Old School Fitting Supplies

[smurf]

I was at a little small town western store today and ran upon some interesting old school cattle supplies.  The older man that owned the store took me to the back room and showed me his "Purple Reign" show supply line.  He had glycerin bars, show wax, purple oil, etc cases upon cases of old cattle grooming supplies.

Does anyone remember using this stuff?  I'm too young, I've never even seen the stuff before today.  Did it work well before the era of aerosol cans and adhesive?

I told him if they ever ban aerosol at cattle shows I'll be back to see him....haha.

 

[blackcows]

I remeber the bars, they were a mess.  We used Orvis for soap, it took about 3 weeks of rinsing to get it out.  Had some friends that used something called ProStyle 2000 they bought from a guy in Iowa.  No such thing as alluminum chutes, they were all metal and weighed about 500 pounds.  Before Sullivans most of the stuff we got came from Patterson Supply in Iowa.

 

[GoWyo]

We showed only at county fair in the early 80s.  No grooming chute and no blower (too much money to justify something that would get used one week a year).  We had no clue about how to grow hair, used shaving cream and something called Dixie Peach Dressing (maybe that is not quite the right name, but IIRC it was a mustache wax) and the dreaded 3M auto adhesive for tail heads and tails and we could really gum up the legs with it too.  Used mineral spirits to get it out.  I felt sorry for our steers.

 

[smurf]

There was a whole case of something peach dressing in the storage room.  It smelled nice....if that counts for anything.

 

[cowman 52]

The wax bars came along when you used saddle soap bars to bone legs-  amway had a glycerin bar that worked well was easy to use even at 0 cold,  purple reign was a good product-  we used a lot of royal purple adhesive to bone legs with in the early 80's The peach -  slick black and sweet georgia brown we found at the international in Chicago in the dark ages-  have some filed away for nostalgia I suspect

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Ah the good old days! It is sooooo much easier today! RW

 

[kanshow]

Oh yea..  I remember those ..  saddle soap in the bar...  that was some tough stuff to work with on a cold day.

Anyone else remember Corona dressing?    And what about using AquaNet hairspray when you couldn't find or get the Spray Trim Auto Adhesive?   

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Oh yea..  I remember those ..  saddle soap in the bar...  that was some tough stuff to work with on a cold day.

Anyone else remember Corona dressing?    And what about using AquaNet hairspray when you couldn't find or get the Spray Trim Auto Adhesive?     

I still use some aqua net in one of my home brews - Went to white rain recently though. RW

 

[blackcows]

no blower (too much money to justify something that would get used one week a year). 

We started that way also.  Our county fair is next week and we will get up early on show day to get the cattle washed, blown out, and groomed.  When I started 4H we got up early also but that was because we had to get our cattle washed early enough that they would air dry before the show started.

Mike

 

[the angus111]

we used tons of aqua net ratting tails and put hair nets over them to hlold them in place.back in the 70s those were the golden days of showing.i worked for LARUES cattle service.we  hauled pot loads of show cattle all over the US,it was up at 3 am to walk cattle and were in the barns til 8 pm.back then you earned your money.wish i could do it again ,those days are oer now.rusty

 

[M Bar]

Here is a list of goodies for the old wooden show box (which we still have), and other needed items to go to the show.
1.  Dippidy Do
2.  Sweet Georgia Brown
3.  3 M adhesive
4.  Orvis
5.  Cicuiteer I  (not a II or a III), some even had the cart to pull it around on.
6.  Thick nosed halters with white leather across nose strap.
7.  Shearmasters (which I still use).  Assorted 7112's, 20's, 13 tooth goat combs, and a special 2.5 inch Shearmaster with 10 tooth combs with 3 tooth cutters.  I used to be able to run horned herford legs with those all day long.
8.  Rice root brushes
9.  Purple oil (which we still use)
10.  a metal can of Repelex.  Had a picture of a horse on it.
11.  1 foldgers can of the leftover glycerin bars ( in case of emergency)
12  Glycerin bars, black and tan, always bought the Amway, cause it was the best
13.  6 inch scotch combs, not 9, with dull, dull teeth, no skip combs back then unless you pulled them out with a pair of pliers at home.  The old combs were Stone combs in KC and they molded the teeth to lead, and put the lead in the combs.  If you weren't careful, you would lose the teeth and have to beat them back into the handle portion with a pair of pliers, or smash the show box lid on them to get them to stay in place.
14.  Plastic wash scrubbie with the garden hose attachment (those are sooo cool).
15.  Leather knee pads that Howard Fehlman made, cause anything else was for weenies.  By the way, fitting mats did not exist.
16.  600# metal chute with horizontal bars, not vertical.
17.  700# end panels made from whatever you had around the barn (wood, metal)
18.  1 fan , didn't matter if you had 5 head, you took 1 fan, cause that's all you could afford.  Some folks fashioned up squirrel cage fans on a pole which, in my opinion, was really stupid looking.
19.  16 foot trailer, maybe a 20'.  You could load 15 head in those things, and they were only 6 feet wide.
20.  Double lead neck ropes, so you could take the halters off during the day and they wouldn't get away.
21.  3 spare tires, 1 spare set of bearings for the trailer, tons of black tape, 4 way wrench, handyman jack
22.  Blow bottle, made of glass, not plastic.  You always put gray tape on them so no one would know what you was spraying, and so when you dropped it on the concrete, it wouldn't shatter.
23.  Wooden stall card signs for the cattle with plexiglass fronts, so you could change cards, and they wouldn't blow around from the gusts of your ONE fan.
24.  3 cans of copenhagen, skoal, or anything you found on sale.


