There’s more to the story . . . as is almost always the case . . .

It was Si Jenkins, a true cowboy himself, who owned Jedlicka’s Saddlery, our very first Day One client (in 1976) ~ who sold us our first 25 copies ten years ago ~ then introduced me to Jim Owens (the writer) ~ who then introduced me to David Stocklein ~ the incredible Photographer from Ketchum, Idaho ~ who we worked with on a couple of subsequent projects.

David was actually from Pittsburgh ~ but when he got to Ketchum, he devoted every waking minute to first understanding, then photographing the American Cowboy.

I always thought that “cowboy” (when used as an adjective) described a little slap-dash hustle; but thanks to this book ~ I came to learn that for a number of reasons ~ among them the absence of much formal law on the range ~ the seriousness of a handsake took on a whole different meaning.

The image above ~ the cover of Owen’s original book ~ is a wonderful shot of teamwork on the open range ~ but in the Tenth Anniversary book, this cover shot is relegated to a postage-stamp reference near the end, with most of the credits.

The image below ~ one of Stocklein’s best ~ is a showstopper. Look this man in the eye for just a minute ~ and you’ll know that if he makes a promise, he’ll keep it. Likewise, it wouldn’t be wise to jerk him around. He’ll be way ahead of you.

There is something especially compelling about the shot above ~ maybe because it simply personifies the whole concept of Cowboy Ethics.

The shot below personifies it, too ~ an incredible example of doing what needs to be done.

The two shots above are oddly (& disappointingly) missing from the Tenth Anniversary book ~ which is why I wanted to remedy that problem here. The Calf Rescue and Fence Mending shots are beyond appropriate in illustrating the values of doing what needs to be done ~ whether anybody’s looking, or not. At least our fence mender is in the Tenth Anniversary book ~ page 36.

And you know he won’t stop until the job is done.

Here’s just a taste of our use of Stocklein’s work ~ on a website for a Medical Device Manufacturer that included several other elements ~ all in the Cowboy Way ~ if you can abide the heavy type . . .

Here’s a whole different approach for a whole different company. David and I had really wanted to work together ~ on something. Below are simple exploratories that were to be part of a literature package for a regional insurance company. But there’s a story here, too.

We took several weeks to get ready for our presentation of a whole series of elements to reposition this insurance company in a major way ~ the Cowboy Way ~ where everything was built around the Code of the West. I won’t list the whole litany of what we were proposing ~ from a website to ads to training materials. When insurance execs would come to Santa Barbara for training ~ they’d be fitted for a custom Stetson (from Jedlicka’s) on the first day. Just to get them in the spirit.

So for the big meeting ~ we had a Stetson for the Sales Manager.

But something out of the blue happened. Remember Brokeback Mountain? It featured a pair of gay sheepherders ~ a great movie ~ but it came out exactly three days before our meeting. The Sales Manager was not ABOUT to wrap his new company image in a “Brokeback” theme. No way.

He wouldn’t even try on the Stetson. Wouldn’t get near it. We understood.

~ In Their Memory ~