Emil Helge Bohlin (1895 - 1980)

Born 12 May 1895 in Örebro, Örebro, Sweden

Husband of Lillian (Holm) Bohlin — married 24 Apr 1937 in Los Angeles, California, United States

Died 28 May 1980 at age 85 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

Biography

Edward Helge Bohlin was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. Westward Ho! Join: Cowboys and Cowgirls Project Discuss: cowboys_and_cowgirls

Emil Helge Bolin was born on May 12, 1895 in Spånga husartorp in Vintrosa parish, Örebro län, Sweden. He was the son of hussar (soldier on horse) Gustaf Bolin and his wife Augusta Karlsson.^[1] They were at least eight siblings. The family moved to Örebro town in 1900.^[2]

Edvard Helge Bohlin was born on May 12, 1895 in Sweden to Gustaf A. Bohlin and his wife Sophia Maria Larson.^[3]

He married to Lillian S Holm on April 24, 1937 in Los Angeles. She was the daughter of Ferdinand Holm and Emma Carlson.^[4]

Ed passed away on May 28, 1980 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Sweden.

Born in Sweden in 1895, Edward Bohlin ran away from home at age 15, working his way to America on a huge four-mast schooner with dreams of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West in his head. In the late 19th century there were no Western movies, however, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show traveled all over Europe and young Bohlin was captivated.

He cowboyed in both Montana and Wyoming. He started doing leather work repairing saddles and bridles and apparently soon realized the truth of the statement, “cowboyin’ is something you do when you can’t do nothing else.” Bohlin did less and less cowboyin’ and more and more leather work. He had learned to rope and ride like a real cowboy and also realized cowboys needed someone to repair their gear. He not only learned how to repair saddles but also how to build them and decorate both the saddles and bridles with silver.

Bohlin opened a saddle shop in Cody, Wyoming, and became a full-time saddle maker, where he did rope tricks in front of his shop to draw business. Cowboy actor Tom Mix saw his work, and in fact, actually bought the boots off Bohlin’s feet causing him to travel home in his stocking feet.

Saddlemaker to the Stars

Mix convinced him to open shop in Hollywood, and two of the first saddles Bohlin produced were for another cowboy star, Buck Jones and his wife. Both Tom Mix and Buck Jones were extremely popular cowboy stars throughout the 1930’s. Both were enthusiastic users of Bohlin saddles and holsters.

From his humble beginnings to his fame in Hollywood for high-end pieces, Ed crafted more than 12,000 Bohlin saddles including many grand silver outfits of Tournament of Roses Parade fame. He also dressed many silver screen heroes and horses with his grand style of buckles, spurs and gun belts.

Roy Rogers "Bohlin" saddle - the one he wore on Trigger in more than 100 movies - sold for $386,500 at a Christie's Auction.

His company was without equal among western style silversmiths building a reputation on flawless workmanship. The Edward H Bohlin company, which operated from the early 1920s through the 1980s (under Ed's watchful eye but continues to operate under other ownership), reached its apex in the 1930s when the Hollywood cowboys reigned supreme.

Bohlin was a stickler for details and employed the finest silver and leather workers of his era to satisfy discriminating clients including Mae West, Will Rogers, William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Monte Hale, Gene Autry, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan.

Sources

1. ↑ Emil Helge Bolin parish birth record 1895 nr 21: Vintrosa kyrkoarkiv, Födelse- och dopböcker, SE/ULA/11695/C/7 (1895-1931), bildid: 00170622_00007, sida 3 https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/00170622_00007
2. ↑ Gustaf Bolin household in Spånga husartorp 1895-1900: Vintrosa kyrkoarkiv, Församlingsböcker. Bunden serie, SE/ULA/11695/A II a/1 (1895-1900), bildid: 00170603_00387, sida 386 https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/00170603_00387
3. ↑ "California Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HG7J-WHMM : 4 February 2020), Edward H. Bohlin, 1980.
4. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8JY-1Z8 : 9 March 2021), Edward H Bohlin and Lillian S Holm, 24 Apr 1937; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,021.

• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K872-QXM : 24 December 2021), Emil Helge Bohlin, 1917-1918.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9Z3-DZJ : 6 January 2021), Edward H Bohlin, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 60-344, sheet 5B, line 62, family 140, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 416.
• "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4D4-2NG : 24 November 2020), Edward Helge Bohlin, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149233764/edward-helge-bohlin : accessed 29 December 2021), memorial page for Edward Helge Bohlin (12 May 1895–28 May 1980), Find A Grave: Memorial #149233764 Find a Grave Memorial ID 149233764, citing Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by BJW (contributor 47094611) .

See also:

• Biography: Edward H. Bohlin
• Roy Rogers Saddles
• Guns Magazine: Remembering Ed Bohlin
• Saddlemaker To The Stars. The Leather And Silver Art Of Edward H. Bohlin by James H. Nottage