I could go on, but will need roadwarriors help, please assist.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Here is a list of goodies for the old wooden show box (which we still have), and other needed items to go to the show.
1.  Dippidy Do
2.  Sweet Georgia Brown
3.  3 M adhesive
4.  Orvis
5.  Cicuiteer I  (not a II or a III), some even had the cart to pull it around on.
6.  Thick nosed halters with white leather across nose strap.
7.  Shearmasters (which I still use).  Assorted 7112's, 20's, 13 tooth goat combs, and a special 2.5 inch Shearmaster with 10 tooth combs with 3 tooth cutters.  I used to be able to run horned herford legs with those all day long.
8.  Rice root brushes
9.  Purple oil (which we still use)
10.  a metal can of Repelex.  Had a picture of a horse on it.
11.  1 foldgers can of the leftover glycerin bars ( in case of emergency)
12  Glycerin bars, black and tan, always bought the Amway, cause it was the best
13.  6 inch scotch combs, not 9, with dull, dull teeth, no skip combs back then unless you pulled them out with a pair of pliers at home.  The old combs were Stone combs in KC and they molded the teeth to lead, and put the lead in the combs.  If you weren't careful, you would lose the teeth and have to beat them back into the handle portion with a pair of pliers, or smash the show box lid on them to get them to stay in place.
14.  Plastic wash scrubbie with the garden hose attachment (those are sooo cool).
15.  Leather knee pads that Howard Fehlman made, cause anything else was for weenies.  By the way, fitting mats did not exist.
16.  600# metal chute with horizontal bars, not vertical.
17.  700# end panels made from whatever you had around the barn (wood, metal)
18.  1 fan , didn't matter if you had 5 head, you took 1 fan, cause that's all you could afford.  Some folks fashioned up squirrel cage fans on a pole which, in my opinion, was really stupid looking.
19.  16 foot trailer, maybe a 20'.  You could load 15 head in those things, and they were only 6 feet wide.
20.  Double lead neck ropes, so you could take the halters off during the day and they wouldn't get away.
21.  3 spare tires, 1 spare set of bearings for the trailer, tons of black tape, 4 way wrench, handyman jack
22.  Blow bottle, made of glass, not plastic.  You always put gray tape on them so no one would know what you was spraying, and so when you dropped it on the concrete, it wouldn't shatter.
23.  Wooden stall card signs for the cattle with plexiglass fronts, so you could change cards, and they wouldn't blow around from the gusts of your ONE fan.
24.  3 cans of copenhagen, skoal, or anything you found on sale.


I could go on, but will need roadwarriors help, please assist.

T - Roy you bring back SOOO many memories!
1 - There were no Andis 2 speeds. The old "brownies" were as close as you got ( I still have two of my originals)
2 - The old square or octogone shaped wooden show stick - Painted you ranch color and always too short to show a two year old bull.
3 - Rose oil
4 - All of the "equipment" was made out of at least 2' gas pipe or heavier.
5 - Miles of old mine belting that was at least 3/4 of an inch thick and took the whole crew to roll out.
6 - A wooden "display" table that weighed 100lbs.
7 - The wooden mixing box that everyone carried to mix their own "special " feed with the secret ingediants in it.
8 - the leather and chain bull hobbles - just in case who ever was in charge of loading the mine belt didn't.
9 - 6 gallon jugs of "Home brew" fitting supplies ( Yeah I still do that)
10 - at least 10 of the aluminum nose plugs that were froze in the closed position.
11 - 3 hammers and a crow bar along with a coffee can full of bent nails to set up with.
12 - Bolt cutters because somebody would lock the keys to the show box in it.
13 - The blade sharpening wheel that was still in the nose of the trailer from bull sale season.
14 - And lets not forget the sleeping bags because we couldn't afford a hotel and you could always stagger back from the beer tent to the barn.

