Part 3 Circle M Ranch, Photo Collection, Roy Rogers, Chuck Connors and Charles Mavety

We believe this is a picture of a young Roy Rogers meeting country music legend Wilf Carter

and we think this gentlemen is a young Chuck Conners soon to be televisions The Rifleman

Wilf Carter and young fan

In this photo Roy Rogers is pictured int he middle with his arm around Charles Mavety on his right side (second from right in this photo)

MAVETY PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION FROM KLEINBURG'S FAMOUS CIRCLE "M" RANCH, TURNS UP ROY ROGERS WITH WILF CARTER

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHO YOU MIGHT FIND IN VINTAGE PHOTO COLLECTIONS

     Suzanne, late last evening, after exhausting herself trying to find the horseman, from yesterday's blog, "Pat Gibson," a dead ringer for the elder Hoot Gibson, actually found a vintage image of Charles F. Mavety's tombstone, in a Kleinburg Cemetery. The legendary owner of the Ranch, where many cowboy flicks were filmed, back in the 1930's and 40's, was killed in a car accident in January 1952. His son, Joe (Charles Jr), was only two years old when his father passed away, the result of injuries sustained in a car crash in Kleinburg. Joe Mavety, as a matter of interest, was a widely known guitarist and song writer, who played and recorded with some of the biggest names in the rock 'n' roll genre, back in the late 1960's and 70's, and who became a sought-after sessions musician in North America and England. He had close ties with "The Who," "Joe Cocker," "Iggy Pop," and played for a number of years with Marianne Faithful. He performed with her once, on Saturday Night Live, when Chevy Chase was the guest host. You can look up Joe Mavety at the Circle M Ranch (where he got his first hollow body guitar), online, for more biographical information. You can also archive back to the past two days' blogs, to see additional photographs, and read the biographical information about Mavety and his special guests who visited his Kleinburg Ranch.
     This morning, with magnifying glass, and an online gallery of hundreds of photographs, we were able to determine, that a gentleman appearing in a total of four photographs, in the 1930's, to 1950 collection, are that of famous singing cowboy, Roy Rogers circa 1950. One of the photographs, shows him with Canadian Cowboy legend, Wilf Carter (of Alberta), also known as Montana Slim. The second, shows him in the centre of a group of musicians at the Circle M Ranch, for a special event, which was undoubtedly the Roy Rogers show, in July of 1950. We still haven't identified the rest of the group, although we are pretty sure Charles Mavety is the second from the right side. After three days working on this identification exercise, we don't have a clearly identified photograph of Mr. Mavety, although we do have an image of his son, Joe, and this is what we are basing our opinion on, when we suggest it is Charlie in the group photographs. It exists out there but it will take another week or so to narrow in on a good image. Chances are, there's a photograph of him with some of his Hollywood and country music friends, such as Hop-a-Long Cassidy, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and of course, Wilf Carter. In some library archives, or back issues of regional newspapers, there's bound to be some good ones of Mr. Mavety, the sole film distributor in Ontario for Hollywood flicks, and secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Film Pioneers.
     Another two photographs show a rough looking cowboy, who we believe, is a young Chuck Connors, who you might remember as television's "The Rifleman," of the 1960's. Connors did a stint as a professional wrestler and as a major league baseball player, before he found great opportunities on the silver screen, and in popular television programs. He looks heavy set in the photographs, but when we compared them to published on-line images, spanning all the years of his careers, in wrestling, baseball and film, it was obvious we had a match. The photograph we believe, although not dated or identified in any other way, was taken in July 1950, two years before Mavety was killed in a car accident.
     It takes a lot of sleuthing and close examination of vintage photographs, to make identification, because, in terms of actors and performers generally, their portraits were professionally taken with studio lighting, being appropriately attired for such occasions. In other words, definitely not casual. The photographs taken at the Circle M Ranch, in this collection, were without the benefit of special lighting, and the images are definitely not enhanced in any way. The photograph of Wilf Carter and the young Roy Rogers was taken by T. Anthony Trifoli, who advertised as an "Industrial, Commercial, Portrait and Fashion," photographer, who operated from his studio at 574 Church Street, in Toronto. Other photographs are probably independent snapshots, so there is no "glam" enhancements. The group shot with Charles Mavety and Roy Rogers, shown above, was also taken by Trifoli. There are many examples of Trifoli's work published on line.
     There are still at least a dozen unidentified cowboys and country musicians to deal with, in the coming week, but based on the results so far, it's worth the extra time sleuthing. The incentive? Well, each one we correctly identify, it does increase the value of the collection in its entirety. There is every reason then to work to infill all the details if at all possible. Historically, it also makes a huge difference, and possibly one day, I will put together a larger story about the halcyon days of the Circle M Ranch, back in the days of Mr. Mavety and his collection of friends, who are making this collection much more significant than it began.
     Hey, if you haven't labelled the photographs in your collection, please, please, get that rectified for the benefit of future generations. It is important and yes even to historians like me, who may get access to them sometime down the line. I have found huge contemporary collections of family photographs, in second hand shops and flea markets, that are nothing short of heart rendering; you have to wonder what happened to the kin-folk, who just abandoned these precious images of family members, as if there was no significance to them at all! I try to rescue as many as I possibly can, but there is only so much room left in our house. I don't sell these contemporary images but keep them for reference purposes. Believe me, I reference constantly, even about period clothing and household furnishings. It's such a shame that so few are properly identified. There has, since the dawn of photography, been this feeling in households, that there was no need to catalogue the images, because they would never be in the hands of anyone other than family. Probably ninety percent get into the hands of those who never knew the family in life, and have no connection with any names that might be printed inside. They just collect old photographs. The most sensitive of course, are "death" photos, and especially, these photos that involve infants photographed in their coffins, in the Victorian parlors, bordered by floral arrangements. I've had dozens over the years. It freaks a lot of folks out, believe me. Historians examine them to understand the memorial tributes and customs of the era.
     If you have anything you'd like to add, or offer as an opinion on any of the photographs published here, please let me know. I like hearing from you folks.