When The Hill Country Was Armadillo Capital Of The World

The Texas Hill Country is widely known for its breathtaking scenery, world-class wineries, and embracing and celebrating its multi-cultural heritage.

It’s not generally known as the armadillo capital of the world.

But it sure used to be.

The story of how Central Texas became the shinning beacon of all things nine-banded began in 1887 when 15-year-old Charles Apelt emigrated from Germany to Comfort, Texas. He wasn’t long in the Lone Star State before he encountered an armadillo, killed it with a rock, and, after eating it, noticed how the animal’s shell was shaped like a basket. Apelt, who had a background in basket making back in Germany, was soon fashioning the strange, armored mammals’ remains into novelty baskets. He opened an armadillo basket factory in 1898 and within six years’ time had sold an astounding 40,000 of them at between $2.50 and $4.00 a piece. Apelt did even more business after showing his unique baskets at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904.

But baskets were just the beginning.

Apelt was soon selling armadillo floor lamps on wrought-iron stands that ranged between $15 - $25 and table lamps for between $12.50 - $18. He also crafted and sold armadillo smokers’ stands, wall banners, and upscale purses. Armadillos were also sold for their meat, to hospitals and medical research facilities for study, to zoos and circuses, and as pets. Selling this many armadillos meant that Apelt had to have, well, a lot of armadillos so he developed an onsite burrow system to breed them. Breeding stock was obtained throughout South Texas by hunters.  Edward B. Cope described one of these armadillo expeditions in the January 1933 issue of Modern Mechanix. “The group scours the moonlit highlands of southwest Texas for their bony-plated quarry. A half dozen specially trained dogs accompany the “expedition.” After an armadillo is held at bay, a hunter will rush up and strike the solid ball of bony plates a blow on the head and then will put the stunned animal in gunny sacks.”

The Apelt family bred, processed, and sold armadillos in Comfort until 1947 when they relocated operations to Salado, Texas. This move didn’t prove advantageous for the family, and they returned to Comfort in 1951. The business came to an end two decades later in 1971. Today, Texas Historical Marker 15777 located on TX Hwy 27 on the outskirts of Comfort marks the area that once was home to the Apelt Armadillo Farm that put the Texas Hill Country on the map as the unofficial armadillo capital of the world.

Local taxidermist Neal Coldwell believes the Apelt Armadillo Farm’s downfall was inevitable. “I think it just boiled down to the fad running its course,” Coldwell theorized. “And I’ve heard a lot of old timers tell me such. They say that the trend of having armadillo bags and lamps and other novelty items was just worn out. That and I think people around that time started to revere animals a lot more and novelty taxidermy just kind’a died out.”

Today, Coldwell says he rarely if ever sees any armadillos come through his taxidermy shop. “Haven’t seen one in years. And the last one I did do was just a straight up full body mount. The idea of a basket was never mentioned.”

That’s probably best for armadillos both in the Hill Country and out.