Saddle maker John M Paul Rockford

[BevJones]

Has anyone heard of this saddle maker. I have a friend asking.

"I have a saddle that I am in the process of cleaning and when I say cleaning, I mean antique dirt. I was wondering if anyone would have info on this saddle. On the fenders it says John M Paul Rockford then on the rear jockey right behind the cantle it says 1924. It is tooled and I would say a youth saddle."

[BevJones]

I am posting as I had a few people email me asking about this as they too had saddles made by John Paul.

Well, I had a pleasant surprise today. A gentleman had seen this post and called me. He had the pleasure of working with John Paul in the late 1960' early 1970's. He was 18 at the time and he thought John Paul was in his mid to late 80's at that time. He said he was a custom saddlemaker in Rockford, IL and his shop was attached to his house, located somewhere north of Auburn Street and about 40 blocks from a factory (I didn't catch the name). Said he was a wonderful kind and helpful man that built beautiful saddles. I guess John Paul would have been around 40 when he built my friends saddle in 1924. He built them well as it is now about 88 years old. I now have a little more to go by...Thank you for the info Mr Russell...you made my day.

[Mike J]

Hey Bev, Just got a saddle in for repairs. Same makers mark on each fender. Number on the frog is 304, I double checked. Wish we knew his numbering system. Also brought in was a saddle with same tree and design but lacked maker stamps anywhere. Number on frog is 122, appears to be same builder, no way of knowing tho. Mike J

[tnawrot2]

Back in the 60's I was a salesman for Tex Tan, John M Paul in Rockford Illinois was one of my dealers. His shop was behind his house in a garage. In the 60's he was having his saddles made by Big Horn and stamped his logo on them. I do not believe 1924 was the year made but it is probably the model number, many manufactures put the model number either on the latigo carrier or as you have seen on the rear shield. It was sure nice to see his name and remember the good days I had working for Tex Tan.