Ridin’ High: Pop Cowboy Collectibles
By Donald-Brian Johnson
Guitars. Movie posters. Cap guns, lamps, candy boxes, and calendars. A plastic pistol-shaped toothbrush, complete with its own holster. Tonto’s knife. Gene Autry’s autograph. And that’s just for starters. If it’s Western-themed, chances are that Wayne Babchuk has corralled it into his vast collection of cowboy memorabilia.
Quick on the draw, even at an early age: future cowboy collector
Wayne Babchuk.
(Photo courtesy of Wayne Babchuk)
Babchuk, a Professor of Practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has transformed the lower level of his home into a wonderland celebrating pop culture’s vision of the Wild Wild West. In other words, if you’re looking for bridles, spurs, and similar gear, well, that’s a horse of a different color, and you’d best just mosey along (although Wayne does note that he once considered replacing his display room chairs with saddles).
Instead, what you’ll find here is cowboy (and cowgirl) life as re-imagined over the years in Wild West shows like “Buffalo Bill’s,” action-packed Saturday movie matinees, sensational dime novels, thrilling radio programs, and shoot-’em-up TV shows. From Red Ryder to Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger to Annie Oakley, pop culture cowpokes have become the stuff of legend…and that “stuff” is what captivates Wayne Babchuk.
As a photo of the young gunslinger attests, Wayne was roped into his lifelong interest at an early age. He notes that “In the first grade, I refused to go by any name but ‘Zorro.’” (His childhood “Zorro” gloves are still a part of the collection). “I had a happy childhood—and this reminds me of it.”
The “Old West” of fact and fiction is generally categorized as beginning after the Civil War, when folks moved westward in search of a better life; it lasted into the early 1900s. Collectibles then were remnants of reality: guns, mining equipment, railroad and saloon artifacts, and Native American beadwork and basketry. Artists such as Frederic Remington and Charlie Russell were among the first to romanticize the era. More commercial romanticizing came courtesy of such showmen as Buffalo Bill Cody and Pawnee Bill. Their touring extravaganzas, from the 1880s into the 1920s, came complete with hordes of thundering horses and battle recreations, and made stars of such performers as “Little Miss Sure Shot,” Annie Oakley. Among souvenirs of the Wild West shows: posters, programs, photos, and even the occasional costume piece.
Outfits for would-be young Gene Autrys and Hopalong Cassidys flank a Gretsch 6120 advertising display.
The “flickers” arrived in the early 1900s, and, almost immediately, so did movie cowboys. Silent stars such as Tom Mix became the idols of youngsters everywhere, and items endorsed by, or otherwise related to them, were must-haves. With the arrival of radio in the early 1920s, merchandising moved into full gallop. By the 1940s, for just a Cheerios boxtop or two, you could send away for a “Deputy Badge” and help the Lone Ranger, that “daring and resourceful masked rider out of the plains,” lead the fight for law and order.
With the dawn of “talkies” in the late 1920s, many movie cowboys were now not only riding the range and shooting off six-guns, but singing too. Even those who couldn’t hum a chorus of “Home on the Range” gave it a whirl. As for audiences with eyes affixed to the silver screen, how could they possibly resist acquiring a Gene Autry guitar? Or one marked “Roy Rogers?” Or both? Movie exploits made Gene, Roy, and their compadres household names.
What every good clock radio really needs – a horse figurine.
Exposure increased significantly when television came on the scene in the late 1940s. One overwhelming favorite of the early 1950s, William Boyd, was savvy enough to acquire the rights to his character, “Hopalong Cassidy.” In addition to Hoppy-themed lunchboxes, toys, and signature six-shooter cap guns, young broncobusters could join the “Hopalong Cassidy Fan Club.” Membership came complete with a badge, and a copy of Cassidy’s “Code of Conduct.” You could even dress like Hoppy, in a vest-and-chaps outfit modeled after the one that he wore.
Babchuk notes that pieces of the past like these still remain popular; many examples are available on eBay, or at antique malls. Prices range from rock-bottom for garage-sale items, into the thousands for pristine movie posters. Some collectors focus on just one aspect of pop cowboy culture. (The movies! The TV shows!) Others (like Wayne) enjoy it all. “It’s just really fun and interesting to collect this stuff. It’s something I love.”
Mary Babchuk’s contribution to her husband Wayne’s collection: a Western-style guitar lamp, purchased 15 years before they met.
And you never know where the collecting road will lead. Wayne’s wife, Mary, had a Western-styled guitar lamp for 15 years before they met. She knew that someday she’d find just the right spot for it. And she did. The lamp is now a cherished part of the Wayne Babchuk cowboy collection.
Cowboy collectibles courtesy of Wayne Babchuk. All photos by Donald-Brian Johnson and Hank Kuhlmann, except as noted.
Donald-Brian Johnson is the co-author of numerous books on design and collectibles, including Postwar Pop, a collection of his columns. Please address inquiries to: donaldbrian@msn.com
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