The Originals That Started It All
Long before there was a Y-ME Ranch Mercantile, there were cowboys, codgers and characters.
Some came straight from Mike’s imagination. But many were inspired by people he actually knew—friends, family members, fellow artists, old cowboys and assorted characters whose faces, personalities and particular ways of looking at life were simply too good not to paint.
Over the years, these old-timers became characters in other people’s lives, too.
We often hear from someone searching for a particular Mike Scovel print they remember hanging in their dad’s office, their granddad’s den, the family cabin or even out in the barn. They grew up with that cowboy on the wall and the punchline underneath him. Years later, they want one for their own home—not just because it still makes them laugh, but because it takes them somewhere they remember.
That means more to Mike than we can adequately put into words.
Many years ago, we had an art booth at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. A young cowboy wandered in and quietly began looking through a pack of Mike’s cards. Cowboy humor usually brings plenty of laughing and carrying on to our booth, but this young man was unusually quiet.
Then his eyes filled with tears.
He told us he had lost his dad to cancer just a few weeks earlier. His dad had several of Mike’s old cowboy prints hanging in his office, and they had been among his favorite things. As he reached for his wallet, he thanked Mike for giving someone he cared about so deeply a little bit of laughter every day.
We couldn’t take his money. But we’ve never forgotten him.
That encounter reminded us that humorous art can become something much bigger than a good punchline. A little laughter can change the landscape of a hard day. It can make difficult things a little more tolerable. And sometimes, without anyone realizing it at the time, the things that made us laugh become part of how we remember the people we love.
That’s why these old cowboys aren’t going anywhere.
They’re part of Mike’s story. They’re part of the Y-ME Ranch story. And after all these years, we’ve discovered they’re part of quite a few other families’ stories, too.
So pull up a chair and meet the originals. Chances are, one of these old characters has been waiting for you.
