True West Dinnerware

Texas Crazy is pleased to join with the True West folks from Royce City, Texas to offer you cowboy dinnerware celebrating the American West. We hope you enjoy these great designs that incorporate authentic and original cowboy artwork from the estate of famous western artist Till Goodan. Choose from Westward Ho Rodeo, Boots and Saddle, and Longhorn pattern fine china dishes, all made in the US.

The story behind True West dinnerware:

It all started with Tillman Parker Goodan (1896-1958). Till spent much of his boyhood working on the ranch of the local Michel family. There he developed his expertise as a calf roper and skills of a working cowboy. As a young man Till pursued endeavors that would initially callous his emerging artistic hands. He worked for the famous Miller and Lux Ranch in California. He packed mules and ran pack trains into the Sierra Mountains. He broke horses and competed in local rodeos riding saddle broncs and roping calves. And not unlike Wallace Simpson, during the quiet hours he would draw pictures of ranch life and the action of the rodeo. People began commenting on his talents as an artist.

By the 1930's he was beginning to receive recognition for his western art and by the early 1940s, he and his daughter, Betty, were illustrating comic books for his longtime friend, Gene Autry. Betty was also a world champion cowgirl. Till Goodan designs appeared in virtually every medium. His most famous artwork appeared in four lines of dinnerware offered by the Wallace China Company in Los Angeles between 1943 and 1964: Pioneer Trails, Longhorn, Boots and Saddle, and Rodeo.

The Westward Ho Rodeo pattern was a tremendous success; action drawings of rodeo events surrounded by authentic cattle brands appealed to westerners of every persuasion. Rodeo dinnerware graced the tables of restaurants, hotels, and ranches, and big names like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Bing Crosby owned sets of Rodeoware. Today, all of the original Wallace China dinnerware patterns are prized collectibles and are now faithfully reproduced by True West for collectors and those who want to set a western table. Shown this page: Till Goodan's self-portrait and his portrait of daughter Betty, shortly after she won the National Cutting Horse Competition at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Till Goodan's original rodeo dinnerware is being reproduced by True West, with permission of his daughter, Betty Goodan Andrews. True West is proud to have the exclusive license to signed Till Goodan artwork.

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For more details or to purchase one of the following True West dinnerware items from our Texas Dinnerware collection, click on any picture below.