by MIKE TERRELL
The TC cowboy (and cowgirl), who now drives a pickup more often than he rides his horse, has found a unique medium of communication — bumper stickers.
Dozens of different stickers can be seen on assorted cars and trucks. To name a few, “Do It in a Pickup,” “Cowboy Country, Love it or Leave It,” “Happiness is Owning a Horse,” “Cowgirls Need Love, Too,” “Keep on Buckin’” and “Rodeo — America’s No. 1 Sport.”
Several bumpers bear more than one of the vinyl adhesive stickers. One truck on campus was seen to have no less than five of the messages slapped on its tailgate.
In the Northeast Texas area, several thousand western stickers are sold annually, and this figure is rapidly increasing. One western store in Texarkana has sold more than 4,000 of the stickers already this year.
“Sales have really picked up these last two years,” according to John Meadors, manager of The Western Store in Texarkana. “At first there were just two or three different kinds, but when the stickers really started becoming popular, the messages also increased in number.”
In addition to the stickers previously mentioned, other offerings found at the local store include “Goatropers Won the West,” “I’d Rather be a Roper Than a Doper” and “I’m Not a Cowboy, I Just Found the Hat.”
Some of the stickers are energy conscious (i.e., “Conserve Energy — Ride a Horse”) while others expound on the love-making prowess of both cowboys and cowgirls: “Cowboys Make Better Lovers,” “I’m a Barrel Racer, Cowboy Chaser,” “Cowboys Are Better Lovers — Ask Any Cowgirl,” and “I’m a Lover, a Fighter, a Wild Bull Rider.”
Meadors said teenagers were without a doubt the best cowboy bumper sticker customers, although people of all ages have purchased the stickers. He said that girls are just as likely to come in and buy the stickers as a boy.