Each year as part of the National Finals Rodeo the Cowboy Christmas store is held in the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has everything cowboys and cowgirls would ever want for Christmas -- boots, saddles, hats, spurs, leather goods, jewelry, art work, home decor, horse trailers, etc.
Since I had never been to the Cowboy Christmas Store before, and I was in town during the National Finals, I decided that this would be a good year to go Cowboy Christmas shopping. And, I was smart enough to wear hiking boots - there are over 350 exhibitors from across the United States occupying over 440,000 square feet of conventions center space!
Located somewhere in the exhibits there was a type and color of hat for every occasion - Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, sunny, stormy, night, and formal when you go out steppin'. The hat makers would even custom fit your purchase. (They use a steamer to custom shape the hat.)
A friend of mine found a nice white hat with a pretty blue ribbon around it that was only $68. After he told the sales person that he would take it, the salesperson asked if he would also like to buy the hat. Surprised, he asked if that wasn't the price of the hat, and she explained that the ribbon was $68 and the hat was $750. He changed his mind and didn't purchase either one.
Available in any size were men's & women's boots, kids boots, fancy boots, work boots, and even a person that would polish your boots.
Like they always say, "If it ain't Wrangler, it ain't clothing." In addition to blue jeans, you could purchase jackets, bedtime clothing, belts, and one ten-foot-tall pair of pants. All I can say is that the cowboy that fit those ten-foot-tall pants really "sits high in the saddle."
Indian jewelry was a big hit with the Mrs.
There was no shortage of saddles, including one the looked like a bird and several Urban Cowboy saddles that had more chrome trim than a '57 Cadillac.
When I asked the cowboy why he needed a Rat Rod, he just stated, "Well, ya never know when you'll have to go to town to get a loaf of bread." He also had an old International for drivin' to the sales barn and a new Dodge Ram for formal use. When inquiring about the price of a horse trailer, the salesman told me that if I had to ask the price, I couldn't afford it. (A friend later told me that the trailer price was in the $200,000 range.)
Various toys were available for the little ones and a person that did rope tricks would teach you how to rope a steer. They asked me if I wanted to try my hand at ropin'; but after watching the young 'ns do some roppin', I decided not to make a fool of myself.
Back in my day, after the fall butchering, we threw the hides and horns in the dump. Now they sell the hides and horns for $200 each and hang them on the wall - the world is getting stranger every year. Lots of other home decor items were available, including furniture, wall hangings, rugs, driftwood lamps, sculptures, lawn art and a lot of other items to spruce up the ranch-house.
We even had the opportunity to sample some Dutch Oven chuck wagon cookin'; but you had to purchase the really large candy apples.
You could also purchase Christmas clothing for your horse.
And for the little lady, there were a number of quilts for sale. Lord-a-Mercy, who would have thought that there would be quilts for sale at a Cowboy Christmas Store!
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