A sparkly yet rugged rodeo fixture
‘Bubba’ Murphy’s belt buckles let pride remain once cowboys ride off after event
A cowboy’s outfit is only complete once he’s donned his all-important, sparkly-yet-rugged rodeo accessory: the belt buckle.
And perhaps no man knows this better than Phillip E. “Bubba” Murphy, an iconic fixture at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and major belt-buckle supplier for the annual event.
His bedazzled fame began in 1979, when Murphy noticed the pride radiating from volunteers wearing their badges. Yet, he said there was nowhere to showcase that pride once the event wrapped up.
“I wanted them to have something to wear when it wasn’t rodeo season,” he said.
So Murphy incorporated the 1980 rodeo badge into an adornment for holding up cowboys’ britches. It’s now a tradition, with his reputation and responsibilities growing over the decades. He also supplies buckles for the mutton bustin’ kids, most of the committees and the RodeoHouston performers.
The official buckle is made with a steel dye, essentially a stamp, that is pressed on a piece of metal and then plated in gold and silver.
Because of the sheer quantity, Murphy helps design the belt buckle but has another company manufacture them. His company, Murphy’s Buckles, also creates higher-end custom buckles, watches and western jewelry. It has created custom buckles for J.J. Watt, President George W. Bush and Ray Charles, to name a few.
His most recent favorite buckle was the one created for Garth Brooks’ opening-night performance at RodeoHouston. It had his logo, a “g” with a circle, “Opening Performance” and the date.
“I look at him as a person who has taken what he was given, appreciates every day of it and doesn’t take it for granted,” Murphy said. “That’s the way I perceive him, so it’s kind of neat to do a buckle for someone like that.”
Yet before that fateful day in 1979, Murphy had zero experience selling belt buckles. He did know the rodeo. His father introduced him to the Houston festivities as a child in 1958. In fact, he’s missed only one year, while serving in Vietnam.
And though he’s held other jobs, co-owning a company that removed asbestos and another company that rebuilt air-conditioning compressors, those were just mechanisms for funding Murphy’s true passion.
“My heart was always in retail,” he said, “so it was just a means of growth and financial security.”