Cowboy Hats

Ceili, one of the few things I know about cowboy hats is that everyone, men and women, look good in them----and that the Stetson was first made in Mississippi around the time of the Civil War.

The classic cowboy hat was first made by John Stetson in 1865.
They were known as the "boss of the plains" or the better known "10 Gallon hat". One of the reasons people liked them at the time was because they could be used as a water vessel.

Edit 1: It wasn't Mississipi it was Central City Colarado (Sorry Diane).

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John Stetson, the son of a hatmaker, was born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1830. When he was in his early twenties, Stetson was advised by his doctor to travel to the American West to cure his ill-health. At St. Joseph he joined a party of men that travelled to the gold fields of Colorado. He also spent time in the Rocky Mountains.

While living in the American West he began experimenting with developing headgear that would protect him from the harsh weather conditions. This included a hat with a wide brim to keep out the elements. He also gave it a waterproof lining that could double as a water bucket. The finished hat had a 6-inch high crown and a 7-inch brim. The hat could carry a half-gallon of water but acquired the nickname, the 10 gallon hat.

In 1865 Stetson established a one-man hatmaking business in Philadelphia. He sold his Boss of the Plains hat to local shops. Although fairly expensive to buy, it was such a success that Stetson was able to build a factory to produce his Western-style hats.

The Stetson wide-brimed hat sheltered the cowboy from the sun and the rain. He also used it as a water bucket and for whipping his horse. He also used it at night as a pillow.

Well, which Orange, Dys. I happen to know there are 4 of them.

http://www.civilization.ca/hist/hats/sp08eng.html

personally i wear this hat made by Renagade Hats of Texas in a light gray color:

History of the Cowboy Hat

This is close to the hat I wear

Sorry, I don't like hats. Don't even wear 'em in the dead of winter. Just quirky that way. I do, however, wear baseball hats or pillbox-style chef hats while working, for pure neccesity.

Usually don't wear hats, but since I recently had my eye operation, and need to protect my eyes from the Florida sun, I wear my www.able2Know hat!

I dont wear hats either - they make me look funny - plus I need to show my gorgeous, lush, silken, black locks

Except when I am in Eastern Europe during the winters - at those times the only part of my body which is visible are my eyes !

here I am in my Sunday go to meeting hat:

My gambling hat:

Hats with high crowns and broad brims were in use long before the discovery of the New World. Hats were both utilitarian and a fashion statement. A peasant farmer's hat kept the sun from burning his face and neck, and slowed heat loss from the head on colder days. The cavalier wore hats very similar to those used by those engaged in the cattle business.

The first "cowboys" were the Spanish/Mexican/Indian herders of the Southwest and Texas. The Spanish were well established in New Mexico before the beginning of the 18th century, and by the beginning of the 19th century (when Anglos first began showing up int the region) had developed a thriving cattle business. The vaqueros invented the American style of handling cattle, and taught it to the Anglos. The saddle, with it's high cantle and prominent horn, is uniquely suited for long hours on horseback working cattle with a lariat (another art developed long before "American" cowboys arrived on the scene). The hat favored by the Spanish/Mexican vaquero had a very high peaked crown with a broad brim often decorated with fancy design. The size of the largest brim was described as 30 galleon, which Americans Anglicized to 30 gallons.

The first American cowboys probably also wore the Mexican hat along with whatever broad brimmed hat they happened to have brought with them from Tennessee, or wwherever Since many of those who came early into Texas and the Southwest were from the Southern States, the broad brimmed planter's hat was especially common. These American hats tended to have lower crowns than their Mexican forerunners. After the Late Unpleasantness, uniform headgear from both Union and Confederate Armies were in common use by cowboys. In Hungary there was a popular revolutionary named Kossuth who affected a large black hat with a tall crown and a broad slouchy brim. The Kossuth style hat was extremely popular, and was in wide use throughout the American southwest during the years when cattle were king. Until the 1870's the brim more often curled upward from the front, rather than the sides of the hat.

By 1871, the hat of choice was the philadelphia produced J.B. Stetson. The "Boss" was the first model, but the "Carlsbad" (second model) was to become the general favorite and evolved into the style that today we call the "cowboy" hat.

BTW, not so long ago the term "cowboy" was not the preferred term. Ranchers insisted upon being called cattlemen, and the regular long term drover was called a "hand" who prided himself in being termed a "top hand". "Cowboy" was often the term reserved for the casual worker of cattle that drifted from one ranch job to another and generally owned little beyond his saddle.

to add to Asherman's comments, what was often called a "cowboy" under his defintion was also called a "rounder"

Well thank you to all for this fascinating bit of history. I had no idea you could transport water in cowboy hats or how they got the 10 gallon nickname.

I love hats and used to have quite the collection in my tickle trunk but alas...most were ruined or lost. My favourite is a bolero, I look damn good in them.
In Canada we have two hats we call our own.
The tuque - a close-fitting, wool hat

coincidentally the chefs hat is called a 'toque blanche'
and the mounties stetson.

Ta, Ceili

Adrian, welcome to a2k! Both you and Dys corrected me on the origin of the Stetson. He was in Central City, but the first factory was in Philly.

BTW, be sure to stay upwind of Dys when he's wearing his Sunday go to meetin' hat and other regalia. It can get pretty darn ripe.

Another Mountie picture !! <SWOON then THUD>