Autry Exhibit Evokes Memories of Simpler Times for His Fans

These words were part of Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code, a set of rules that his fan club was expected to follow and that the late singing cowboy was said to practice himself.

The Cowboy Code and other Autry memorabilia went on display Saturday at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Griffith Park, one day after his death.

Workers were putting finishing touches on the vastly expanded exhibit of Autry material as the first visitors trickled into the Spirit of Imagination gallery.

Linden Whitchurch, wearing a cowboy hat and boots, remembered Autry’s movies from when he was a boy in the mountains of western Colorado.

“They were pretty simple: There were good guys, bad guys and a lady. He never got the lady,” Whitchurch said. “He never kissed her. He just rode off into the sunset.”

Autry’s movie posters, favorite custom-made boots and Western shirts were put on display. The items included his “bluebird” boots, which featured cutouts of flowers and birds, copies of which have reportedly sold for $3,500.

His Army uniform and pilot’s helmet stood at ease under glass. His Angels baseball uniform and specially made cowboy boots with baseball cleats rested under pictures from the team’s games.

“We had planned to do a show on Mr. Autry, but he didn’t want it while he was still alive,” said James Nottage, the museum’s vice president and chief curator. “This museum is about the West as a whole.”

One display featured a bedroom with a Gene Autry bedspread, pennants, toys and a bicycle with a horse’s head that children either put on their Christmas wish lists or saved cereal box tops to get.

Fans donated most of the items in the bedroom exhibit. Nottage said one of the guitars, etched with a cowboy riding into a mountain pass, came from a fan who raised a pig and sold it at a county fair in order to buy the instrument.

Merle Corradi of Alhambra collects Autry and Cisco Kid posters and toy pistols. “In the movies, you always knew the good guys always won. It was nice, not like today,” she said. “No one fought dirty. When they hid behind the bushes, you could still see them.”

Those born after Autry’s exit from the silver screen were also intrigued. Nine-year-old Andrew Garbe said, “The guns were cool.” His 10-year-old brother, Matthew, wondered, “Did that piano really hold up that horse?” referring to a photo of Autry at the piano with his horse, Champion, on top of it.

One wall featured posters and lobby cards that chronicled Autry’s film career, including a science fiction serial from 1935 called “The Phantom Empire,” which docent Carolyn Layne called “perfectly awful, ghastly.” Below the poster was the silver-painted robot head Autry wore.

“I just like the old Westerns in general,” said Art Dove of Fresno. “I grew up with [Autry] in the ‘40s. I saw the Saturday morning serials. As a child I didn’t like the singing, but I appreciated it when I got older.”

Dove said he is a frequent visitor to the museum and had planned Saturday’s trip before he learned of Autry’s death. “‘We lost two good ones this year, with him and Roy Rogers,” he said. “My immediate reaction is sadness. But he lived to be 91 years old. He’ll always be remembered as the singing cowboy, for his entrepreneurial spirit and for his charity.”

A public tribute will take place Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. on the museum’s south lawn. The exhibit will run through Jan. 4.