Cowboy Hat History

The American West in the 1800’s, when cowboys were king, was quite a different place than it is today.

There were no highways, big cities, cars, bikinis, airplanes, telephones, McDonalds, TVs, or Rap stars. Cowboys rode horses, working cattle on ranches, throughout the west wearing cowboy hats, not caps on backwards. The history of the cowboy hat is not that old. Before the invention of the cowboy hat; BS [before Stetson], Cowpunchers, Drovers, Bullwhackers, and other range riders wore castoffs of previous lives and professions. Everything from coonskin caps, sea captains hats, straw hats, wool derbies, and leftover remnants of the civil war headgear.

As the story goes, John Stetson, because of health reasons, went west for the drier climate. While on a hunting trip with friends, he amused them by showing them how he could make cloth out of fur from hides collected on the trip, without weaving. His father was a hatter and taught John the trade. He fashioned an enormous hat as a joke, but noted it to be big enough to protect himself from sun, rain, and all the rigors the outdoors could throw at him. Later he sold the hat to a cowboy who was fascinated by the unique headgear for $5.00. That led Stetson to manufacture his hat known as “The Boss of The Plains “after returning home to Philadelphia. By 1886 Stetson owned the largest hat factory in the world employing 4000 workers. Although he definitely popularized cowboy hats, Stetson’s creation did not appear out of thin air. Ranchers in both Texas and Mexico wore wide brim hats called Sombreros. However, John Stetson is still thought of as the inventor of the cowboy hat.

Today, while there are many companies involved in making both cheap $10 wool, felt, and straw machine blocked hats as well as custom manufacturers making hand creased magic costing upwards of $1000, its function continues to be to protect its wearer from sun, wind, and rain.

Today’s cowboy hat continues to be seen as the last vestige of apparel of a young and untamed nation. It makes a statement about the tough individuality at the center of every pioneer that carved a life from the new frontier.