Belt Buckle Collector

2 ANTIQUE TRADER • www.AntiqueTrader.com • April 10, 2019

COVER STORY

Steve Evans

Once upon a time and not too many years ago, wearing a belt

and buckle was part of normal attire – especially for men who

might be thought of as country bumpkins if they wore suspenders

instead of a belt. ose daily-wearers knew a belt only lasts for a

certain number of years, but the metal buckle could be used inde-

nitely and outlast the owner’s life. Heck, belt buckles are dug out of

the ground at Civil War battle sites and still look pretty good.

Being long-lasting and having a practical use made the belt

buckle ideal for use as awards, and in many cases a better choice

than the traditional trophy or medal. e recipient could wear

the buckle with pride as proof of an accomplishment, or if he or

she didn’t want to be a show-o, could stash the buckle away as a

keepsake.

Oen an award buckle represents a milestone in the recipi-

ent’s life, as with Richard West, who drove one million miles for

Transport Service Company. Or it may be an award for a fun event

which seemed to be a lark at the time, as with Judy Cullen’s chili

cook-o award. It’s amazing how many dierent styles of award

buckles have been produced, and if you know the story behind the

buckle, it’s all the better.

If someone is going to receive recognition for a Herculean ef-

fort and the award is a belt buckle, it better be a dandy. Such was

the case with Chase Squires of Denver, Colorado and his massive

(almost half pound) “Heartland 100” buckle awarded to him on

October 15, 2006. Chase ran for one day and one night through

the prairies of eastern Kansas to nish the 100 mile footrace with a

time of 25 hours 7 minutes.

“Most 100 mile races give belt buckles as a nisher’s medal,”

Chase said. “As you become exhausted and sleep deprived, your

mind starts to play tricks on you. e buckle becomes the most

important thing on the planet. It’s called ‘buckle fever.’ It’s all you

want. Get. e. Buckle.”

Award buckles pay tribute to personal feats

CHILI COOK-OFF Belt Buckle

inscribed with the name

“Judy.” Won by Judy

Cullen on March 16,

1991 at Lake Elsinore

Marina’s 1st Annual

Chili Cook-Off in Lake

Elsinore, California.

Judy’s team won

1st place with their

“J.C.’s Hot Temper’d

Irish Chili.” This solid

brass buckle was made

by Award Design Medals of

Nobel, Oklahoma and measures 3 ½” x 2 5/8”.

1980’s TRANSPORT SERVICE CO

“SAFETY AWARD” buckle.

Transport Service Company

gave this award to its

employee, Richard West,

of Whitestown, Indiana

for driving more than

1,000,000 miles without

an accident. This 3-D

buckle displays a terriﬁc

likeness of a Mack R600

tanker truck – What an

attention getter! Belt-side

reads “Made exclusively

for Transport Service Co

Safety Program” and

“Made In U.S.A.” This

buckle weighs a solid ¼

pound and measures 3

1/2” x 2 ¼”.

All images courtesy of Steve Evans

HEARTLAND 100 SPIRIT OF

THE PRAIRIE belt buckle

awarded to Chase

Squires on October 15,

2006 for completing

the 100 mile ultra

marathon held in

eastern Kansas. Chase

ﬁnished with a time

of 25 hours 7 minutes.

This beautiful gold

and silver-plated buckle

shows the race name and

depicts a buffalo

grazing on prairie

grass. Belt-side

reads “Sponsored

by Kansas

Ultrarunner’s

Society” with

brand name of

Creative Castings.

This buckle

weighs 6.6 ounces

and measures

4 ½” x 3 3/8”.

ARKANSAS TRAVELLER 100

MILER buckle awarded

to Chase Squires on

October 7, 2007 for

running the 100 mile

course in the Ouachita

Mountains of Arkansas.

Chase ﬁnished with

a time of 28 hours 34

minutes. The front of the

buckle depicts a runner

in the forest zipping past

a big oak tree and several

cedars. Belt-side reads

“This buckle custom cast

for a competitor who has

successfully completed

the Arkansas 100.” It was

made by Creative Castings

of Denison, Texas and

measures 3 ¼” x 2 3/8”.

