Description
c1960 Rare Early Promotional Warner Brothers Records California Pottery Cowboy Boot. 6 3/8" tall x 4.25" long. Extremely rare, likely one of the first promotional items from Warner Brothers Records when they first started in 1958, not much later if it is. From the Estate of Tom Middleton (1953-2020) No cracks, chips, or restorations.
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In 1973, Tom found a catalog of instruments from Warehouse Music Sales in Fort Worth that contained multiple dobros. He sold his two guitars and used the funds to buy his first dobro. After it arrived, his life was never quite the same. If you ever had the pleasure to hear him play, you saw Tom doing what he loved.
Before making his way to Arizona to continue his education, Tom worked as a towboat deckhand for the United Maritime Union on the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers. Tom received a BS in English Literature from Northern Arizona University. During his time in Flagstaff, he was a member of the Mormon Lake Hotshots on the Coconino National Forest. Bill Mack's "All Night Open Road" show from WBAP in Dallas kept him company at the Mormon Lake Guard Station. He became lifelong friends with several of his fellow firefighters and kept in contact with them the rest of his life.
But music kept calling, and Tom began working for R.Q. Jones Resophonic Guitar Company in Wanette, Oklahoma. Now he wasn't just playing dobros, he was making them. In fact, he made one for a young dobro player named Jerry Douglas who is now widely regarded as "the" dobro player of our time. The dobro in question now belongs to the Music Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Jerry and Tom became good friends and whenever Jerry toured through Austin in recent years, they would take in some live music together at Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon among other music venues.
In 1978, Tom went to work for Peaches Records and Tapes in Oklahoma City, then The Handleman Company, and finally Pickwick Distribution Company in Dallas. These three jobs showed Tom the buying, selling, and distribution side of the music business. By 1985, Tom was working as a Print Production Manager at The Richards Group, an advertising agency in Dallas. He excelled at print production and would stay with it in Austin at both GSD&M and McGarrah Jessee from which he retired after 24 years shortly before his death.
Tom's work in print production should not go unrecognized. There is no doubt that countless times you've seen ads, packaging, and products that he produced – you just didn't know it. He had a wealth of experience and knowledge and was always keen to share what he knew with young producers and creative types. When Tom retired, his coworkers, vendors, suppliers,
