Bing’s last stand
After 40 years, beloved turquoise booth hangs up its rodeo hat
“Where’s Bing?” is the first thing people ask when they approach Vickie Crosby’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo booth — No. B4055.
And yes, a “Bing Crosby’s Indian Art” sign hangs overhead, though shoppers aren’t cheekily referring to the bass-baritone crooner of “White Christmas” fame. They’re looking for Vickie’s husband, Edmond “Bing” Crosby III, of turquoise fame.
For 40 years, customers have swung by Bing’s booth in between rodeo performances and pleaded, “Dress me.”
“Men come up to him and say, ‘I love what you’re wearing. Do you have anything like that I can wear?’ ” Vickie said.
Her husband has a penchant for patterned Robert Graham button-downs, Wrangler’s, exotic-skin boots and stacks of turquoise. Most days, he layers a bear pendant, bracelet, ring and the custom watch that Vickie commissioned special.
“The bear is a strong symbol of strength, power and introspection,” she explained.
In four decades, Bing had never missed a single Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This year, there’s a palpable void behind the jewelry counter. Shoppers notice, too. But when they ask, “Where’s Bing?” Vickie doesn’t have the heart to tell them. Bing isn’t here, and he’s not coming back. ‘He had the best stories’
In 1934, before Bing’s parents settled on the name Edmond Franklin Crosby III, his delivery-room nurses started calling him “Bing” — it just stuck.
Back then, his folks owned a restaurant in McAlester, Okla., but Bing had no interest in the family business. By age 15, he was already buying jewelry from local Native American artisans. His nickname was the “road warrior” because he was always on the move, selling trinkets in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.
Carol Yeager Berger loves to tell the story of how she met Vickie’s husband in 1978, when Yeager Berger was a six-year rodeo volunteer and Bing was a first-time exhibitor.
“This guy, Bill Whettle, called him up two days before and said, ‘You need to show at the rodeo,’ so he packed up his van and came,” she recalled. “His first booth, in the horse arena, looked like a fort. Very primitive. I would catch him sleeping with the chickens.”
Bing needed a retail associate to vend his turquoise wares, and Yeager Berger had grown tired of the volunteer committee circuit. A partnership was born. Later, in 1994, their “sweet 16,” the duo scored a proper booth and promising new hire: Vickie.
Vickie was repping a jewelry line of a mutual friend when Bing walked into her Albuquerque, N.M., showroom. Next year marks their 25th anniversary.
“He had the best stories,” Vickie said. “One morning, a police officer knocked on his door and took his driver’s license because he had so many unpaid tickets. So Bing bought an airplane.”
Two years later, the couple moved to Park City, Utah, and opened a store on Main Street, where ZZ Top and Zac Brown have picked up a knickknack or two.
The Crosbys used to own shops in the Salt Lake City International Airport and Marriott Salt Lake City as well. But after Sunday’s rodeo, Park City will be the only option available for regulars looking to satisfy their turquoise fix of Bing’s wares.
“We’re not looking forward to the last day,” Vickie said.
Ever since she posted on Facebook that this is the Crosbys’ final year at RodeoHouston, people have come up to the booth in tears.
“It’s our 40th year, Garth Brooks is opening and closing, and it’s too long to be away from home and Bing,” she explained carefully.
Her husband, Vickie acknowledged, is brutally honest. If a customer questions whether a piece of turquoise (from another retailer) is genuine, Bing begins the conversation with, “I want to tell you the truth.”
So it’s hard for Vickie to hold back when asked why Bing isn’t with her.
“A health issue” is all she’ll disclose. “He’s a proud man.” The last rodeo
“About 30 years ago I bought my first piece of turquoise from Bing; he didn’t even know Vickie at the time,” said Kim Folger, a longtime client. “I didn’t really have that good of a job, so I started out small. Just these two skinny, little cuffs.”
Folger’s husband thinks that his wife is a hoarder, but she’s quick to correct him — she’s a collector.
She keeps a leather-bound book filled with notes and photos of her 40 bracelets, 30 rings and “so many necklaces I can’t even begin to tell you. I don’t want to repeat something if I already have it,” she reasoned.
Vickie emails Folger pictures of new inventory throughout the year; the Crosbys also sent her a gift basket for her 50th birthday. “They treat me like family and tell me I’m a goodluck charm because when I walk up, I wind up selling for them as well.”
It’s tradition for Folger to jump behind the booth for an annual photo with Vickie and Bing. This time, the women just held each other and cried.
“Vickie’s got this book that she’s having everyone sign, and she’ll read it all to Bing,” Folger said. “So far, what I’m going to write in there is already five pages long.”
Vickie’s unsure how Sunday will go. A few years ago, she and Bing began celebrating the last day of rodeo by renting a limo and bar-hopping with their staff. The group would start at Pappasito’s Cantina or Armadillo Palace and wind up in The Woodlands at Tommy Bahama.
The plan for this weekend is still up in the air.
“It’s my last rodeo, too,” Yeager Berger said. After 46 years on the barbecue committee, she’s a lifetime member, though she plans to never step foot on festival grounds again. “I have a craft business, stained glass and wind chimes. And I’m hosting a trunk show for Bing next year at my house in Spring.”
Loyal customers share her outlook. It’s the end of an era but the start of something new.
“I won’t find a new person,” Folger vowed. “I’ll continue to buy from Vickie. And I’m not going to say goodbye too much because I’ll go to Utah to see them.”
And that is where Bing will be.