More than just a,"belt latch"..........

[knife7knut]

.......are those wonderful little items known as belt buckles. Where once they served a strictly utilitarian function,they morphed into an advertising medium and a,"look at me" item sometimes of monstrous proportions. Some even have small knives concealed inside them and I recall seeing a German made model sporting a multi-barreled pistol!
The ones here will not have any such devices in them(although I have several of them) but will instead be purely decorative. Some even have stories attached to them. So without further ado I hereby present you with my accumulation of,"those things that help hold your pants up" Please feel free to post any you might have.
#1 is a present from my youngest son for Christmas one year.He had a picture of my Trans Am applied to a custom belt buckle. Thank you Justin!
#2 I received from a friend of mine who was a state trooper in Massachusetts.An extra from his collection.
#3 Found at a yard sale;no maker's name.
#4 Cast from a mold of a crow's skull,the maker did 25 in brass and 12 in solid silver.
#5 Bought from a good friend who owned a knife store at the time.
#6 Found at flea market.
#7 A gift from my brother-in-law that he had made. Not sure what it is supposed to represent;he couldn't remember!
#8 Another flea market find.
#9 A recent find at the flea market.
#10 "Dynamit Nobel" a group of three companies under the Nobel mark.

[knife7knut]

Page two.
#1An eagle scrimshawed on a piece of paper Micarta and attached to a chunk of nickel silver.
#2 An eagle head atop a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
#3 Freightliner buckle done in enamelling.
#4 Grateful Dead buckle pretty well worn after many years.
#5 Kershaw buckle.
#6 Mercedes-Benz diesel truck buckle I got at work many years ago.
#7 NRA-ILA buckle.
#8 Handmade buckle with a coin commemorating the 1 millionth Oldsmobile built.
#9 Scorpion buckle(another one).
#10 Schlitz Beer buckle.

[knife7knut]

Three
#1 A Russian Army buckle from the Soviet era.
#2 A Russian Navy buckle that belonged to the father of one of my co-workers who was from Finland.
#3 Silver & turquoise buckle gifted to me by my brother-in-law.
#4 Another huge silver buckle.
#5 A spider buckle.
#6 Advertising Thompson Center pistols.
#7 U.S.Navy buckle;a gift from Jerry D. Thank you sir!
#8 Advertising Valmet shotguns
#9 Advertising a shooting meet.
#10 My pride and joy:a belt buckle designed by the artist Salvador Dali for Pirelli tires I believe in the early 1950's.He did two different designs and the are highly collectible. I found it at a flea market in Massachusetts for $5. Had it authenticated by a dealer in Dali art and he offered me $500 for it.

[New_Windsor_NY]

are.....

VERY NICE belt buckle collection Ray.

Here are mine:
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... 30#p750940

[ea42]

Very cool collection Ray! That Cragar buckle is the best of the bunch, just awesome!

Eric

[knife7knut]

are.....

VERY NICE belt buckle collection Ray.

Here are mine:
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... 30#p750940

Thank you sir! I was just looking over my accumulation of belt buckles and I happened to notice that there was something scratched on the back of the spider belt buckle. Turns out it is the name of the artist who designed it:Carl Tasha. Googled the name and found that he has an artist gallery in P-Town Massachusetts and his belt buckles are very expensive. The spider model goes for anywhere from $100 to about $300!

[Dan In MI]

Nice belt buckle collection! I also have a Case belt buckle, as well as a U.S. Navy one I've been wearing for nigh onto a decade, maybe a little longer.

[knife7knut]

A few more:
#1Bobcat advertisement
#2 Eagle buckle
#3 Another eagle buckle
#4 Eagles buckle
#5 Marlboro cigarette ad buckle.
#6 & #7 NRA and NRA-ILA buckles
#8 USMC buckle
#9 Marked Browder #91 with a non-detachable knife.
#10 a group of knife buckles.

[knife7knut]

A few more:
#1 Sturm Ruger ad buckle.I like it because those are also my initials(R.S.)
#2 Nolen Bros. silver,turquoise,and carnelian buckle with removable knife.
#3 Whitetail Cutlery buckle with opening and closing but non-removable knife

[Steve Warden]

WOW!!
Very cool!!!
Love the Crager S/S. Brings back memories of my first car, a '67 LeMans. I bought it used, needed new tires and wheels, so the Cragers were a must.

[Dan In MI]

Somehow I missed that awesome U.S. Navy belt buckle gifted by Jerry. A great gift! And that Bobcat belt buckle...I'm gonna hunt down one of my own eventually. Y'all are simultaneously bad and good for me!

[mrwatch]

Remington buckle.
Florida Alligator belt with a cast brass buckle bearing the initials of the owner, who has passed away.

[knife7knut]

Remington buckle.
Florida Alligator belt with a cast brass buckle bearing the initials of the owner, who has passed away.

Very nice Mr. Watch! Looks like there is bras and copper as well as the pewter. Thanks for posting it.

