Hamley Saddle Company Chaps, ca. 1920

Appraised on: June 4, 2011

Appraised in: Eugene, Oregon

Appraised by: Bruce Shackelford

Category: Rugs & Textiles

Episode Info: Junk in the Trunk 2 (#1621)

Originally Aired: November 5, 2012

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (1:30)

GUEST: This is my dad. This is his chaps that he wore when he was in professional rodeo.

APPRAISER: And you're from around here?

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: A lot of people don't realize that you go over the hills here and this is rodeo country. This is where the Pendleton Round-Up happened, all the great buck-offs happened. The company that made those chaps, Hamley Saddle Company, is over there at Pendleton. It's rodeo land. So what did he do?

GUEST: Saddle bronc, bareback and occasionally a bull ride.

APPRAISER: So this is him doing saddle bronc riding, probably what, the '20s?

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And these chaps come from the '20s, you think?

GUEST: Yes. This other picture is him as a teenager, late teens. It was taken in the early '20s.

APPRAISER: So he was a cowboy all the way, huh?

GUEST: Yes, 16 on.

APPRAISER: And how did it work out for him?

GUEST: A lot of broken bones and not a lot of money.

APPRAISER: That's... yeah, that's rodeo cowboy. This kind of thing's gotten real collectible. Unfortunately, chaps have gone down.

GUEST: Ah.

APPRAISER: As they became valuable, a lot showed up on the market. These were probably worth more five years ago than they are now, but they're still a pretty good lick-- I mean, probably $1,000 to $1,500 with this history. The history's great. They have a little bit of damage on them, but who cares? They're the real thing.

GUEST: Oh, thank you.

APPRAISER: Thanks for coming.

GUEST: That's amazing on the price.

APPRAISER: Yeah, that's good, huh?

GUEST: Yeah!