US Arabian Nationals Trophy by Gladys Brown Edwards

I'm always looking for traces of California's equine history, and readers of this blog will know that one of my favorite places to look is a yard sale or estate sale that advertises horse items.

Over the past weekend, I found something I've always wanted to spend some time with: an Arabian Horse Association US Nationals trophy. This one is a Reserve National Champion award given in 2006. It's about 13 1/2 inches tall and weighs an impressive 8 1/2 pounds.

The award for Reserve National Champion is coppery in color, as opposed to the National Champion award, which has more of a silver tone that can take on a slightly golden tone in indoor light. The example below is Khemosabi's 1973 US National Champion Stallion award, which graces the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona. (Notice that it stands flat on its wooden base.)

The design dates to 1968. A short article in Arabian Horse World showed a photo of the plaster version before it was first cast in metal. 

The original version of the trophy had GBE's initials, a copyright symbol, and the year on the underside of the horse's belly. This is the mark on Khemo's trophy.

The Horse Library collection holds a couple of other US Nationals trophies, which show variations in shading.

The trophy awarded in 2006, that I found at the sale this past weekend, shows that sometime after Gladys' death in 1989, the IAHA removed the mark on the underside of the belly and mounted the horse on a metal base bearing the organization's Service Mark.

I'm not sure of the exact date, but it appears that sometime after 2010 the Arabian Horse Association started using a similar, but definitely different, design for its National awards. 

Side note: More than one model horse collector has commented to me that the Breyer Proud Arabian Stallion resembles the original Nationals trophy horse. The PAS was first issued in 1971, not long after the debut of the trophy in 1968. 

Breyer designer Chris Hess may have been inspired by the Gladys Brown Edwards design, but there's no way to know for sure. Regardless, they look like they get along well together. 

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As always, thanks to the staff at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library for their help in researching the trophy's history for an article I wrote for Arabian Horse Life magazine a few years ago. 

https://libguides.library.cpp.edu/wkkahl

The legendary Khemosabi has his own Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khemosabi

In addition to the 1973 trophy, many other items from his storied life are part of the collection at WKKAHL. 

Pom Pom the Pony

It's easy to forget just how important horses and ponies were in American culture in the mid-20th century, especially to children and families. Television programs featuring horses and ponies were often associated with "traditional values," in a world that sometimes seemed so fractured after World War II.

One almost-forgotten relic of this era is a little book someone recently gave me: Pom Pom, by Louis Schutter and Norma Youngberg. The book has a copyright date of 1965, by Leonard “Buck” Weaver. 

Fresno Bee newspaper, August 2, 1964

Originally from Nevada, Weaver moved to Los Angeles to produce and star in a syndicated cowboy-themed TV show in the mid-1960s called “Buckaroo 500.” Like many other cowboy themed children's television programs, "Buckaroo 500" focused on “clean living, respect for adults, and high moral attitude.” The program aired on stations in several states around the country, including large and smaller markets in California.

 Weaver's biography on his YouTube channel says:

... The show starred Weaver, his stallion named Pom Pom, and a Doberman named Dixie. The show promotes positive values in children, with emphasis on "doing the right things". The title of the show is based on a score card that Buck developed to be used by children in upgrading themselves to become better human beings. Points can be earned for such things as saying daily prayers, being respectful, and brushing their teeth - hence the 500 in the name. Weaver, a 1947 Nevada Golden Gloves boxer, also established the Nevada Youth Boys Ranch in his hometown of Fallon, NV. The ranch offered a home for wayward boys ages 11 to 18. Weaver's goal was to help direct them to a more positive lifestyle.

Following in the tradition of books like National Velvet, the book Pom Pom focuses on the relationship between a girl and her horse -- in this case, Weaver's daughter Kathy.

One way to obtain this edition of the book was to subscribe to a Los Angeles newspaper.

As he was in the book, Pom Pom the pony was, as far as kids were concerned, the real star of Weaver's TV show. He was variously described as a "wild stallion," a "trained stallion," and a "Welsh Pony." (He looks not unlike a typical Shetland Pony from that era.)

