Mike Jackson’s Hartland Photos:
MAGAZINE ADS
 

Text & Photographs Copyright Mike Jackson 1998-2008

Hartland apparently sold some of their products to other distributors who advertised the items on their own in a variety of magazines and comics. Other Hartlands show up in wholesale and retail catalogs, such as Sear, Spiegels, and so forth.

This is the earliest ad I have found showing a Hartland Champ horse and saddle set. This comes from a Horse Lovers Magazine, Jan. 1953. (Thanks Cindy)

The Eddy-Hild Co. offered this horse for sale.
This one appeared in the October 1953 issue of Western Horseman. It was being resold by H.C. Paulk and this horse sold for $4.95 without a rider. The saddle on this one was the short seat version.


Western Horseman Ad: December 1954
This is a fairly important photo of an advertisement by Fred Mueller Inc from Denver. It was roughly one year later than the photo and ad at the top of the page showing just one horse with a saddle and no rider. I would speculate that if the Riders had been available in 1953, they would have been included in that advertisement. By 1954, the riders were available in both 900 and 800 sizes in a couple of colors.

The Cowboy is a 901P, blue and brown version with a cigarette in his hand. He is riding a Palomino with the style of saddle with the dots or conchos, probably brown to match the bridle and martingale of the Palomino horses.

The Cowgirl is a 902B, red and white version on a black horse with white stockings and blaze. Those horses have red tack so the saddle is probably red, also. The Cowgirl saddle has the larger braids or laces, different than the dotted version shown with the Cowboy. The red and white cowgirls always had black gloves and boots while the jade green Cowgirls had white gloves and boots so this is obviously a red and white version.

Also notice that the ad indicates that pintos are available for the sets above.


In the upper right corner of this ad, I can see that General Promotions Co. was doing the advertising and sales of these Hartlands. They were located in Philadelphia, PA. The sets sold for $3.98 through this mail order ad. Notice the lamp being offered for $12.95 plus $.70 shipping. This one showed Dillon, but also listed Oakley, Roy Rogers and Lone Ranger Lamps. Gunfighters were $1.98 plus $.45 shipping.

I have been told that this ad and the one below ran in early issues of a magaine called “Wildest Westerns” from Warren Publications which ran for 8-10 issues in approximately 1961.

In the lower right corner of this ad, I can see that General Promotions Co. was doing the advertising and sales of these Hartlands. They were located in Philadelphia, PA. The sets sold for $3.98 through this mail order ad.

I have been told that this ad and the one above ran in early issues of a magaine called “Wildest Westerns” from Warren Publications which ran for 8-10 issues in approximately 1961.


I was told that this ad ran as an insert in the Saturday Evening Post. It was part of a three page Roy Rogers Enterprises Christmas insert which showed dozens of Roy Rogers items.

This ad would have been run sometime in the late fall of 1955. Based on the Champ style horse and riders and the ad in Sears 1955 Christmas catalog, I bet it is 1955. By 1956, Hartland would have been producing Roy on a walking Trigger and Dale on a Chubby version of Buttermilk. (thanks Bill)


This picture came from a Dec. 1959 Rin Tin Tin comic book. Roy Rogers was a marketing wizard as can be seen in all the RR products. There is a full rearing Roy Rogers set near the bottom of the picture.

If you have more of this kind of information, please let me know. (thanks a million Bill)

This one came from a December 1957 Roy Rogers Comic book. The little girl is holding a walking style Trigger with the earlier Roy Rogers. This same ad is in a 1957 Dell Comics Porky Pig comic book on the inside cover.

(thanks again Bill)

This is a small part of a larger page of advertising for Roy Rogers items shown in a December 1, 1956 Saturday Evening Post Magazine. This was an artist’s illustration and not a photograph. It appears the artist did some rearranging of the sets before he painted them. I have never seen a chubby style Palomino, nor a walking style Buttermilk. Notice the saddle are reversed, too. (Thanks to Steve)