April 10, 2019 • www.AntiqueTrader.com • ANTIQUE TRADER 3

COVER STORY

An ultramarathon is any race longer than the standard 26.2

mile marathon. Over a 12-year period, Chase Squires ran in 27

ultramarathons. On October 8, 2007 he was awarded the “Arkan-

sas Traveller” buckle for running 100 miles through the Ouachita

Mountains of Arkansas. Chase recalls it was very hot and humid.

“Halfway through the race, the aid stations looked like MASH

units, bodies everywhere, people were just wiped out.” Chase at-

tributes his slower time of 28 hours 34 minutes to the tough condi-

tions, and notes how only 66 runners nished out of 140 starters.

e logo used on the Arkansas Traveller buckle came about in

1991 when the rst annual race was being planned. e design was

drawn from two inspirational pictures, a scene in the Ouachita

Mountains and the most dominant ultra runner of the day, Ann

Trason.

e good looks and nice size of the the Arkansas Traveller 100

buckle makes it an ideal choice to wear daily. Someone who doesn’t

wear belt buckles might think the AT100 is large, but take a look at

the Ragnar Trail Relays 2015 buckle (6” x 3 5/8”) which is too big

to be worn comfortably. It’s ne to wear while standing upright,

but when you bend forward far enough the buckle will jab even the

most slim runner’s abdomen.

Another extra-large buckle is the 1983 “Cactus Country Clas-

sic” buckle won by Mike Drennan of Arizona. It’s a big beauty,

measuring 6 ½” x 4 ¾”, and is the largest buckle shown in this

article. Mike Drennan won over 70 belt buckles in his career as

a top horseman. As a young man he won rodeo buckles in bare-

back riding, saddle-bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping and steer

wrestling. As Mike grew older he started judging at rodeos and

horse shows, which led to him training and showing horses, and

winning more buckles.

Note the 1959 buckle awarded to Mike for bronc riding at a

rodeo in Wichita, Kansas. It’s a classic rodeo buckle complete with

the name of the rodeo, the year, and the champion’s name. It has

RAGNAR TRAIL RELAYS

buckle awarded on

August 29, 2015 to

members of team

“Undertrained and

Overconﬁdent” for

ﬁnishing 1st place

in the Ultra Mixed

Submasters Division

on the Angel Fire Trail

in New Mexico.

Members of the

eight-person coed

team ran 15 miles

each to complete

the 120 mile course

with a time of 24

hours 9 minutes.

This very large

buckle measures 6”

x 3 5/8” and has a

built-in bottle opener for celebrating after the race.

1983 CACTUS COUNTRY

CLASSIC, FUTURITY

FILLY trophy

buckle awarded to

Mike Drennan of

Phoenix, Arizona,

for putting his

horse through

the required

maneuvers at

this quarter

horse show. This

fabulous buckle is

made of German

silver with bronze

lettering, banners

and bronze rope

edging, and

measures 6 ½” x 4 ¾”.

WHICITA 1959 trophy

buckle awarded to the

rodeo’s champion bronc

rider, Mike Drennan. This

rodeo buckle has classic

1950s styling with the

name of the rodeo, the

year, and the champion’s

name. Belt-side shows

it was made by Ricardo

and is made of nickel

silver with bronze trim

and measures 4 ¼” x 3”.

1964 HEINZ buckle presented to George E. Pendleton. This

buckle was awarded for 25 years of service (1939 – 1964)

although George actually worked for Heinz until he retired in

1978. This 12K gold-plated buckle is very attractive with its

raised Heinz ketchup bottle against a background of horizontal

lines. The belt-side is engraved with the initials “G. E. P.” and

“39-64” and shows the brand name of Balfour. Measurements

are 1 5/8” x 1 1/8”.

1951 AAU BOXING

award presented

to Leo Anderson

of Oakland,

California who

defeated Tommy

Flores for the AAU

championship in the

126 pound weight

class of the Paciﬁc

Association Region.

Belt-side shows the

buckle was made

of “granat sterling”

with an “Automatic Giant Grip” logo and patent number

1272208. It was made in U.S.A. and measures 2 7/8” x 1 7/8”.

4 ANTIQUE TRADER • www.AntiqueTrader.com • April 10, 2019

COVER STORY

a bronze cowboy on a bucking horse, two bronze wild roses and

bronze rope around the buckle’s edge, all on a buckle made of nickel

silver.

