Apelt Armadillo Farm

Comfort, Texas

Charles Apelt, a former basket maker from Germany came to the Comfort area at the tender age of fifteen and accidentally became an armadillo entrepreneur. He was hungry one day, and used a rock to kill an armadillo for dinner. After cleaning the critter and detaching the meat from the shell, he noticed that the empty shell curled up to form a basket. Eureka! A chance meal had suddenly spawned a business for the young man.

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and one man’s “road kill” can become a tasty meal or even a piece of art for another man.

So it was when Charles Apelt, a former basket maker from Germany came to the Comfort area at the tender age of fifteen and accidentally became an armadillo entrepreneur. He was hungry one day - probably really hungry - and he used a rock to kill an armadillo for dinner. After cleaning the critter and detaching the meat from the shell, he noticed that the empty shell curled up to form a basket. A chance meal had suddenly spawned a business for the young man.

Charles Apelt quickly created an intriguing product line that included baskets, lamps, women's handbags, sewing and shopping baskets, chandeliers, stuffed armadillo door stops, and other miscellaneous curios. He also sold live armadillos that were purchased by zoos, research centers, families wanting unusual pets, and promoters of armadillo races. According to published reports his one-of-a-kind creations were praised by his friends in Germany, and he displayed his products at the 1902 World’s Fair in New York. The Alpet Armadillo Farm was the only business of its kind in the world.

A small building on the west side of the house was constructed to serve as a store, and the shed attached to the back of that building was were where the armadillos were processed, and the baskets were finished.

Soon the armadillos in the area had a serious problem. Charles Alpet had created a thriving market for the burrowing nocturnal critters, and they were extensively hunted. He hired people all over the Texas Hill Country to provide him with armadillos, and paid 50 cents a shell. One man near Kerrville made his entire living off hunting armadillos for the Apelt Armadillo Farm,

Lura "Granie" Walters from Medina, who died in 1987 at almost 100 years old, sold armadillo baskets to Apelt, who then shipped them all around the world. The shell of the armadillo was used for the basket and the tail was joined to it with wire to form the handle. Then the shells were painted or varnished, and some of them were lined with cloth or silk, and finished off with ruffles around the edge.

The Alpet Armadillo Farm was on the main line of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad between Comfort and Kerrville. A small rock building at the front of the property was the depot, and was located next to the tracks. This made it particularly convenient for visitors from as far away as San Antonio to come to the Alpet Armadillo Farm.

The Apelt Armadillo Farm was operated by Charles Apelt’s family until his death in 1971.

Compiled from various sources by

Joe Cooper

Kendall County, Texas

August 6, 2009

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REFERENCES

Ø Bandera County Courier, Bandera County's hill hogs are worldwide celebs, http://www.banderacountycourier.com/nature.htm

Ø Laredo Morning Times, Kerrville goes ape over armadillos, http://lmtonline.com/news/archive/051903/pagea5.pdf , Monday, May 19, 2003

Ø The Mother Earth News, The Texas Hills, http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock-and-Farming/1988-07-01/The-Texas-Hill.aspx , July/August