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By the time 1950 rolled around Hollywood costume designers began making belts and buckles much flashier, in hopes of making silver screen cowboy attire more distinctive and memorable. This new style was bigger, shinier and often depicted scenes from the Wild West. Rural America was hooked by this new fashion; however the bulky buckles were not all that practical for the working cowboy.

The History of Belt Buckles

Hollywood was staking its claim on the fashion world by the 30’s and 40’s and Western stars were gracing the screens wearing the now iconic belt buckles. When Red River (1948) was released director Howard Hawks gifted a belt buckle with the Red River “D” logo on it to John Wayne, and Wayne continued to wear it during other productions such as El Dorado (1966). Hawks was thrilled when Wayne later surprised him by giving him a twin buckle.

In 1822 Albert Thurston first introduced belt buckles to the world. Although most of us associate belt buckles with the Wild West, it was the Roman soldiers who were the first to embrace this accessory in the Middle Ages. In the 1800’s most cowboys wore suspenders. When the belt buckle was introduced, those fearless cattle driving men, steered clear of belt buckles for fear of getting a horn hooked through the belt, sending one sailing leading to injury or death.

Today, over 10,000 trophy buckles are issued every year as trophies for rodeo championships, retirement parties and golf tournaments, just to name a few. This piece of memorabilia first began to appear sometime in the 1920’s, but was only given out at special events due to how expensive they were to manufacture. As technology progressed they were made out of less expensive metals and today these eye catching custom buckles are all around us.

During the Civil War, friction belts were introduced through the military. This one piece frame pinched the belt into place by pulling it through the back of the buckle. When local blacksmiths started mass production of this type of belt, prices reduced and eventually even cowboys started wearing them too.

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