A rodeo buckle will oen have information on the back telling

what it is made of, common are German silver and nickel silver. It’s

interesting that neither contain real silver. German silver and nickle

silver are two names for the same thing: a mix of copper, zinc and

nickel. e most expensive rodeo buckles were made of sterling sil-

ver which is 92.5% real silver and 7.5% copper.

One of the smallest buckles in today’s article is the 1964 Heinz

buckle measuring 1 5/8” x 1 1/8”. It was a 25 years of service award

given to George E. Pendleton who was the Heinz district sales man-

ager for Maryland, Virginia and the DC area. George’s son Jack re-

calls “Dad sold train box cars lled with ketchup, beans, baby food,

soup, relish, and pickles. He would take me with him to set up some

of the displays in local stores, something as a child you never forget.

He was a true salesman, and knew everyone by name. He slept, ate

and breathed H. J. Heinz. He was a devout company man, a trait and

loyalty that is hard to come by today.”

Every award buckle is beautiful to the recipient, but some are

truly stunning. Take a moment to check out the 1951 AAU boxing

buckle. is design shows two boxers duking it out while Nike (the

Greek goddess of strength, speed and victory) is oating down into

the boxing ring preparing to lay a wreath of laurel leaves on the vic-

tor’s head. is championship bout took place on March 16, 1951

at the Winterland Auditorium in San Francisco. e winner of this

buckle was Leo Anderson of Oakland, California who defeated

Tommy Flores for the AAU Pacic Association Championship’s 126

pound weight class. A.A.U. Stands for Amateur Athletic Union.

Because Leo had won the AAU featherweight title, he was sent

in April, 1951 to represent his region at the AAU National Boxing

Tournament at Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts where he

1888 KENSINGTON

CRICKET CLUB award

presented to John F.

Squire for best bowling

analysis in foreign

matches. The bowling

analysis refers to the

bowler’s stats which

include overs, maidens,

runs conceded and

number of wickets taken.

The Kensington Cricket

Club was founded in

1871 in South Australia

and is still operating

today. This buckle is made of heavy brass with a thick silver

plating, and has an old-style belt attachment. It measures

2 5/8” x 2 1/8”.

1928 PHELPS

DODGE safety

award for working

in a company mine

with no serious

injuries or deaths. The front of the buckle shows a sentinel

with a torch and a shield that reads “For Greater Safety.” Belt-

side reads “Phelps Dodge Corporation 1928 Proﬁciency In

Safety” and shows this buckle was made of sterling silver by

S.D. Childs & Co of Chicago. The latching mechanism shows

the brand name Deluxe Giant Grip and has patent dates of

12/13/21 and 10/12/26. This buckle measures 1 9/16” x 1

7/16” and was found using a metal detector in Three Sands,

Oklahoma (a ghost town 3 miles south of Tonkawa).

1965 MERCURY 25

YEARS OF SERVICE

award presented to

Paul M. Baurle who

began working for

Kiekhaefer Mercury

Company in 1940.

Paul eventually

became one of the

company’s executives

and ﬁnally retired from Mercury Marine in the late

1970’s. This gold-plated buckle displays the Kiekhaefer

Mercury logo with three small diamonds and shows the

number “25.” Belt-side reads “1-20 12K,” shows the

“Balfour” brand name and measures 1 5/8” x 1 1/8”.

1983 BOWHUNTING buckle was awarded to

Warren Groves who placed 1st in the barebow

division at a National Field Archery Association

tournament held in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Belt-side reads “Bowhunting is a demanding

sport of skill and patience. The skills required

in bowhunting far exceed those of other

hunting sports. To be a bowhunter is to be a

true sportsman.” This buckle was designed by

Siskiyou and manufactured by Bergamot. It’s

made of pewter and measures 3 ½” x 2 3/8”.

