Joe Bianchi

Joe Bianchi (born Aug. 5, 1871) was a world-class spur maker born in Origgio, Italy. Immigrated to Victoria, Texas in Dec. 1885; and died at age of 77 in Victoria on May 29, 1949. Joe’s particular style which became known across Southwest Texas as the “Victoria Shank” or ‘bottle-opener’ spur. These terms are still used today by collectors of these much sought after spurs some sixty years after production of these custom, hand-made spurs ceased.

Joe’s father, Luigi (Louis) purchased a farm after arriving in Texas and the 1900 Census listed Louis and his youngest son as “Farmer”. By contrast, Joe and his older brother Paul were listed as “Blacksmith” by trade at the time of their arrival, no doubt due to some experience gained back in the old country.

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After working with other blacksmith shops and in partnership with Paul who opened Bianchi Brothers Blacksmith Shop in 1901. Sometime after his marriage to Mathilde Urban on Feb. 22, 1905 Joe opened his own shop on S. William St. next door to their home. This shop became a popular place for family, friends, cowboys and cattlemen to meet and visit. One could not only get spurs, bit and branding irons made but have repairs made to carriages and farming implements as well as household items. Joe also built park benches for the city square around 1920 and as a testimony to the quality of his work a number of these benches can still be seen in Victoria over 80 years later.

After the introduction of the automobile, circa 1910 and the switch from horse and buggy, Paul’s fancy turned to the automobile while Joe concentrated on the needs of the cowboys and cattlemen, and in particular, the spurs, bits and branding irons they needed for their work. In addition to the distinctive bottle opener style, some spurs and bits made by the Bianchi brothers can also be identified by markings such as BIANCHI, HANDFORGED and VICTORIA, TEX.

Since these high quality spurs were made to last and Joe offered repair or replace any that proved defective without charge Joe thought up the idea of a pocket size catalogue so his products could be ordered by mail. This resulted in his products finding a market throughout the United Sates and even some foreign countries. He also had advertisements run in The Cattleman magazine as well as the Running W Saddle Shop catalogue of the famous King Ranch in south Texas.

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Joe was also known for his support of the church and various schools in town. He also joined the local Spanish American militia unit and was an active member of the Victoria Fire Department right up to the final years of his life. For his industriousness, civic mindedness and decent living, Joe was highly respected by all who knew and worked with him.

References

• Jane Pattie, Cowboy Spurs and Their Makers, Texas A & M Universty Press, 1991
• Ned and Jody Martin and Kurt House, Bit and Spur Makers in the Texas Tradition, Hawk Hill Press, 2000
• Kurt House, Handforged for Texas Cowboys, Three Rivers Publishing Company, 2001