Stetson's Hats For Western Wednesday...!

Ever wonder about the fashion of the old west? Not sure if you could call it fashion exactly, but you know what I mean.

Some things are easy to remember, though. Take someone like John Stetson and his line of hats!

The Original Cowboy Hat Looked Very Different

Photo credit: Wikimedia

John B. Stetson came from a long line of hatters, and when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he headed westward in the 1860s. After setting up shop in Missouri, Stetson created the original cowboy hat: the Boss of the Plains hat.

It looks little like what we might imagine for the typical cowboy hat, with a round brim and uncreased crown. Originally made from beaver fur and designed to be lightweight and waterproof, it was not until the Boss of the Plains hat was already popular that it began to morph into something closer to the 10-gallon hats we think of today.
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Wearers in different areas started customizing their hats, and the creases and folds of the hats developed into their own sort of language. They defined status, occupation, and where a person was from, until Stetson adopted the five most popular creases into his official line.

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of hat history from the early days of the old west.

Coffee inside again this morning. This record setting heat is something else!