Back to you T Roy!  RW

 

[M Bar]

Pink Oil.
Straw for bedding IN THE BARN.  packing it down was an art form.
We were up town, had cots instead of sleeping bags, cause those were for Quaker's....
Sleeping in the trailer, or the feed alley
Lots of broken coppertox bottles in the bottom of the wooden show box that stained everything
Yellow wash pants and 5 buckle overshoes in the wash rack.  Some still use them, but the kids now days have no idea what we are talking about.
Hanging your signs with shower curtain hooks, i can't find them anywhere anymore.
The old Moor Mans feed pans, they looked just like the ones you use today, but were really tough.
Probios in the can with the awards points (mostly 80's stuff there)
Little silver clippers with the adjustable combs..that were always dull
Curry combs, because the custom cattle you picked up en-route to a show were always covered in dingle berries.
Those big green plastic combs that you would attach to the handles of your broken Stone combs.
Roto brushes that would attach to your shearmasters (never had one, but thought they were cool)

Don't make fun of the mats from the quarry, still have some and use them

 

[farmboy]

Curry combs, because the custom cattle you picked up en-route to a show were always covered in dingle berries.

are curry combs out of style? those things are gods gift for calves with explosive diarrhea

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

I really went big time and got a fiber glass show box!
I still get the shower curtain hooks - I'll bring ya some
We had the Calfmanna pans and a few of the fortex rubber pans
twenty show harnesses so all of the owners and their kids could show
I always wanted the clipper driven roto brush too!
Lots of windshield washer fluid and gallons of alcohol for those outside cattle you picked up that had never seen a hose.
The Johnson breaking halters for those same cattle.
3 tool boxes - 1 with clippers in it, 1 with blades in it and 1 with parts to fix your clippers.
RW

 

[oakview]

You haven't live until you've used liners.  We used to wet the cattle down prior to show preparation with dip, you used a tin cap full of dip in a bucket of water.  A rice root brush was soaked in the 'dip' and brushed into the areas you wanted to fit, usually the rear 1/4 or so.  We then ran the liner across the calf's body and then combed up with a small scotch comb.  Sometimes we made squiggly lines with a curry comb and then combed up.  The hooves and horns were shined with lacquer.  We used horn weights to turn the horns somewhat down.  I believe there were 3 small set screws in each weight that screwed into the horn to fasten them.  A few years later, when tails were glued with the 3M adhesive, it was a lot of 'fun' to get hit in the head by a 'cement' tail while fitting legs with the Amway glycerine bars.  I actually thought they worked pretty good and sure washed out easy.

 

[bigblob]

Yes, I'm new here.  Love this post though.
We finally got rid of the old Ford 1-ton truck with the stock racks and flt  bed on it for a new aluminum livestock trailer.
I used to use the black glyserin bars and even graphite.  I must be old because back the the Angus had lots of hair.

 

[M Bar]

Just to make the older folks on this board sick


FOGGING CATTLE WITH BLACKLEAF 40

 

[clifflem]

M-Bar and Roadwarrior bring back fond memories of the good fitting stuff we used to use.  Orvus soap that about 1/2 teaspoon would make a 5 gallon bucket of soap.  Everyone just used it straight out of the jar.  Every time for about a month after you used it and would get your hands wet, you could rub them together and they would make suds.  We usually had an old empty jar in our wooden showbox with the glycerin bars in them.  If they dried out and didn't work, we would cut up an apple or 2 and put in with them and they would draw enough moisture from the apples to work.  You had to remember to take the apples out after the show or they would mold and then you had a real mess.  You guys forgot the creosote stock dip to dip with after rinsing. Usually me and everything we took to the show smelled like dip after the first day.  It could really break up a water fight on the wash rack if you dumped a bucket of dip on whoever was causing problems. 
The smell of the dip reminded me that you guys had left bay rum off your list.  Used to buy it by the gallons and use it straight or mix it up with Vitalis and baby oil to make a concoction to work hair with.  I can remember buying it at the drug store in the aftershave section.  Final net and blue hairset were a couple other staples in the showbox. Used the Patterson Peach hair dressing some.  Put a little bit in your hand and bub your hands together until it melted and then pat into the hair.  Also used Sweet Georgia Brown ( non black cattle) and Slick Black (black cattle).  It could get kind of messy. 
Back in the day before synthetic halters, everyone carried a wash chain.  Just a piece of long linked chain with a snap in each end.  Put one end around the critter's neck and the other end around something on the wash rack and remove the halter because those old sisal rope halters would swell up and get hard as all get out when they got wet.
You also had to have a special little short handled sqare shovel to mix feed in you feed mixing box.  I can remember Joe Lewis and his crew shooting dice in their mixing box at state fairs.  I remember one state fair run when we were going to about 3 or 4 shows in a row, I loaned Twig my mixing shovel because he forgot or lost his.

I remember learning to clip with a pair of Sunbeam flathead clippers with an E8 blade on them.  The E8's had less teeth and were thinner than the regular blades you get now.  They didin't have the slots in the back of the blade where you hook them to the clipper head, you had to take the screws out and put them thru the round holes in the back of the blades and put them back on. When I started showing in the mid 70's, you could buy the Sunbeam flathead for $59 a pair with blades.  The Variable speed Sheepheads were about $75.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Just to make the older folks on this board sick


FOGGING CATTLE WITH BLACKLEAF 40

I think I can still smell it! RW