1966 CMA REGATTA

WINNER buckle awarded

for ﬁnishing 1st place in the

Indiana Sesquicentennial

Crew Regatta held at Lake

Maxinkuckee on May 14,

1966. The nine-man crew

(8 oarsmen & 1 coxwain)

from Marietta High School,

Ohio, ﬁnished the one-mile

course in 5 minutes 16

seconds, just 5 seconds ahead of Culver

Military Academy, the crew who hosted the event. This buckle

is made of brass and measures 2 ¼” x 1 ½”.

April 10, 2019 • www.AntiqueTrader.com • ANTIQUE TRADER 5

COVER STORY

made it to the quarternals before being eliminated. Five weeks

later, and back in California, Leo debuted as a professional

ghter, and won his rst bout by knocking out his opponent in

the rst round. Leo Anderson’s professional boxing career lasted

from 1951 through 1962 with a record of 5 wins and 7 losses.

“Till my trophies at last I lay down,” is a line from the gos-

pel song e Old Rugged Cross. What does happen to an award

buckle when the original recipient dies? e recipient may have let

it go when downsizing to get his or her house in order, but most are

inherited by next of kin. If the buckle is known to be important, it

may stay in the family for one more generation.

One way or another, award buckles end up on the market and

most don’t come with the story behind them. Luckily some have

the information of who, when and where located on the buckle.

ese are the most desirable.

Sometimes information on the buckle is misconstrued by

the new owner. Take a look at the 1888 buckle. is 131 year-old

buckle has old-English script which makes it dicult to read. e

reseller pointed out how the wording of “best bonding analysis”

and “foreign matches” appears to make this an award for an em-

ployee who produced matches at a chemical company. e author

of this article bought this buckle and was temporarily on-board

with the story. It turned out the inscription didn’t read “bonding

analysis,” but instead “bowling analysis” and Kensington C.C. is

a cricket club. Great, that’s even better!

If you are the actual recipient of an award buckle you should

consider writing a brief “who, when & where” note to keep

with the buckle. If you were not lucky enough to be

presented with such an award, go ahead and buy one,

maybe a champion bull riding buckle. But PLEASE, tell

the truth when someone asks if you actually won it at

a rodeo. ■

Steve Evans is an avid belt buckle collector in Arkansas. He has

more than 600 buckles in his collection, including 195 award

buckles as seen in this article. Steve has never actually won an

award buckle, but he has received a few trophies from playing

at volleyball tournaments. Steve is a serious volleyball player

and hopes to bring home a medal this summer when he plays at

the USAV Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, albeit the 60 & over age

division.

Steve is best know for being an authority on guitars stencil-

painted with cowboy and Western images as sold by Sears and

Montgomery Ward circa 1930’s - 1950’s. He co-authored the book

called “Cowboy Guitars,” published in 2002, which is now the bible

amongst cowboy guitar collectors.

You can reach Steve at Jacksonville Guitar Center, 1105 Burman

Dr., Jacksonville, AR 72076; jvilguitar@aol.com, Shop/Guitar

Museum hours are Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Circa 1985 AMOCO

SAFETY AWARD

Belt Buckle.

This buckle

was awarded

to David J.

Anaszewski

who worked

as a stationary

engineer in the

83-ﬂoor Amoco

Building in downtown Chicago. David was in

charge of the boiler room and received this buckle

for working safely and without injuries. This solid

pewter buckle was made by Indiana Metal Craft

and measures 3 ¾” x 2 3/8”.

1993 HIGHWAY

DEPARTMENT buckle.

Beautiful detailing shows

a road grader working under a bridge with nearby trees, two

big sunﬂowers and banners reading “Kansas, Jewell County

Highway Department.” Belt-side reads: “#23 of 100 limited

edition. Started January 1, 1947, Jewell County Highway

Department currently maintains over 1500 miles of roads and

nearly 400 bridges. This buckle is awarded to Dean Buster for

10 years of faithful and dedicated service to Jewell County.”

buckle measures 3 1/16” x 2 5/16”.

TRAIL OF FEARS

Mayan Calendar buckle,

belt-side inscribed:

“Trail of Fears, Dec

22, 2012, Run it Fast,

Jackson, TN.” Travis

Redden was awarded

this buckle for running

through the Tennessee

hills in this all-day race.

The race began at

7:00 am in 19 degree

temperature and

continued late into

the night with Travis

ﬁnishing 2nd place and completing 64.5 miles.

