How Stetsons Became the Cowboy Hat Icon of the American West (2024)

By Robert Tidwell, Ph.D., Interim Helen DeVitt Jones Endowed Director of Collections, Exhibits and Research

John Batterson Stetson was born in Orange, N.J., in 1830 and was the seventh of a dozen children in his family. His father, Stephen Stetson, was a hatter and wanted John to follow in the trade. When the young man was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he was so convinced that he had a short time to live that he decided to head west while he could still enjoy that part of the nation.

Stetson moved to St. Joseph, Mo., and tried his hand at working in lumber mills and prospecting for gold. He also lived in other parts of the American West where he worked with cowboys. His background as a hatter enabled him to appreciate the various styles of men’s headwear throughout the West.

He was convinced that many of the hats worn by the working men, especially cowboys, were ill-suited for their professions. In 1865, he had an idea for a new twist on an existing hat style and moved to Philadelphia to return to the trade for which his father trained him. Inspiration for the new hat came from the Mexican sombrero, but Stetson made changes and improvements that were based on his observations of cowboys and their needs.

The First Stetson Cowboy Hat

The hat he planned to offer was made of felt rather than animal pelts, cloth or straw. The use of felt was a revolution that led to a hat that was durable, lightweight and easier to produce than hats made with other materials. The new hat had a high crown and a broad brim to provide ample shade against the sun’s burning rays.

The “Boss of the Plains,” as the hat became known, was a success not only for its design and construction but also for the novel way in which Stetson marketed and sold it. Prior to the founding of his company, Western customers usually shopped for goods through catalogs, which, at best, offered drawings of the product line. Because Stetson believed that customers made better choices if they could see and hold the hats, he offered free samples of hats for display in stores. Customers would have an opportunity to see for themselves the quality of Stetson’s hats.

Eventually, the company went one step further and developed a network of traveling salesmen who took samples to towns so the company could increase its sales and gather market research directly from customers. This effort allowed Stetson to determine if customers wanted different colors, higher or lower crowns or different size brims. As the business grew, the company automated some of the manufacturing processes to keep pace with the increasing demand for hats.

Stetson also found new ways to stimulate further demand. The company employed eye-catching advertisem*nts. Another method of attracting the attention of potential customers was visibility at fairs and expositions. He gained some of his greatest publicity from exhibits at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and the Paris Expositions of 1879, 1889 and 1900. Stetson’s hats were very popular and won many awards at these expositions and other shows. He used these honors in his advertising.

Good Product, Good Advertising, Good People

Advertising alone was not responsible for Stetson’s success. He believed in making a high-quality product for a good price. Part of his strategy was to hire and maintain the best employees that he could. A combination of automation and skilled labor helped Stetson achieve his goals.

Eventually, the John B. Stetson Co. produced products of such quality and demand that imitators appeared. It was necessary on one occasion for the company to defend its brand recognition in a lawsuit against his grand-nephew, Stephen L. Stetson, whose name was used in a competitor’s corporate name and on labels in hats. John was successful in the suit and retained name recognition and the reputation of his company. Vigorous defense of the company’s name was vital as the Stetson brand became a symbol of cowboys and the American West.

Stetson Hats—American Icons

By the early 20^th century, Stetson hats became an American icon. Some Western writers went so far as to specifically use the name Stetson when they wrote about the headgear of their cowboy heroes. In the 1920s, the editor of Munsey’s Magazine noted that authors used Stetson to denote hats in much the same way they used Colt to mean a revolver.

The name alone conjured a specific image in the minds of readers. Some writers like Clarence Mulford, author of “Hopalong Cassidy” and “Rustler’s Valley,” said that regardless of what word he used for “hat,” the Stetson was what he visualized as he wrote. Caroline Lockhart, writer of “The Lady Doctor” and “The Fighting Shepherdess,” flatly stated that her “cowboys and cowgirls all wear Stetsons.”

Writers were not alone in their appreciation of Stetson’s hats. A variety of entertainers embraced Stetson headgear and made them an essential part of their public and private wardrobes. Buffalo “Bill” Cody, Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley were among the most notable early entertainers to adopt the company’s hats and helped make them desired items of attire. The noted Western comedian and actor Will Rogers favored Stetsons as did the early Western movie star Tom Mix. Other Hollywood fans of the Stetson included John Wayne, Clayton Moore and Gene Autry. When actor Tony Curtis died in 2010, he was buried with some of his prized possessions including a Stetson hat.

Stetson hats have achieved iconic status not only on the silver screen but also in military and police units. The U.S. Army used Stetson hats for its cavalry units as early as the 1870s, and the classic blue Stetson with acorn-tipped braids remains a part of the U.S. cavalry unit uniform. During the Vietnam War, U.S. air cavalry units cherished their hats so much that there are accounts of pilots rescuing their hats from the wreckage of downed helicopters.

During the Second Boer War, the Canadian contingent shipped to South Africa wore flat-brimmed Stetson hats, which became a recognized symbol of Canada. Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have preferred the flat-brimmed Stetson hat since the formation of the North-West Mounted Police in 1873. Although there is no official uniform for Texas Rangers, many have worn Western-style Stetsons to the point that the hat has become synonymous with that elite law enforcement agency.

From humble beginnings, a lone Easterner created something that has become iconic with the frontier and ruggedness of the American West. John B. Stetson died at his winter home in DeLand, Fla., in 1906. The Stetson company continues to manufacture hats and offers many styles, but its cowboy hats remain the worldwide tangible symbol of all things Western.

This article appears in the Spring 2019 issue of the Ranch Record. Would you like to read more stories about ranching life? When you become a member of the Ranching Heritage Association,you’ll receive the award-winning Ranch Record magazine and more while supporting the legacy and preservation of our ranching heritage.Become a member today.