"Buckaroo 500" was, at one point, sponsored by Wonder Bread. This retrospective video on YouTube shows an episode where Pom Pom attempted to eat a loaf of bread during filming. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXxFwf1bvQI&t=3s

By watching the TV program, viewers could win free ponies and other merchandise. This marketing of Pom Pom in the mid-1960s was a smaller version of the mass marketing campaigns that surrounded other, better-known television programs with horses, like Roy Rogers, in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Pom Pom himself made personal appearances around California to promote the TV series by connecting it to local businesses and educational institutions. 

St. Helena, California Star, April 30, 1964

St. Helena, California Star, April 30, 1964

Tracy, California Press, June 27, 1962

It wasn't uncommon for free pony rides to be offered at the many shopping centers, gas stations, and other businesses being built to support the influx of families to California after World War II.  

Southern California pony ride, 1950s

Sometimes Pom Pom's appearances helped promote the opportunity for a child to ride a different pony.

Salinas Californian, April 22, 1964

Other merchandise, including a coloring book, promoted the life and adventures of Pom Pom. In 1967, Weaver developed a marketing relationship with some Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 16, 1967

Silver City, NM Daily Press, June 5, 1967

Silver City, NM Daily Press, June 5, 1967

Las Cruces, NM Sun-News, June 8, 1967

Weaver’s and Pom Pom's co-star on the show was singer and character actor Jose Gonzales-Gonzales. He appeared in a number of television programs and films, and was a regular performer at the Los Angeles County Fair and other California venues.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 9, 1967

Wichita Falls, Kansas Times, April 27, 1967

An updated version of the story of Pom Pom was published more recently. (Used copies are available for less than $10.) 

Source: AbeBooks.com 

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Here's a link to a short 2018 interview with Buck Weaver at the Nevada magazine website:

https://nevadamagazine.com/issue/january-february-2018/6877/

Jose Gonzales Gonzales' biography is on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Gonzales-Gonzales

California Morgans Love a Parade, Part One

Watching the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena is more meaningful to me when I reflect on the countless horses and riders who have taken part over the years. One of those riders was Monrovia/Duarte horseman Merle Little, who rode in countless Rose Parades.

The December 1948 issue of The Morgan Horse magazine printed a photo of Merle and his family members getting ready to take part in the January 1949 Rose Parade.

The caption reads:

"From left to right -- Merle Little on SENOR MORGAN 8647 by SQUIRE BURGER 8282 out of BONNIE SUE 05436 by ROSCO MORGAN 7573; Marlene Little [Merle and Edna May's older daughter] on ANITA BELLE GIFT 05714 by MONTABELL 8117 out of SERENATA 05069 by MOUNTCREST SELLMAN 7289; Donnette Little [Merle and Edna May's younger daughter] on SANTA YNEZ 06183 by MONTABELL 8117 out of DORRIS F. 04705 by MASTER G. 7585; Edna May Little on LIPPITT MORMAN 8211 by MANSFIELD 7255 out of LIPPITT KATE MORO 04785 by MORO 7467."

What we don't see in the magazine photo is that it was cropped a bit for publication.  Here's a copy of the print that is part of the Merle Little estate collection.

Looking at the original printed proofs of two pictures of the Little family on their Morgans, getting ready for the Parade, gives us a bit more context. The photos were taken by John Williamson. His mark appears in the lower left corner of both images.

Williamson, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, was a well-known and very respected equine photographer based in Southern California. (He was also a grandson of cereal magnate W. K. Kellogg, whose Arabian horse ranch was in nearby Pomona.) Several photo prints with Williamson's mark on the front and/or his rubber stamp on the back, are in the Merle Little estate collection.

The other photo Williamson took on this day shows the Little family and their Morgans walking towards the camera. 

Merle's children told me that Edna May wasn't feeling well, so Donnette stayed home with her and only Merle and Marlene took part in the 1948 Rose Parade.  (I'm not sure which of their Morgans they rode.)

The Little family were rightly proud of their Morgan horses. They used one of the photos on a Christmas card.

Many thanks to members of the Little family for sharing their memories with me.