[cody6268]

Nice collection Ray! I have a small one; spurred by a buddy who gave me some buckles he received from his employers in the coal industry; and things like service reps and the like. I've added to it every now and then. I have really limited what I collect in ad knvies just for the ad alone; mostly to businesses related to the coal industry, and having operations in Southwest Virginia, Southern WV, and Eastern KY. This also works, as I know (and do business) with several local coal-related business for hardware and the like; and they often produced hard hat stickers or other promotional material years ago they still have laying around. The values of this stuff is quite low too. It works as they don't cost much, and it's a big part of my local history. Belt buckles I'm a little looser on. I collect anything relating to heavy machinery, farm equipment, coal mining, or fire trucks. A number of Western-related and firearms buckles have entered my collection as well. \

This style of belt buckle also helps keep my pants up. I only wear sweatpants around the house. I usually wear jeans. Now lightweight gym shorts, at this time of year, I wear constantly. Occasionally, I will find a smaller and lighter promotional buckle (most I own are heavy pewter); and I will wear it.

Here's the first few. American LaFrance operated in my town from 1986-1994. They only produced 150 trucks; compared to 400 a year when they were located in NYS. Granddad, my Dad, and a few of their friends went to the closing auction in 1995. I was born a year later. Our large Lincoln welder, and several other large industrial tools were bought there. I've always said--that welder put together 150 trucks, got damaged by a lightning storm and flooding, has been rebuilt twice, the brushes changed in the motor twice, and it's still going strong. My Dad used it rebuilding old tractors and Jeeps, and Granddad was the main user; using it to repair our equipment, which due to the rough, rocky terrain on our property, takes a beating (we had a gearbox assembly actually fall off a Bush Hog after 40 years; and a buddy of my Granddad overhauled it completely year-before-last (including welding a quarter-inch thick steel plate to the top's thin sheet metal to support the gearbox!). The welder was actually purchased by Kersey Manufacturing, as per welding shop records when parts had to be bought.

About 3-4 years ago, I discovered American LaFrance had a company which, over the years, went by the names of Creative Concepts, Cornerstone Creations, and Cornerstone Marketing; located in WV; to produce promotional belt buckles for the company. I have only noticed these three. Perhaps more exist, of models American LaFrance produced in respectable numbers, but I'm unsure.

However, the story begins a bit earlier. The building which American LaFrance occupied was built by the Kersey family; who produced various pieces of equipment for coal mining. They moved to a different facility about a half-mile down the road some years later. Figgie International purchased the "old" building and relocated American LaFrance to Elmira, New York. A really interesting coincidence is that the "new" Kersey building is now occupied by the county EMS; yet another connection to emergency services.

They produced a buckle for promotional purposes. I wore it on my belt for about a year. Solid brass, but light and cheap. The clasp the belt threads into popped out of its hole several times. Which is about how their equipment went. Granddad was the parts manager for a local businessman who ran a number of mines; but whose main business was refurbishing and the sale/rental of mining equipment. He and his boss visited the "new" Kersey facility, and American LaFrance when they'd just opened. Kersey stuff was not very well made.

In 1989, a buckle representing the first Century 2000; produced in 1986 and delivered to Albany, New York was produced. This one came from NJ, and is serial #71. I believe around 500 were produced of each.

In 1990, the then-new Water Chief II Quint was featured on a buckle. The demo livery never seemed to have been used on a Water Chief II. This may be the Cherry City, PA truck; as the build sheet from it (which I have framed; given to me by a former ALFCo employee who kept it in his office when he was teaching at a local community college) is dated 1990.

It came from nearby Princeton, WV and is serial #21.

In 1992, a much different piece was featured, a 1911 American LaFrance steamer, which was a part of the (then new) company's historical collection.

Serial #18; and came from a local eBay seller as well.

Also had this on my Flickr.

This beer stein was produced when the first Century 2000 went into service in NJ (second built, however--it is not serial #1--it is serial #2 as per company records). Let's just say finding this has confused the heck out of me.

[Dan In MI]

Very nice buckles and beer stein, Cody. (As an aside, I've heard that Germans call it a Bierkrug--beer mug--and not a stein. Maybe TPK can confirm.)

[knife7knut]

Fantastic belt buckles Cody and great history with them! Thanks for sharing them with us!

[mrwatch]

Very nice buckles and beer stein, Cody. (As an aside, I've heard that Germans call it a Bierkrug--beer mug--and not a stein. Maybe TPK can confirm.)

As I learned it a Stein has a cover, to keep the fly's out, before window screens. no cover it is a mug. I took my grand fathers stein to a collector club meet, and no one could I'd it. I also have a lithopane, hold the bottom to a light and look inside and you see a scene in the bottom.

[Ridgegrass]

I used to wear these on stage but they can really bang up the back of a guitar so they're now in a box in the closet.
1. WAMU FM is a "public" radio station from American University in D.C. They used to have Bluegrass twenty some hours a week, including a Sunday morning gospel show. Now its streamed and the on-air station is 24/7 public social whining. I did a benefit concert for them back in the 80's and the buckles were a donation premium.
2. Don't know where or how I got the San Francisco buckle. Maybe in a box lot knife deal.
3. The RED MAN, massively heavy, deep relief, beautifully cast and finished. My favorite. Some one offered me quite a sum for it but......
J.O'.

[Dan In MI]

I also have a lithopane, hold the bottom to a light and look inside and you see a scene in the bottom.

Sounds pretty neat. I'm gonna have to Google that one!

RED MAN, massively heavy, deep relief, beautifully cast and finished. My favorite.

I used to love Red Man. Seeing that buckle almost made me want to go grab a pouch.

[Ridgegrass]

Don't do it Dan ! I'll take it down! We'll talk!


Only tried that once when I was around eleven. One accidental swallow and I was cured. J.O'.

[Dan In MI]

No worries, JO. I'm done with chewing tobacco altogether.