nects to the heel band are all earmarks
of Blanchard’s designs. The whole
design made for a better-fitting, more
functional spur. Even today, 85 per-
cent of the spurs made in the U.S. fea-
ture at least two elements of
Blanchard’s original design. Demand
for Blanchard-style spurs was so great,
I personally know of five spur makers
in Arizona and New Mexico who only
produced Blanchard-style spurs.
In 1965, two things happened
almost simultaneously. James Renalde
bought the Kelly Bit and Spur
Company, which had been in business
since 1903. That same year, Kenneth
Moore purchased the rights to pro-
duce the Rodeo line of Kelly Spurs, an
inexpensive line of rodeo-type spurs
produced by Kelly Bit and Spur
Company of El Paso, Texas. At that
time Kelly was the largest bit and spur
manufacturing company in Texas –
second largest in the world.
After securing the rights to produce
the Rodeo line of spurs, Moore con-
tracted with Fred Kyle of Kyle
Machine Works in El Paso, Texas, to
manufacture the spurs for Kelly’s
Rodeo line. Gene Pettigrew, a finan-
cial expert, joined the partnership
early on. Kenneth Moore left the part-
nership three years later, in 1968. The
partnership of Fred Kyle and Gene
Pettigrew continued. According to the
coffee shop historians, this new part-
nership landed yet another contract to
produce two types of Blanchard style
spurs for Renalde (who was now the
largest bit and spur maker in the
world) under the Kelly name. This
very lucrative contract was canceled
not long after it was signed. Coffee
shop historians say the reasons for the
early termination were: misappropria-
tion of funds, lack of quality control,
extreme alcoholism, poor business
decisions and selling contracted goods
out the back door at discounted prices.
We will never know for sure what the
truth is. But the contract was terminat-
ed, and by 1975 Kyle and Pettigrew
was out of business.
For me, the chance to purchase a
continued on page 20
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