Limited Edition Roy Rogers' Cookie-Cutter Rowel Silver Spurs to be Reproduced

Contact Howard Maxwell

April, 2002, Victorville, CA - - Beginning today, a numbered, limited edition reproduction of Roy Rogers famous "Cookie-Cutter Rowel" Silver Spurs are available through the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans (RR/DE) Museum. A limited edition of 250 spur sets will be produced at Leather and Silver by Maxwell with locations in PA and FL. The numbered sets will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum and signed by Roy "Dusty" Rogers Jr. The spurs are being offered at $2995 per set, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum.

As most people remember, the silver-screen cowboys of the 40's and 50's era developed a signature outfit that reflected their screen persona. This included silver adorned gun belts, silver mounted saddles, fancy shirts, decorative boot sand silver spurs. Most memorable to Howard Maxwell was that melodious "jingle" as Roy walked. That jingle came from the stainless steel "cookie-cutter" rowel hitting against the stainless steel shaft of his spur. Of the sets of Roy's spurs on display at the RR/DE Museum, Mr. Maxwell decided to tackle the most challenging set of Roys spurs to reproduce. These were the spurs consisting of Crockett stainless steel blanks overlaid with hand-engraved sterling silver. Originally, the cookie-cutter rowel was laboriously fashioned by hand from a blank of stainless steel. Therefore, one does not see cookie-cutter rowels appearing on contemporary spurs. A new process had to be developed to build the stainless blanks and rowels for the project. This method was painstakingly developed over a year of work and numerous prototypes. Two of the prototype sets were donated to the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum and Happy Trails Children's Foundation as fund raisers.

After the stainless blanks and rowels are fabricated, the spur blanks are covered with sterling silver. The spurs are then hand-engraved, to match the original design taken from countless photos, and tracings taken of Roy's spurs in the museum. The craft of applying silver to stainless steel, the stainless polishing, and the attaching of the cookie-cutter rowel are all but lost arts. Only a handful of old time makers, like Bob Brown and Charlie Willcox, possess the skills and were willing to share them with Mr. Maxwell. Because of their generosity, enough expertise was gained to produce RR spurs. After the spurs are covered with silver and engraved, the swing button brackets, arms and buttons are applied in another intricate process. After the buttons are attached, the entire spur is polished to bring the stainless to a mirror finish that equals the sterling silver. The final steps require the hand-carving of the leather spur straps that attach to the spurs. Again, many photos and much research were required to duplicate the spurs straps. Each strap uses a hand-engraved concho, buckle, tip and keeper. The Roy Rogers' Cookie-Cutter Rowel Silver Spurs, being offered today, are in large part crafted just as they were sixty years ago. As originally, hundreds of man-hours are needed to complete one set of spurs.