South-Westish/Cowboy souveniers (Tucson, Tombstone: houses, taxi, shop)

[JillBoBill]

My dad grew up in Sweetwater Texas, so I guess he's always kind of had that 'cowboy' thing going on. When we were kids in CA, he used to go deep sea fishing and nail the tail fins of the sharks he caught to the wall of the garage. I guess it's kind of like taxidermy.

When we all moved to NY, he traded in his Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd cassette tapes for country music CDs (yes, believe it or not, they DO have a small, but active country music 'scene' on Long Island). So, I guess as he gets older, it becomes more and more obvious where he came from and what he grew up with.

Whatever, anyways -- for Father's Day, I wanted to send him something authentically cowboy-ish-ie. I've seen some cheap souveniers here and there, but nothing really worth mailing across the country.

Where can I find something really odd and original -- like, a stuffed armadillo (it might look great next to his 'authentic' jackalope mount). Any ideas?

[sierraAZ]

I'm not well-versed on the subject at all and I may send you too far when the stuff might be right under your nose, but Tombstone would be a good place for this kind of shopping. Come to think of it, perhaps Trail Dust Town here...

Trail Dust Town, located in Tucson, Arizona

Of course, there are the Western warehouses, but I've never set foot in one and have no idea what they carry.

[M.A.]

I was also going to suggest shopping in Tombstone.

What about on the reservation? They might have something.

You could always contact a local taxidermy shop and ask for an armadillo!

[JillBoBill]

I saw a website for that Trail Dust Town, yeah... Maybe we'll go check it out just for shiggles.

[JillBoBill]

How far away is Tombstone, anyways?

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

How far away is Tombstone, anyways?

Depends on where you start in town... but about an hour drive.

[Chorizo]

I second everyone's suggestion of Tombstone.

It makes for a great day trip. If you leave town around 8am. You can be there usually by 9:30 at the latest, see everything there is to see, have a bite to eat, catch a show or two and be back before 6pm.

As for the stuffed armadillo. You might get in the phone book and call around to some local taxidermists. We do not have armadillo in Arizona, that I know of anyway - so that specifically may be a bit hard to find.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Chorizo

As for the stuffed armadillo. You might get in the phone book and call around to some local taxidermists. We do not have armadillo in Arizona, that I know of anyway - so that specifically may be a bit hard to find.

That's not AZ-ish anyway... She should get him a cow skull! Then again, they might be all over the place in TX, too... I don’t know.

[ZonyPony]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

My dad grew up in Sweetwater Texas, so I guess he's always kind of had that 'cowboy' thing going on. When we were kids in CA, he used to go deep sea fishing and nail the tail fins of the sharks he caught to the wall of the garage. I guess it's kind of like taxidermy.

When we all moved to NY, he traded in his Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd cassette tapes for country music CDs (yes, believe it or not, they DO have a small, but active country music 'scene' on Long Island). So, I guess as he gets older, it becomes more and more obvious where he came from and what he grew up with.

Whatever, anyways -- for Father's Day, I wanted to send him something authentically cowboy-ish-ie. I've seen some cheap souveniers here and there, but nothing really worth mailing across the country.

Where can I find something really odd and original -- like, a stuffed armadillo (it might look great next to his 'authentic' jackalope mount). Any ideas?

How about a stuffed javelina?

[Chorizo]

You know ZP, if you had just purchased that cast iron statue of a javelina for JBB, this would have been a lot easier!

In the last two weeks I've seen 6 javelina run across River rd just W of Swan. If I could only catch one of the buggers!