![]() However, the hat was cleaned off, and appeared to be undamaged. The hat had been exposed to ooze, mud, and plant growth. A Stetson hat was found in the wreck, which had been submerged in seawater for 14 years. The durability and water-resistance of the original Stetson obtained additional publicity in 1912, when the battleship USS Maine was raised from Havana harbor, where it had sunk in 1898. President Ronald Reagan demonstrated the popularity of the cowboy hat as a movie star, as a resident of the American west, and as a horseback rider. Stetson focused on expensive, high-quality hats that represented a real investment for the working cowboy and a statement of success for the city dweller. In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, a hat was an indispensable item in every man's wardrobe. The charisma of the West was carried back East when adventurers returned in the expensive "Boss of the plains" style hat. Stetson was the first to market the "Boss of the Plains" to cowboys, and it has remained the universal image of the American West. While only making one style of hat, they came in different qualities ranging from one-grade material at five dollars apiece to pure beaver felt hats for thirty dollars each. A plain hatband was fitted to adjust head size. These light-weight, waterproof hats were natural in color, with four-inch crowns and brims. The original " Boss of the Plains", manufactured by Stetson in 1865, was flat-brimmed, had a straight sided crown, with rounded corners. John Batterson Stetson is credited for originating the modern day American Cowboy Hat. The hats were most likely adopted from civil war era slouch hats and may have been influenced by the Mexican Vaqueros before the invention of the modern design. ![]() The working cowboy wore wide-brimmed and high-crowned hats. ![]() Ĭontrary to popular belief, it was the bowler and not the cowboy hat that was the most popular in the American West, prompting Lucius Beebe to call it "the hat that won the West". People moving West wore many styles of hat, including top hats, bowlers, Civil War headgear such as cavalry and slouch hats, and sailor hats. However, European-Americans in the Western United States originally had no standard headwear. It is not clear when the cowboy hat received its name. Hot and sunny climates inspire designs with very wide brims such as the sombrero of Mexico. The hat has a tall crown that provides insulation, and a wide brim that provides shade. The concept of a broad-brimmed hat with a high crown worn by a rider on horseback can be seen as far back as the Mongolian horsemen of the 13th century. The high-crowned, wide-brimmed, soft-felt western hats that followed are intimately associated with the cowboy image. The first western model was the open-crowned " Boss of the Plains", and after that came the front-creased Carlsbad, destined to become "the" cowboy style. The cowboy hat as known today has many antecedents to its design, including Mexican hats such as the sombrero, the various designs of wide-brimmed hat worn by farmers and stockmen in the eastern United States, as well as the designs used by the United States Cavalry. ![]() It is recognized around the world as part of Old West apparel. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the western and southern United States, western Canada and northern Mexico, with many country, regional Mexican and sertanejo music performers, and with participants in the North American rodeo circuit. The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide- brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy.
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