If you become interested in buying cowboy spurs or western spurs, you will soon become aware of the makers who are referred to as “The Big 3″! These 3 makers are the people who are responsible for making cowboy spurs what we know them as today. They were the trail blazers of their time and excellent business men as well as craftsmen. They knew how to mass market their spurs to the likes of cowhands as well as the cavalry and army too.
The first of “The Big 3″ is August Buermann. Buermann was born in Germany in 1842 and eventually travelled to America to be trained as a locksmith. His career took a turn when, at 22, he began working at a blacksmiths making cowboy spurs for the army as well as the locals. By the early 1900’s, Buermann’s spurs and name were on the heels of all of the US mounted cavalry, through an amazing commission he had been awarded.
Eventually, in 1914 Buermann’s company was bought by North and Judd, a larger western hardware company. His spurs still fetch a good price at auction and can be identified by his logo – a Star, usually found stamped into the buttons on the side of the spurs that hold the leather spur strap on.
North & Judd are also one of “The Big 3″ makers who originally began life as a maker of saddlery and cowboy equipment. The company was started before 1800 and in 1878 became the North and Judd Manufacturing Company. At it’s peak they had over 500 people working for them making spurs and other equipment. North and Judd were responsible for equipping the soldiers of the American Civil War and the US army. All of the spurs and equipment was stamped with an Anchor mark which is the sign of North and Judd.
The last of the 3 is the Crockett Spurs company. Started by Oscar Crockett in the start of the 1900’s, Oscar had learnt to make cowboy spurs from skills taught by his brother. He started his company and soon began to design and make pairs of custom spurs to order. He was also making pairs of cheaper aluminum spurs for the public too.
Crockett soon became one of the largest makers of spurs in America and after they purchased the Shipley Spurs company in 1940, they became the largest. At that time, with the two companies combined, they were selling over 170 different types of spurs from their catalogs. All of them were marked with CROCKETT or C&G as the makers mark.
Although we have covered the 3 companies in “The Big 3″, we also need to talk about the company owned by Jim Renalde. The Renalde spurs company ended up owning some of the other major spur making companies and at it’s height was the largest maker of spurs in America. Renalde owned the Kelly Bit and Spur company and also bought Crockett Spurs too.
The Renalde company was also a popular maker of saddles, buckles and other horse tack and blacksmith items. Eventually, Renalde became the largest manufacturer of Cowboy Spurs in America until it was closed down in 1980, taking with it a long history and smaller companies and names it had purchased over the years.
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