Billy Klapper is one of the very few spur makers who remain alive, that were trained by the spur makers of old. Pulling his experience and influence from other makers such as Adolph Bayers, Klapper, now 70 years old learned to make the spurs himself.
Although Klapper began to make spurs earlier than 1966, this was the time when he began to mark them with individual serial numbers and markings. He has over 680 patterns that he made spurs from, but he also accommodates any custom spur designs.
Working with a small coal forge in his Pampa workshop, he makes one piece spurs from dawn until dusk and his dedication and the quality of his designs help them sell themselves. Klapper is also one of the remaining makers that would be able to copy old designs from other makers or repair broken or damaged items or replace lost ones. He currently makes around 200 pairs of spurs a year but due to the waiting list, that is longer than 12 months, getting a pair made may be impossible.
The custom Klapper spurs often turn up on eBay and sell for over $1000 per pair. These spurs are well worth collecting and will be an excellent addition to any you already own.
I have owned a pair of double mounted silver spurs for over 50 years. I was told they were made by Billy Klapper before he started putting name and numbers on them. They said the five star rowel was his trademark back then. Can I send pictures for verification. If you have any information please contact us at 615-210-4529.
Mike I can likely help you out identifying your spurs and whether they are in fact Klapper Made Spurs. You can contact me on Facebook (Timothy E. Walsh), Email, Text Message, by US Mail or you can call me and leave a message. I am a personal friend of Billy’s and talk to him on a regular basis and spend time with him twice a year at his shop. Let me know if you still need some help with those spurs. Thanks
Timothy E Walsh
2332 S Cleveland Massillon Rd.
Copley, OH. 44321-2440
Cell/Text: 330-351-0906
Email: nviroment7@aol.com
I have a pair of Billy’s spurs, called him a few years ago and spoke to him about them. He made them for Ned Jones and Ned either sold them or traded them to my Dad. I would love to know as much about them as I can. My dad was warring them on April 1st when his horse went down crushing g his leg. He ultimately lost it and the cut is still there when they were cut off. My dad has since died back in 2005 and I just want as much knowledge about these spurs as possible. Billy told mehe didn’t make very many of them, they are decorated with copper instead of silver. He told me he started using copper during a time he couldn’t source silver, so I would suspect there aren’t many of them like this.
Any comments? Are they the real spur made by Mr. Klapper?