PM Kelly Spurs

P.M Kelly (Pascal Moreland) was born in Texas in 1886 and had a long career making bits and spurs starting at the age of 17 in an effort to help make money for his family. He opened his own blacksmith shop which he ran for a few years before going to work for McChesney in 1910 in Pauls Valley, and then splitting off with Tom Johnson in 1911 to start their own partnership in Dalhart, which didn’t last long as Johnson wasn’t fond of using machines to speed up the production process like Kelly was. After Kelly and Tom Johnson dissolved their partnership, Kelly started working on his own in Dalhart, but in anticipation of his brothers joining him he named the business Kelly Bros. and marked his items as such. In 1912 Kelly needed help so he brought on Clyde Parker and bits and spurs were marked KB&P until around 1919. In addition to running the bit and spur business Kelly also dabbled in other ventures such as a pumping engine he helped develop and manufacture known as the Kelly “Hotball”. Kelly also patented his design for a swinging button and when the were used on his own spurs they are marked “PAT’D” on the buttons. In 1924, P.M. Kelly moved his business to El Paso, Texas as it was easier to find workers and to produce some of the components needed for production of the Hotball.

In the mid 1930s in the depths of the Depression, Kelly moved to Mexico to work for the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and left his brothers to run the bit and spur business in El Paso, Kelly returned to El Paso by 1939 to find that the business was in shambles and the factory about to be foreclosed. Kelly bought out his brothers and revamped his line of spurs to appeal to the demands of the market focused on rodeos instead of cowboying. After buying out his brothers Kelly stopped using the Kelly Bros. mark and began using just “KELLY”. The business continued to grow and Kelly and his sons managed and ran the business until it was bought by James Renalde in 1965, after Renalde has also bought out Crockett’s business in 1951. Kelly retired to California after selling the business and died in 1976.

Most Kelly spurs were marked with one of the following depending on the time period:
KELLY BROS.
KB&P
KELLY BROS. & PARKER
KELLY

For help identifying or dating your Kelly marked bits or spurs, or for help with an appraisal, please Contact Us.

Click here for information on Kelly Maker’s Marks.