisyou don't dash in, grab a few trinkets, and dash out. Collecting by its nature and certainly by its price tag - is something to savor.

The next time you're in Scottsdale, savor a little of A.P. Hays, who with his son owns Arizona West Galleries on Main Street. He's a lifelong collector himself; has been a fixture in Scottsdale for the last two decades.

Hays specializes in Western art, books about Western artists, and memorabilia from the Indian wars through the Mexican border wars (basically from 1870 to 1920).

Shopping for a fine watercolor of a national park by Gunnar Widforss? Hays has it. How about an oil painting of a Western landscape by a master like Maynard Dickson, Carl Oscar Borg, or Edgar Payne? He's got them, too.

Don't despair that these artists command from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands for their work. Hays also has their drawings, prints, and etchings, and they are much cheaper.

Maybe you're more into the Mexican bor-der wars. How about the exciting era in the early 1900s when Pancho Villa was the obsession of Gen. John J. Pershing. A massive army led by Pershing pursued Villa for months-going almost as far south as Mexico City-but they didn't even see him.

COLLECTING THE WEST

If you want to own anything from badges to spurs to horse bits or guns that were used during the border wars, Hays' shop is the place to start. But don't go there look-ing for Villa's gun or saber or saddle. Hays warns there are lots of fakes out there especially items attributed to the Mexican Robin Hood so beware.

Hays credits the resurgence of Western themes in the movies and on television for creating the latest wave of interest in cowboy collecti-bles. "People interested in history are inclined toward collecting," he notes.

And Arizona has a built-in advantage when it comes to attracting collectors, he says: "Tomb-stone. Collectors come to visit because they want to go to Tombstone."

"I think the basic reason people collect is the romance of the West," Linda Kohn says. "Those were the days when the good guys wore white hats; when young men and women settled the West. Plus there are all those people who grew up on Saturday morning television with Gene Autry and Dale Evans and Roy Rogers."

Jim Nottage, chief curator at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, agrees with Kohn. "There have been many cycles of popularity in Western culture, going all the way back to the 1880s, but the last decade and a half has seen an increased interest. I think it's because baby boomers want to collect things from their childhood."

Nottage has devoted his career to the history of the West, so he says he only collects "intellectually," but he's kept an eye on the market. "A few years ago, we saw a huge jump in prices for fancy boots," he recalls. "Then a big collection of boots was dumped on the market, and it ruined the market for boots. Last year I bought boots for the museum that I couldn't have afforded to collect the year before."

Kohn remembers when fancy vintage boots were going for $2,500 a pair. "But now they're back down to the $750 to $1,000 level where they should be," she notes.

And, of course, as with all collecting, somebody with a fat wallet and a hankering for a special item will pay whatever it takes for what they want like the California spurs made by master craftsman G.S. Garcia. Kohn notes they were featured at her 1994 Wild West Auction with an estimated value of $15-20,000. They actually went for $46,000. That collector really wanted those silver spurs.

Kohn says there are two major areas of collecting, and most people choose one or the other - although she dabbles in both.

Some collectors want only authentic cow-boy gear that comes from the 1850-1915 era, things cowboys made for themselves or had custom made for their individual tastes.

The favorite items are fancy spurs and hand-tooled leather spur straps, clothing, and magnificent saddles made by hand.

The other focus is the Hollywood cow-boy of the 1920s-50s. Name any cowboy actor, and you know his old costumes or boots or saddles or hats are being collected. "In the Holly-wood era, Tom Mix is it when it comes to collecting," Kohn says. "He was a real cow-boy who went into the movies, so in him, you have got both eras."

This also was the era when Edward H. Bohlin reigned. According to High Noon's biographic sketch, his company was "without equal among Western-style silversmiths, building a reputation on flawless workmanship that ranged from silver and gold trophy buckles to ornate parade saddles."

Bohlin's clients included virtually every Hollywood cowboy, as well as Mae West, Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan.

Western author Bob Boze Bell, a cowboy collector since he was a kid growing up in Kingman, says he's glad there's such an interest in the West, but the downside is "collecting has gone through the roof."

Bell particularly treasures authentic documents of Western heroes and rogues, such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid, all of whom have been subjects of his books.

"You used to be able to get fine original documents at affordable prices," he notes, "but a letter by Wyatt Earp just sold for $60,000. I can't afford originals anymore. But I love the stuff, so I buy good copies these days, laser prints."

Linda Kohn points out that both the cowboy collectors and collectibles are centered west of the Rockies, but says the East Coast will be the next great treasure trove. "We're finding lots of wonderful things in the East because when wealthy Easterners vacationed in the West, they bought the best. They took it home and said, 'My gosh, what did I do? This doesn't fit into my home at all. So they put it away in the attic. It was usually top of the line stuff, and it's still in great shape."

If you want an even higher-falutin fix, how about those rich Europeans in the second half of the 19th century who traveled the West for adventure and sport, bringing along craftsmen to artistically chronicle their cowboy experience. High Noon just auctioned off a solid oak "buffalo chair" that was probably produced on such an expe-dition. It went for $4,125.

As with all collectibles, there are still great deals to be found, still treasures to be stumbled upon. So if you've always wanted to collect cowboy things, don't be dis-couraged.

Museum curator Nottage has some basic advice for anyone wanting to join the cowboy collectibles craze: "The first thing you should collect are books and publications, even magazine articles, about the West and Western items. Read everything you can. Go to the best museums, meet the deal-ers, educate yourself."

Once you get into it, there are so many fascinating avenues to explore. I mean, we haven't even talked about the toys and photos and advertisements and dinner bells and lamps and fireplace screens and dishes and rugs and furniture and moccasins and gauntlets and fobs and... did I mention there's a fringed cowgirl's dress that still has my eye?