Return of the Western Collectible
For the last nine months, collectibles market has received unprecedented national and worldwide attention with three major cooperating auctions featuring the former collection of the Roy Rogers' museum. Joseph Sherwood and linda Kohn Sherwood's High Noon auctions, along with Brian lebel's Denver old West and the famed Christie's auction House of New York City, all pulled together to feature many of the most iconic items of this most famous and down-to-earth of "B" movie cowboys.
I met Rogers once, years ago, on a southern California trap shooting range. He about bowled me over with an unassuming introduction and firm handshake. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Roy Rogers." Though I was too young to have lived through the height of Rogers' popularity, his genuine sincerity made me an instant fan of the real man.
Western historian Paul Hutton has described why he felt Rogers' mystique had made him so enduring. He was philosophical in his reflection, "These are certainly different times than the 1940s and 50s, but for the generation that grew up then, Roy Rogers represented straight- shooting honesty and integrity. He was always on the side of right and always stuck up for the weak and the oppressed. Roy Rogers represented the kind of virtues that we hoped America would always stand for."
Until the phenomenal success of Star Wars licensed merchandise starting in the late 1970s, only Walt Disney's Davy Crockett items eclipsed the sales and popularity of Roy Rogers and Dale evans toys, clothes, games and comic books. For successful, aging baby boomers that see value in the past, even a glitzy manufactured "B" movie past, what better way to relive and hand down some of those simple, honest values than to own a real piece of Rogers' Hollywood heritage.
Tempered with the sadness that the Roy Rogers museum in Branson, missouri was closing its doors, Denver old West auction organizer and owner Brian lebel stated, "It's been an exciting time where everyone involved showed their real love for Roy and Dale." at the conclusion of the Denver auction, Roy's son Dusty said, "I was crying and smiling at the same time. many of these items have been in the family for well over fifty years and on display in the museum for forty-two years. So it's great see to the Roy Rogers legacy handed down to a future generation."
Extensive local television and newspaper coverage had piqued the interest of many Denver families who brought their children and grandchildren to show them a little old- time, Western americana. I watched as one of lebel's highly-trained staff members went out of her way to explain to some young visitors just who Roy, Dale and Trigger were. That's one way to help keep the legacy alive. Saturday night, amidst the auction's actual frenzy, the phone bidding staff reported enthusiastic bids coming in from as far away as europe.
Rogers' extensive firearms collection, both from his films, his hunting rifles and shotguns and some collectible guns, were the biggest part of the lots being offered in Denver and brought good prices. Roy's first Hollywood holsters with his pair of five and one-half inch Colt single actions brought $103,500 plus the normal buyer's premium required with all successful bids. another Rogers' holster set from Nudie's famous Hollywood shop with a pair of Colts brought $97,750. a rare Winchester model 12s shotgun that Rogers bought directly from Hollywood Golden age superstar Clark Gable went for $71,300. There were Roger's spurs, Hollywood clothing, personal shooting and hunting outfits and even Roy's 1964 canary yellow lincoln convertible that went for $19,550. The very last item in the auction, a simple limited-edition print of Rogers that hung at the exit of the museum and wished visitors "Happy Trails" as they left, went for $14,950 – a nice surprise ending to an incredibly successful evening.
At Christie's/High Noon auction in New York, RFD cable television owner Patrick Gottsch's business manager enthusiastically outbid several other major bidders for Rogers' famed mounted palomino horse Trigger for $266,500 and paid another $35,000 to win Rogers' "wonder dog" Bullet. Trigger is undeniably the most iconic piece identified with the "King of the Cowboys." In having his favorite horse mounted for display, Rogers managed to keep some of that special man and horse relationship vivid in his own memory. For Gottsch, it was a targeted buy as RFD has plans to start broadcasting Rogers' movies on Saturday mornings and will feature Trigger, Bullet and other memorabilia in a museum wing of a new corporate headquarters building slated for construction in omaha, Nebraska. Gottsch plans to have Dusty Rogers and his son intro the films hoping to introduce a new generation of young farm and ranch children to positive values and the clean-cut entertainment that Rogers exemplified. In an interview on National Public Radio, he happily emphasized that since the New York auction, "I've received numerous emails thanking us for saving Trigger and Bullet." The Christie's auction, which had the most Rogers items on the auction block, brought in just under $3 million dollars, many items selling for two to three times their estimates, a positive sign for the collectibles industry.