Horse-Themed Christmas Cards During the Great Depression

The Pinto horse Thunder and his person, Merle Little,
appeared on Christmas cards Merle sent in 1932.

Since Christmas is almost here, I thought it would be fun to look at several examples of personalized horse-themed Christmas cards from the early 1930s.

By the time the Great Depression began, horses were already common images on greeting cards. We can illustrate this with examples I found at an estate sale in the San Gabriel Valley several years ago. The families whose names are inside the cards sent cards with somewhat stereotypical images of horses in winter. The horses pull carriages and coaches full of revelers, or they pull sleighs, delivering Christmas trees to homes.

Many of the cards have a distinctive "deco" style typical of the period.  The one just below, shows a long-eared equid of some kind. 

The cards from the San Gabriel Valley estate sale show classic Christmas designs, straight out of fairy tale New England or even Great Britain. 

By contrast, the personalized Christmas cards that Monrovia/Duarte horse rancher Merle Little pasted into his scrapbook in the early 1930s show a distinctive Western United States flair. These customized cards show that Southern California riders who came from very different backgrounds, were sometimes good enough friends to warrant sending a card. Their horses brought them together. 

The first card is a small piece of Hollywood and history: it was from the legendary silent film cowboy Tom Mix, showing him standing next to his horse, Tony, Jr.

I'm not sure where Merle Little would have met Tom Mix; it was possibly either through participating in equestrian events like rodeos and parades, or when Merle loaned some of his horses to film studios for cowboy movies.  The scrapbook also contains other Tom Mix memorabilia, including an article about the retirement of Mix's horse Tony in November 1932; he was replaced by Tony, Jr. (no relation to the original horse).

Two other cards in Merle's scrapbook were from people Merle probably encountered while riding in parades, rodeos, and other equestrian events. 

This green, white, and red card was sent by Dick Dickson. Dickson was the district manager of Fox West Coast Theatres in Los Angeles. 

Newspaper articles of the day tell us that Dickson owned absolutely stellar "silver mounted riding gear," a "prize-winning sensation" in parades in which the Los Angeles Sheriff's Posse rode. Both Dickson and Merle Little were members of that group. Dickson's parade tack was "almost entirely encrusted with silver and beautifully moulded and chased, is the expensive handicraft of Edwin H. Bohlin, Hollywood silversmith and saddlemaker."

Visalia, California Times-Delta, 4 June 1936.

The next card, also comic in nature, is from Elmer Awl. Merle Little knew him from his participation in the annual Rancheros Visitadores trail rides in Santa Barbara County, and probably from other equestrian events.

"Feliz Pascua" usually means "Happy Easter," but it can also refer to Christmas.
The image shows Christmas gifts, a candy cane,
a small Christmas tree and a holly wreath. 

Both Dickson and Awl used Christmas card designs by Western artist Joe DeYong. A protege of Charles Russell, DeYong was well-known for his art depicting Native Americans in the early and mid-20th century. Each holiday greeting card shows a different, cartoon-cowboy style; each card was customized for the sender. 

Merle Little had his own Christmas cards customized, possibly at a local print shop. His 1931 card contains a poem, "Christmas Greetings from California," and a photo of Merle riding his black and white Pinto horse Thunder.

Merle's card for 1932 shows him with two Pintos in silver Western tack. The tall horse on the left is Thunder; the smaller one on the right was named Patches. Unlike Dickson, Merle crafted his own silver-mounted Western saddle. (It will be the subject of a future blog post.)

The final Christmas card in Merle Little's scrapbook show Merle and his bride Edna May (Price) on Thunder and another Pinto, Lightning. It dates to 1934.

Wishing all the readers of this blog a peaceful, hope-filled holiday season.

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This link will take you to photos of a 2016 auction for an Edwin H. Bohlin "Dick Dickson" model saddle from the collection of Marty Stuart:  

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/edward-h-bohlin-dick-dickson-silver-parade-saddle-with-matching-bridle-from-the-collection-of-marty-stuart-890292/?fbclid=IwAR25L0SmJPOnFl1OJ70UJQVjlAk_eJblsqvTnOcKEo7y9nnQiO5HIe0QkTY