Thou still unravished bride of quietness,
Thou foster child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both…. – – Keats
American Cowgirls of the 1940’s Here’s a collection of unseen photographs of cowgirls were taken by LIFE photographers Nina Leen, Peter Stackpole and Cornell Capa between 1947-48 at the University of Arizona Rodeo and the opening of the Flying L Ranch in Texas, which included a celebratory cowgirl fashion event.
From all this some readers might conclude that when it comes to beautiful women in tight jeans on horses I am a shallow man, and they’d be right.
Hello, cowgirl in the sand…
Is this place at your command?
Can I stay here for a while?
Can I see your sweet, sweet smile?
Gerard Van der Leun
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Neal Young wouldn’t know which end of a cowgirl the round comes out of.
That being said: outstanding post! More like this kindly requested.
I believe it was Garth Brooks who wants to die and come back as a cowgirl’s saddle. Hmmm.
It was a helluva country once. Not one of those girls had ever been subjected to rocknroll, or propagandized that boys were more interesting if they acted like ghetto blacks.
Just imagine…..
Remember when the average teen girl was wholesome and viable, not a tatted up ol’ wore out hoe mudsharkin’ her way to kingdom come? What happened?
Been a long time since you could find Marlboro Woman lighting one up on the cover of Life magazine. I don’t miss the 1940s glamorization of cigarettes one bit.
I grew up around horses and a whole bunch of young girls in the 1960s who loved them too. We went to occasional local horse shows and on late night rides in moon washed darkness together in groups and there was a little romance here and there but truth is, them’s was great days and the innocence was stunning. The Summer of ’69 really was a best year of my life.
The young lady is lighting a hand-rolled cigarette. In her hands she holds a pouch of loose, rolling tobacco.
Bet she also home-cooked meals from scratch.
wild, wild horses, we’ll ride them some day.
That said, I’m with Rob. It was a hellava country once. Glad to be old. I don’t want to see its end. I pity my children and grand neices and nephews who will live in Hell
Rob De Witt, I have often wondered why this is happening. Seems to me that there is a concerted effort to eradicate a certain gene pool.
Should have said, Eradicate a certain gene pool through miscegenation.
We still have them here. The “them” being, girls (nice fitting jeans on fine figures) and fit horses. Biggest event in this county is the annual horse sale. The ‘Salmon Select Sale’. People come from far and wide to attend, buy, sell and look.
And if you cannot afford a horse, there is a mule sale on Friday.
In that “video”, for the most part the girls are underwear models they slapped a “cowboy hat” on top of.
The real cowgirls are few and far between.
I’m not seeing many real cowgirls there. A real cowgirl would never wear those fancy movie star outfits but girls at a dude ranch would.
A few years ago my working partner and I were in Tulare, CA, with nothing to do over the weekend. I discovered there was a horse show and sale at the fairgrounds. We went. On the side of the road, just before turning into the fairgrounds, a hooker strolled in front of a cheap motel.
Inside they were selling serious horses and mules. A matched pair of mules, trained to harness, would not sell at $5000, because that was under the reserve. Very good horses, to my eye, didn’t sell for $5800.
I was watching one gal, a teen, dressed in the traditional tight jeans and fitted yoke shirt. She had a couple of boys in jeans, white shirts and suspenders, and flat brimmed hats. It wasn’t until the younger sister, aged 5 or so, came running up in a long dress and bonnet that I realized they were Amish, or perhaps Mennonite. The teen girl was being allowed to explore, before she committed to the religious lifestyle.
They put one horse in to sell. To demonstrate how gentle it was, they put the little girl, who was 5 or so, on it. The girl’s eyes lit up as soon as she was on the horse’s back and she was grinning hugely. It clearly was not her first time. And the horse knew who was up there, and he was gentle and careful with his burden. $6000, $6500. Reserve not met.
My working partner said, quietly, “Does everyone here know how to ride a horse?” Yes, I told him. “Everyone but us,” he added. And he was right about that. I have ridden, but it’s not like I know a fraction of what the teen girl knows.
Do a search for family barrel racing near you. There’s probably a place where families gather, an arena, to do this. Everyone is racing against the clock, really. It’s just good family fun for all ages, without the danger of other rodeo events. It is wholesome, pleasant and has an atmosphere any family can enjoy.
To those in the know, Horsey Birds don’t need tats for signaling purposes.
Insert Timex or Energizer Bunny tag lines and season to taste.
This time period was my parents’ childhood, yet I feel nostalgia toward these photos. I think I would have fit in just fine back there and then.
If you appreciate slender, attractive women in tight pants riding beautiful horses, go to a Dressage Show. It’s stunning!