Roy Rogers had an illustrious film career that included him displaying not only his talent for acting, but also his penchant for singing. It was the early days of talkies in the 1930s when Rogers was really making a name for himself and many of the standard practices of movie studios of the era were not at all lucrative for some stars. Studios would put stars on a rigorous schedule which included little downtime between films and stars always had to present themselves in public as the studio dictated, never breaking the image that had been cultivated for them.

In this vein, film stars were not always allowed to endorse products as they might have liked. The film studios controlled much of what stars were able to do. And this is why it’s so important that, as part of a less-than-ideal contract with RKO Pictures, Rogers and his agent were able to negotiate a bargain in which Rogers got to keep the rights to his name and likeness. This enables him to do what few others been allowed to do: create, market, and endorse a range of products under his own name and using the cowboy persona which he had spent years creating. Everything from toy guns to his own restaurant were where an again Rogers made his dough. Have a look at some of our favorite Roy Rogers commercials in the clip below. Happy trails!

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