The attached belt acts like a medal ribbon and is

made from a material resembling an old-fashion

potato sack. This buckle shows a brand name of

Jean’s Friend and measures 3” across.

1989 GUNSMOKE buckle given to pilots

and ground crew participating in the

USAF Worldwide Fighter Gunnery

Meet held at Nellis Air Force Base

in Las Vegas, Nevada. The buckle’s

image shows the likeness of four

airplanes: the A-7 Corsair, A-10

Warthog, F-4 Phantom and F-16

Falcon, all involved in the straﬁng

and bombing competition. Top pilots

and ground crews from bases all over

the world were present to compete in

this two week event and to see who would

be the Top Gun and Top Team. This round

brass belt buckle measures 2 3/8” across.

6 ANTIQUE TRADER • www.AntiqueTrader.com • April 10, 2019

COVER STORY

1975 BOEING buckle presented to John Grosso who worked

at Boeing’s plants in Everett and Seattle, Washington. The

artwork shows a Boeing 747 jet and a bi-plane ﬂying above

the clouds and reads: “Boeing, getting people together.” Belt-

side inscribed to “John Grosso, manufacturing- tool services

supervisor of the quarter, 2nd quarter 1975.” This buckle is

made of aluminum and measures 3 3/8” x 2 3/16”.

1978 NASSCO safety award presented to employees of the

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company for safely building the

San Diego Class tankers. One of these 67 million dollar ships

is beautifully displayed on this buckle. It’s the “B.T. San Diego”

which was launched and christened in 1978. Produced from

1978 through 1980, a total of four identical ships were built:

two for Shell Oil Company and two for the Atlantic Richﬁeld

Company which used them to transport oil from Alaska to a

reﬁnery in Long Beach, California. Belt-side shows a life saver

encircling the words “safety award” and gives the tanker’s

speciﬁcations. This pewter buckle measures 3 9/16” x 2 ½”.

WAL-MART 10-YEAR

SAFETY AWARD

buckle with a skyline

of New York City.

During this period

Walmart’s award

buckles were

available with an

artist’s rendering

of cities that

pertained to the

driver’s route. This

particular buckle was

made before September

11, 2001, because the scene

includes the World Trade

Center Twin Towers. Note

how the Wal-Mart name is

spelled with a star instead of a

hyphen, as was the company’s

logo during 1992 – 2008. This

buckle is made of solid brass and measures 3 3/16” x 2 ¼”.

MULVANE CHAMPION

buckle awarded to Craig

Eubanks for winning

the bull riding contest

at a rodeo in Mulvane,

Kansas on Saturday, July

2, 1977. The local newspaper

reported that after his victory

Craig said “When I knew that I had

drawn Omen, a big Brahma bull, I was pretty nervous.” The

15-year old Craig turned his nervousness into heroic effort

and was rewarded with this buckle and $217.50. He also

won bull riding events the same year at rodeos in Pratt,

Augusta, and Protection, Kansas. Belt-side is engraved

OMEN 7-2-77 and shows a brand name of LTC Western

in weight and measures 3 ¾” x 2 ¾”.

CHEVROLET CERTIFIED

TECHNICIAN belt buckle

awarded to Steve Brunies

in 1980 for completing

training while working as

an automotive reﬁnisher

at Bryan Chevrolet in

Metaire, Louisiana. Steve

was known as one of the

best painters in the state

and painted many cars

for politicians, musicians, and famous people in the New

Orleans area. He also painted many dragsters and race cars

that ran on the NHRA national circuit. This buckle is made

of pewter with a brass triangle insert on the front. Belt-side

shows the brand name of R. J. Roberts & Co, Rochester,

Mich. Made in U.S.A. and measures 3 ¼” x 2 ½”.

A.P.B.A. KILO RECORD

awarded to Charles Koontz

of Columbus, Indiana on

June 5, 1977. Charlie

won this boat race as a

“junior” (15 years old or

younger) with a speed

of 29.681 mph, which

seems more like 129

mph when driving one

of the small craft used in

the Junior Modiﬁed Runabout

class. The race was sponsored

by the American Power Boat Association and took place on

the Fox River in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. This buckle is made of

brass and measures 3 ½” x 2 ½”.

