By ERIC RODENBERG
AntiqueWeek Associate Editor DENVER, Colo. — Roy Rogers, Jr. – best known as “Dusty,” the son of the famous Hollywood cowboy – was visibly nervous March 25 inside the Denver Merchandise Mart.
It was four hours before personal items from his father’s storied past were to go up for auction at Brian Lebel’s 21st annual Old West Show and Auction.
“This has been the most difficult thing for our family,” Rogers said. “But, as I tell everyone, it’s really no different than what a lot of people have to go through … selling their parents’ lifetime belongings. That’s difficult for anyone … in the end we’re only custodians of some of these antiquities. But, it was difficult going through a lot of these things, like one of the shirts in which I could smell Dad.”
Roy Rogers had a penchant for collecting. Part of his penchant for collecting came after a disappointing visit to the Will Rogers museum.
“Not long after Will Rogers died, they turned his ranch into a museum. And it didn’t have anything in it. So I made up my mind I was gonna keep everything,” Rogers said in a 1982 interview.
And by auction time, you could smell the Roy Rogers nostalgia in the air. It was standing room only. Many had come just to see the 150 personal guns and gun rigs recently taken out of the now shuttered Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo. (See AntiqueWeek Nov. 23, 2009) Many came to meet Dusty, and get their picture taken with the star’s son.
And many nostalgic bidders came with deep pockets: for there were well-storied guns and memorabilia.
Take the Clark Gable Shotgun, probably one of the near legendary Winchester Model 12s. The story goes that Gable, after having a bad day shooting clays, walked off the field, held the shotgun up in the air and shouted he would entertain any offer for “this S.O.B. shotgun.” Rogers quickly ran over to Clark and bought the gun for $600. From there, he stepped to the line and shattered 50 clays in a row. It became Roger’s favorite shotgun, selling at auction for $62,000.
There was the first gun rig owned by Rogers (1938), featuring two .41-caliber Colt single actions revolvers with stag grips, nestled into the ornately carved rig hand-carved by Ed Gilmore of North Hollywood, selling for $90,000; with Roy’s highly prized gold-trimmed Buscadero gun rig made by Nudie’s of North Hollywood, which appeared in numerous television shows, movies and personal appearances closely following at $85,000.
All quoted prices do not include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
One of the real surprises of the auction came at the very end of the Rogers’ memorabilia sale. It was a print of Roy, measuring 30 by 21-inches, framed, with the inscription “Good-Bye, Good Luck, and may the Good Lord take a likin’ to ya!” Posted at the museum, which closed last December, it was the last item to be seen leaving the facility. After frenzied bidding, it sold for $14,000.
“It was completely nostalgia,” said auction promoter Melissa McCracken. “We didn’t even have an estimate on it.”
But, baby boomers and nostalgia buffs, alike, will still have the opportunity to own a piece of the 1950s “Old West.” Christie’s of New York will continue on July 14-15, where bidders will have a chance to own everything from stuffed exhibits of Roy’s trusty horse Trigger; his loyal dog, Bullet; and Dale’s buckskin horse, Buttercup.
Trigger (1934-1965), alone, is estimated to sell for $100,000-200,000.
“We talked with the Smithsonian about those displays, but they didn’t seem to be interested,” Dusty says. “We’ve had some interest (in the animal mounts). And we know there will be museums represented at the sale. It’s the family’s hope that Trigger and some of the others will end up in a museum.”
The auction will include more than 300 lots including elaborate cowboy and cowgirl outfits designed by Nudie Cohn of North Hollywood, silver and jewel-encrusted saddles, the famous Nellybelle jeep from the 1950s television show and Roy’s 1964 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, decorated with silver dollars, chrome-plated pistols, horseshoes, miniature horses and rifles.
The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans estate originally approached Christie’s to sell the guns, but the auction house is unlicensed for firearms sales.
Dusty Rogers said he also plans on being at the New York auction for the final closure of the 40-year-old museum.
“They say a person never dies as long as his name is still spoken,” the 63-year-old Rogers says. “There’s still a lot of interest in Roy Rogers, parents – grandparents – telling their children about him … he was up there on the Silver Screen, he kept his promises, told the truth, he said always do what your parents say, have respect for others … I think it’s important for them to remember there was a guy like that … a guy like that who not only lived those principles on the screen, but in real life … I don’t know, who knows … he had a message, and I can only hope it continues.”
For more information, call 212-636-2680 or go online to www.christies.com |
