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Cowboy up! Just as the Green Girl had hoped, someone else surfaced with a John Deere saddle!
Having read the Green Girl column from April 22, 2002, a lady from Port Orchard, Washington, contacted me about John Deere saddles. She said she had one too and was interested in any and all information about them. Back in 1995 and again in 1998, she’d contacted the Deere & Company Archives hoping to learn more. She did get some copies of pages from a 1905 to 1906 General Catalog F from the Kansas City and Denver branches showing a variety of saddle styles. But the available information on the company history and its elusive saddlery product line was very limited. She explained how she’d come to own the special saddle…an elderly cowboy sold it to her for her stallion back when she was a teenager. She’s kept it ever since and even put it to good use riding. In all time, she only replaced one strap on it…45 years ago!
Other than that, the saddle is 100 percent original and in fine shape. In fact, the saddle’s condition is excellent considering its age of approximately 100 years. You can find the big letter "D" with deer head logo on the fender skirt just like on the other known Deere saddle. Interestingly enough, one of the photocopied catalog pages she shared with me also showed a Velie Saddlery logo on a horse collar illustration. It does indeed have a bull with its head down charging toward the left! Another collar image had the John Deere Saddlery logo on it! Apparently, these images came from a No. 3 General Catalogue from 1908 out of the Omaha, Nebraska branch. Unfortunately, I can’t offer an update on the sale of the Velie saddle as the owner has yet to find an agreeable price despite several significant offers. The Green Girl encourages everyone who owns a John Deere or Velie saddle (or harness, collar or piece of saddlery sales material) to share their knowledge and their items with the rest of the collecting world. With the cooperation of others, maybe The Green Girl can help put this story together piece by piece. The more we can learn about this piece of company history and this fascinating product line, the better it will be for all of us in the hobby!
Text © 2002 Brenda Kruse. Photos by Brenda Kruse unless otherwise noted. |
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