Baird said they were very rare old spurs which he had obtained at a fancy price from an impoverished Spanish family who had treasured them as heirlooms.

He said he was sure that Buck Benson in all his vast collection did not possess a pair of spurs like these.

He would doubtless, after seeing them worn by Merton Gill in this picture, have a pair made like them.
The distinguishing feature of these spurs was their size.

They were enormous, and their rowels extended a good twelve inches from Merton's heels after he had donned them.
"They may bother you a little at first," said Baird, "but you'll get used to them, and they're worth a little trouble because they'll stand out." The first effort to walk in them proved bothersome indeed, for it was made over ground covered with a low-growing vine and the spurs caught in this.

Baird was very earnest in supervising this progress, and even demanded the presence of two cameras to record it.
"Of course I'm not using this stuff," he said, "but I want to make a careful study of it.