1942 BOWLING award

presented to Louis

Schiappacasse Jr for

being the 1941 – 1942

season champ of the

ICTL (league initials).

This buckle is adorned

with eagles on the left

and right, and in the

middle is a bowling ball

knocking down pins.

There is also a small

“Knights of Columbus”

emblem attached to the lower front. This gold-plated buckle

was made by Giant Grip and measures 2” x 1 ½”.

April 10, 2019 • www.AntiqueTrader.com • ANTIQUE TRADER 7

COVER STORY

SANTA FE RAILROAD safety award

buckle shows a freight train coming right at you. The artisan

who sculpted the scene for the buckle did an excellent job in

showing Santa Fe’s locomotive number 5902, which was in

service from 1970 through 1983. It had a 20-cylinder 3,600

horsepower engine which could reach speeds of 80 mph. And

what a novel idea to have train tracks encircling the buckle’s

edge. Belt-side reads: “In recognition for working safely.” This

buckle is made of pewter and measures 3 11/16” x 2 ½”.

1978 ELEVEN-IN-A-

ROW was an award

given to the bowler

who rolled eleven

consecutive strikes in

one game, but scored

297 or less during

an ABC sanctioned

league or tournament.

This buckle was

presented to Richard

Zalocka in Frankfort, New York, who bowled a score of 290

on January 15, 1978. The buckle’s front shows the American

Bowling Congress name and the likeness of a score card

proving eleven strikes in a row. This solid brass buckle

measures 2 5/8” x 1 11/16”.

1987 HORSESHOE

PITCHING “GRAND

CHAMPION” award

from a contest held

at the Philadelphia

Park Race Track in

Bensalem, PA. The

belt-side reads: “The

1987 Horseshoe

Pitching Contest is

proudly sponsored by

Western Wearhouse

and commemorated by this buckle, a limited edition of 250

with the awards to the event winners.” This buckle is gold

plated / silver plated and was made by Award Design Medals

of Nobel, Oklahoma and measures 4” x 3”.

CALISTOGA

SPEEDWAY award

presented to main

event winners at

the Napa County

Fairgrounds race

track in Calistoga,

California. The buckle

reads “I won at

Calistoga Speedway,

home of the NARC

Sprints.” This half-

mile dirt track is known for sprint cars hitting 100 mph

down the stretches. N.A.R.C. stands for Northern

Auto Racing Club. This brass buckle was made by Hit

Line USA and measures 3 1/8” x 2 1/16”.

COCA-COLA SAFE WORKER

“1” year award given

by the Coca-Cola

Bottling Company of

the Southwest to an

employee at the plant

in Abilene, Texas. No

information is shown on

the belt-side. This buckle

is substantial in weight and

measures 3 7/16” x 2 9/16”.

ILLINOIS 1981 NO

MINING FATALATIES

belt buckle. This

buckle was awarded

to workers at the

River King Coal Mine

#6, but reﬂects the

unprecedented

safety record for the

whole state of Illinois

who employed

18,148 workers in

the mining industry and had no mining related deaths in

1981. The belt-side shows this solid bronze buckle was made

by Advanced Castings of Albuquerque, New Mexico with a

serial number of 083 and measures 3 ¾” x 2 ½”.

KELLOGG’S circa

1989 belt buckle given

to employees at the

Kellogg’s plant in

Memphis, Tennessee.

Very attractive buckle

with an artist rendition

of Tony the Tiger,

Toucan Sam and

Kellogg’s ofﬁce located

on Frisco Avenue. Belt-

side reads “A tradition

since 1958. Proud of

what we do and how

we do it. Proud of our

people and our superior

quality products. Proud

of our tradition and

our part in Kellogg’s

heritage.” This pewter

buckle is surprisingly

heavy and measures

3 1/4” x 2 3/8”.

1978 BLOOD DONOR

buckle, Houchin

Community Blood Bank

Member inscribed to Don

Ingalls and shows he

was a 4 gallon member.

Information shown on

the belt-side is the BTS

brand, Made In U.S.A.,

This buckle measures

3 ½” x 2 ½”.

(c) 2018 Steve Evans

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(c) 2018 Steve Evans

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