Old Frazier Saddle

[Randy Cornelius]

I thought I would post some pictures of the old Frazier Saddle that came in for repair. It has the makers stamp, R. T. Frazier Maker Pueblo, Colo. It has a 15 1/2 inch seat and 5 inch cantle. It has felt instead of sheeps wool. I was wondering if this could have been orginal. It looks like the wool has been replaced before but I was wondering if it was orginaly built with felt. It is my understanding that some of the few saddle makers durning WWII was using felt as wool was going to the war effort and hard to get. Also it has metal hardware instead of brass which would also be an indicator that the saddle may have been build during that time. I am not familary with the Frazier saddle Co and was wondering if someone was, when were they in operation and for how long etc. Here are the pics anyone with info please advise. I will replace the felt with wool unless someone can tell me for sure it was built with felt orginally.

Randy

[steveh]

Randy,

I have a reprint of r t Frazier catalog, it is not dated, but looks like the 1920 to 1930 era ,judging by the type of gear forsale.On Page 43 there is saddle that looks like yours. The number is 2683, the price was 53.50, the saddle is a citizen iron horn tree, with fourteen inch swell fork. the skirt liners are bark tanned wool skin.It came with narrow brass bound stirrups.The stamping and style is just like yours. It looks like someone replaced the skirt liners judging by the irregular stitch that paralels the factory stitch.I would imagine someone on this forum has more history on th R T Frazier co.

Steve

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Steve responded while I was typing, but here goes what I found anyway.

Information from “They Saddled the West” on the R.T. Frazier Company:

Started in 1890 by Robert T. Frazier. He worked with S.C. Gallup under the name of Gallup and Frazier before that for ten years before they split. Frazier was a believer in strong advertising and put out large catalogues of his saddles.

The sales peaked in 1919 due to “the dearth of saddles throughout the cow country due to war restrictions on materials.” Orders increased after the war ended, and he had “a force of 50 saddle- and harnessmakers in his shop”. He died in 1931, but his wife continued the business on.

It doesn’t say anything about the materials he used in his saddles though, so it doesn’t help you there.

I have found it interesting in reading through this history book on saddles that most of the names we still know are because they created larger companies. They generally had quite a few makers working for them and it was their company name that got stamped on the saddle. So while we think of Walker or Frazier as great saddle makers (and they probably were in their own right), most of the saddles that have their stamp on them were probably never touched by their hands. I would suspect there were still individual makers out there turning out great saddles but because they didn’t make a factory with lots of workers, their names have been lost in history. And if one of their saddles is found now, it wouldn’t be worth as much because the name on it is unknown, whereas a Frazier saddle – though probably made by another maker – is worth more. I guess then, as now, the name sells.

[barra]

During WW2 a lot of shearling was used to produce A3 winter flying Trousers and B3/B6 jackets for bomber crews.

Today a lot of aircraft seats have sheepskin covers for comfort during long sorties. I'm sitting on an old one (but still perfectly comfy) as I type

Barra

Edited February 10, 2008 by barra

[kseidel]

I have a frazier catalog from 1915. In it they state that in 1913 they produced 5000 saddles and 2000 pairs of chaps employing 100 mechanics. Amazing production capabilities!

They did produce saddles with a wool felt for skirt lining; mostly for the dude ranch trade. These were primarily lesser priced saddles.

Keith

[thunter9]

can any one date an old frazier saddle from looking at it and from the numbers that are on the saddle the number is orb looks like 05 CP this is under the skirt in the back on top. its in good shape its a bear trap saddle it has cast iron oxbow stirrups tooled built in saddle bags. brass horn. small pouch with frazier snap in back of the cantle . the fenders are tooled with a naked lady getting out of a tub and a T and a upside down L and a bar under line it . its marked frazier in several places