January 26, 2024 Brian Lebel's Old West Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/26/2024
Elmer Awl’s (1889-1983) personal sterling silver and three-color gold let ‘er buck oval buckle made for the Rancheros Visitadores co-founder and Santa Barbara icon. The special-order buckle includes a letter from Bohlin author and acclaimed authority, James H. Nottage indicating that it was catalog model #381 as pictured in their 1930, 1937 and 1941 catalogs. Nottage further states that the buckle has all the characteristics of form and finish found on the best Bohlin products of the early to mid-1930s and that the lack of a makers-mark on the off-side is not unusual, especially for delicately filigreed metal work. The 1930s buckle is designed to fit a 13/4” belt, measures 33/4” w x 2 1/2” h and has the horse and rider as well as the scroll work in gold with rubies inset in the two flowers and a tiny emerald eye for the horse. The price was hefty for the depression era at $110.00. So, as Nottage imagines in his letter, "Elmer Awl wearing this buckle at social and community events in Santa Barbara from about 1930, with a tall white 'Tom Mix' style Stetson hat on his head, Awl’s distinctive and exuberant personality always came across. Imagine him in the company of favored friends including artists Ed Borein, Will James, Joe De Yong, and Frank Tenney Johnson, along with Hollywood luminaries such as Will Rogers, Leo Carrillo, Lee J. Cobb, Walt Disney, Edgar Bergen, and many more."
Provenance: Buckle came directly from the family of Elmer Awl along with a period photograph showing him wearing it at an exclusive RV gathering. / High Noon Collection, Los Angeles, California
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Awl (aka Uncle Emo) moved to Pasadena with his grandmother in 1902. By 1906 he was working as a burrow packer on construction of the Mt. Wilson Observatory before attending Cal Poly San Luis and working for the U.S. Forest Service. In 1917, Awl moved to Santa Barbara to help develop an estate for J. Ogden Armour’s daughter and her husband John J. Mitchell. Awl, affectionately known as “Uncle Emo,” became well-known throughout the area as he developed and managed the El Mirador estate in Montecito, a beach property in Santa Barbara, and Rancho Juan Y Lolita in the Santa Inez Valley. By 1939 he was handling the affairs of the Samarkand Hotel and the Rancho in Sobre Vista. Even at the age of 53 he began war time service in the Navy, with stations in Panama and at Pearl Harbor. Following the war, Awl returned to Santa Barbara. Since 1918 he had managed Santa Barbara flower shows and as a devoted horseman he served as ringmaster of the Santa Barbara National Horse Show. He even helped to organize the first Old Spanish Days Fiesta in 1924, almost always appeared in the annual parades, one time even riding his horse into the bar at the Santa Barbara Hotel. Many other civic and social organizations benefited from his participation in their activities. Most significantly, he joined Ed Borein, Jack Mitchell, Dwight Murphy, and Harvey MacDonald as a co-founder of Los Rancheros Visitadores, serving as manager until 1947.
Item Dimensions: 3 - 3/4" x 2 - 1/2".