About us
History of Arizona Vintage Hats
As a kid my heroes were always cowboys. I grew up on a farm in southeastern Pennsylvania. On many Saturday mornings my friends and I would ride our bikes to town, headed for the Palace Theater to watch Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, and a host of other cowboy stars get the bad guys. We built old west towns in the woods playing the parts of Sherriff, Saloon Owner, Rancher, and of course Outlaws. Those were great days to be a kid.
In 1956, after graduating high school, Uncle Sam's Air Force sent me to Arizona. The cowboy west became real and I embraced it. The history of Arizona was full of ghost towns, gold mining, gun fights, good guys, and bad guys. 50 some years later I’m still here. Over the years I’ve made a practice of not getting rid of my worn out cowboy hats. Instead, I hang them in my shop. I have given a few away as young friends have asked to have one. I was surprised to learn that a vintage cowboy hat was something a “Dude” would like to own. I had one young fella decide he was gonna clean his newly acquired straw hat by putting it in his washing machine. To make amends, I gave him another with instructions.
Arizona Vintage Hats was born. We are proud to offer for sale authentic vintage cowboy hats.
Mission Statement
When I started this project, in 2009, it was to supplement income for an Old Guy on a fixed income, while fulfilling a dream that had been developing, in my mind, for 15 years. In 2010, after getting all documents, legal and otherwise completed, I headed out to meet with folks in the field. I found the life of a Workin cowboy was not what I envisioned. It is a way of life few know anything about. Ranch Owners are a strong independent group, dealing with economics, climate, markets, government regulations, taxes, drought, diseases, fires, and a slew of other challenges, just to survive. Too often, Ranches are sold when urban development and/or the above mentioned challenges get the upper hand. It didn’t surprise me that I could not find any new Ranches established in recent years. Moreover, I found quite a few Ranches sold, with Real Estate companies marketing various size lots for sale. It occurred to me that by the turn of the next century, Real Cattle Ranches may be a thing of the past, along with the Workin Cowboy.
The Cowboy I had worshiped as a kid in the movies is nothing like the Real Workin Cowboys I have met these past few months. All of them are hard workin, family oriented, hard ridin, down to earth fellas, easy to talk to, and very good at what they do. With all that said, I now have a new Mission that’s much more satisfying than simply to supplement income for an Old Guy. From my travels, I have the opportunity, thru my Photos, Writings, and Hats to introduce to the rest of the world, “The Real Workin Cowboy,” from the American Southwest; who he is, what he does, and some of his stories. The Cowboy’s Hat is something special. It’s who he is, and in my 50+ years in Arizona, I am aware you don’t mess with a Cowboy’s Hat, his Woman, his Horse or his Pickup Truck, and not necessarily in that order. After a lot of discussions, I have figured out a way to get “Some” Cowboys to sell me their hats. These are reasonably priced, with a real workin Cowboy history, that you can wear with pride or display in your home or place of business.
