The George W.  Saunders Commission Cane

From Robert Smith, commentary by Roland Jary

Robert:
Several years back a walking cane that was passed down to me from my great grandfather has Geo W Saunders Com Co branded on the back side. My great grandfather passed away in 1947, and he had this cane when he was a young man. Do you know anything about the cane? Was it common? Is this the same George W. Saunders with the cattle commission? My great grandfather's name was Barney Hollingsworth. 

The exact inscription is: GEO W SAUNDERS COM CO.

Roland Jary:
The GWS Commission Company cane was a 'give away' or advertisement for the company which was located in San Antonio and Fort Worth. The 'better' customers were given items such as this to remind them to bring their livestock to this company 'to get the best prices.' You will find them shown on ebay every now and then along w/other advertising type of things. Each commission company in the stockyards had its way of marketing - some did nothing, others did things like this. They didn't have TV in those days.

They were never just handed out like a business card is today. The 'working' cane was a bit longer and was actually used in the pens to prod the cattle to move into a chute or through a gate, and to point out 'which' cow or bull a buyer had selected which now had to be separated from the cattle in a pen. So, I would imagine this little cane would bring in about $500-$800 on today's market of this type of memorabilia.

Robert Smith  journey2000@sbcglobal.net
Roland Jary  rsjary@earthlink.net