The 3 best makers of Cowboy Spurs

There are 3 main makers of cowboy spurs and they are referred to as “The Big 3″. These 3 makers of spurs and also western tack, horse bits and saddlery are the people that are responsible for making the spur what it is today and also taking it to mass market. These are the 3 who made cowboys what we know them as today.

The first of “The Big 3″ is August Buermann. Buermann was born in Germany in 1842 and eventually travelled to America to be trained as a locksmith. His career took a turn when, at 22, he began working at a blacksmiths making cowboy spurs for the army as well as the locals. By the early 1900′s, Buermann’s spurs and name were on the heels of all of the US mounted cavalry, through an amazing commission he had been awarded.

You can tell a set of Buermann spurs by the Star logo he used to stamp onto them. The Buermann star can usually be found on the spur strap buttons. Even though Buermann was a popular maker of western spurs and tack, he sold his business to North and Judd in 1914 and retired – presumably on a nice fortune.

North and Judd are also one of the famous spur makers and had their roots in making saddlery, cowboy equipment and boot spurs as far back as before 1800. In 1878 they became the North and Judd Manufacturing Company and had over 500 staff working for them, producing spurs and equipment for the soldiers in the America Civil War and the US Army. The famous mark of the North and Judd spurs is the Anchor Mark which was stamped on to each of the spurs they made.

Another of The Big 3 is the Crockett spurs company, started by Oscar Crockett in the early 1900s. Oscar learnt the skills to make Cowboy Spurs from his brother and began to make custom sets of spurs to order as well as standard aluminum or steel spurs for the mass market.

Crockett soon became one of the largest makers of spurs in America and after they purchased the Shipley Spurs company in 1940, they became the largest. At that time, with the two companies combined, they were selling over 170 different types of spurs from their catalogs. All of them were marked with CROCKETT or C&G as the makers mark.

As with any business that is making money, there are always larger companies above you that want the piece of the pie you have. That’s what happened with cowboy spur makers too. The company owned by Jim Renalde bought the Crockett Spurs company in 1951 and also the Kelly Bit and Spur company in 1965 which made them probably the largest seller of spurs around that time.

The Renalde company was also a popular maker of saddles, buckles and other horse tack and blacksmith items. Eventually, Renalde became the largest manufacturer of Cowboy Spurs in America until it was closed down in 1980, taking with it a long history and smaller companies and names it had purchased over the years.

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