1938 S. D. Myres Saddle Company Catalog

This black-and-white facsimile reproduces the 1938 sales catalog of the S.D. Myres Saddle Company of El Paso, Texas, billed on its cover as "Manufacturers of The World's Finest Saddles." Founded by Samuel Dale "Tio Sam" Myres in Sweetwater, Texas in 1898 and relocated to El Paso in 1920, the company built an international reputation for superior craftsmanship and supplied saddles to working cowboys, the Texas Rangers, and Hollywood stars including Gene Autry, John Wayne, Tom Mix, and Jack Hoxie. Myres had achieved national fame in 1914 with the legendary "Miller $10,000 Saddle" — commissioned by Col. Joe C. Miller of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and embellished with fifteen pounds of silver and gold and more than 300 precious stones — and by the late 1930s the firm had expanded under his son William and nephew Dace Myres to volume production of high-quality holsters and gun belts that became as celebrated as the saddles themselves. This 1938 catalog captures the firm at the height of its mid-century output.

Summary of Contents

The catalog opens with introductory text describing the construction of a fine saddle and instructions for its proper care and maintenance, followed by extensively illustrated entries — most accompanied by photographs or line drawings — listing items for sale with detailed descriptions and prices. Coverage includes custom and stock saddles in a wide range of trees and styles; decorative hand-tooled "art leather" goods including gun holsters, cartridge belts, dress belts, briefcases, billfolds, and knife sheaths; metal hardware components including spurs, bits, and ornamental belt buckles; and a variety of related goods for ranching, hunting, and law enforcement use.

An essential reference for collectors of vintage Western leather goods and Myres-marked saddles and holsters, historians of twentieth-century Texas saddlery and the cowboy West, leatherworkers studying mid-century hand-tooling traditions, and researchers of the Western film and rodeo industries that the firm helped outfit.

Satisfaction guaranteed or you can send it back!