continued from page 19
pair of Kyle Pettigrew, Blanchard-style
spurs in Washington state started me
on a fifteen-year quest. Since then I
have owned original Blanchards; I’ve
traded for spurs stamped Moore and a
number of spurs carrying the Kyle
Pettigrew stamp; I even owned a pair
of Kyles. I have seen a jillion pair of
spurs stamped Rodeo. The one thing
that always eluded me was a set of
Kyle Pettigrews built on a Blanchard
pattern, stamped Kelly.
The brief history of the contract just
increased the rarity of the spurs and
greatly decreased my chances of ever
finding a pair, if a pair even existed.
Spurs based on Blanchard’s style did
not start appearing in major retail cat-
alogs until 1967 or 1968. I have never
even seen a true Blanchard-style spur
advertised in Kelly’s catalogs. I have
seen spurs with the forward slanted
spur buttons and short shanks but they
lacked refinement, which is the hall-
mark of a Blanchard-style spur. Worse
yet, I could never find any written
proof that Kyle Pettigrew ever actually
had a contract with Renalde to pro-
duce any spurs under the Kelly name.
I was either chasing the ‘holy grail’ of
spurs or hunting a completely fictional
myth.
Over the years I have been fortu-
nate enough to have owned some very
rare and expensive bridle bits and
spurs. Most were not planned purchas-
es, more of my being in the right place
at the right time. I’m always on the
lookout and I study constantly, trying
to learn more about the makers and
the gear they produced. It was while
researching the history of the company
and the value of their spurs that I
learned of the perhaps mythical con-
tract.
Not long ago I was in Austin, Texas
with plenty of time to kill. I was scroll-
ing through some Internet bridle bit
and spur auctions, looking for a deal
and checking current values on bits
and spurs. As I scrolled through some
past auctions I saw a pair of spurs that
caused me to do a double take. My
scrolling came to a screeching halt as I
saw a pair of Blanchard-style spurs. I
immediately recognized them as the
work of Kyle Pettigrew. When I
scrolled back up to read the descrip-
tion it said, “These spurs were stamped
Kelly.”
I was in total disbelief; there were
the spurs I had been hunting for over
15 years. They were nothing special,
no silver, just a plain steel pair of spurs,
well used with most of the chrome
worn off. I just sat there stunned for a
minute. Then I clicked on the photos
to enlarge them; sure enough, they
were stamped Kelly. I went back
through the auction information to see
what they had sold for, and to see if I
could find any information about the
purchaser. I could find no information
on their final sale. I contacted the sell-
er and she informed me that her
reserve had not been met and they had
not sold. After further conversation I
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agreed to buy them and I put the
money in the mail. I must tell ya I did
not sleep much the next few days wait-
ing for those spurs to arrive.
I was as excited as a kid at
Christmas when I pulled that package
out of the mailbox. I quickly cut the
box open with my knife and held those
spurs in my hands. I just stood there
staring at ‘em. I had finally found the
“holy grail” of spurs.
After I settled down and quit patting
myself on the back, the next question
was, what am I going to do with them
now that I have ‘em? After much con-
sideration I had them appraised.
Rarity, condition, the history of the
design and the maker were all factored
in and a value of $1,200 to $1,500 was
placed on the pair of spurs. Rare does-
n’t always mean most valuable; cer-
tainly I have owned bits and spurs
worth far more. I recently showed my
spurs to a fellow collector. She
inquired, “Do you want to sell them?”
I did not hesitate or stutter when I
replied, “These spurs are not for sale.”