While discussing with my significant other about whether I should choose to become a professional writer, he thought of a great story that I should research and share to the world. This certain story was on the history of the infamous cowboy hat. How was this hat invented? Who was the first credited inventor of this well-known hat? Why these hats are still widely famous today? My curiosity kicked in and I started to research.
The Cowboy Hat is best known as the defining piece of attire worn by a North American Cowboy. Now a day these hats are seen on many. When you think of a cowboy hat, what do you see? I see John Wayne, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and many more. I see the Wild West that has been portrayed to me in the westerns I watched growing up. I see men in the heat, herding cattle with these hats on. I see men in the Professional Bull Riders Association, wearing these hats. When the word Cowboy Hat is said many people think different things. But in the end, it is how these hats were first seen.
During the old west cowboy days, many people have the belief that the most popular hat was the cowboy hat. But contrary to popular beliefs, the hat known as the “bowler” was most popular in the American West. The bowler hat, also known as the “Coke” hat, was originally created in 1849 for the British soldier and politician, Edward Coke. Edward requested this hard felt hat with a rounded crown, to London hat-makers, Thomas and William Bowler. The Bowler brothers’ created this hat that was worn by many known names. The bowler hat was preferred over the plain cowboy hat. Because due to the weight of the bowler, the hat wouldn’t blow off in strong winds. But the cowboy hat over-took the bowler hat with the water proof “ten-gallon” hat.
The “Ten-Gallon” hat was made famous due to the tight weave thus made it water proof. This hat was shown to be used as a bucket. In a early advertisement for the hat, there is a cowboy knelt down supplying his horse with water out of the hat. The creator of this hat is John Batterson Stetson, the same man that was credited with the invention of the first cowboy hat.
The first original cowboy hat was called “Boss of the plains.” The flat-brimmed, straight sided crown with rounded corners was first recognized in 1865. The water-resistance and durability of the original Stetson hat obtained more acknowledgment in 1912. When the battleship USS Maine was raised from the Havana Harbor; where the ship had sank in 1898, a Stetson hat was found upon the wreckage. The hat was submerged in seawater for fourteen years. This hat had been exposed to everything that you would imagine in the sea. Although when the hat was cleaned off, it had appeared to be undamaged.
The Stetson name is still being stamped inside cowboy hats today. Many other cowboy hat companies have joined the tradition of the American West. Stetson hats are still the most durable cowboy hat. The Cowboy Hat is best known as the defining piece of attire worn by a North American Cowboy.