Western American Style – The Cowboy Hat
Most American kids in elementary school will put on a cowboy hat during some scheduled program. In a play, as a Halloween costume, a rodeo day or even show-and-tell, it is an American accessory. Its identity mostly resonates in the American West, where ranchers, cowpunchers, and presidents wear it best.
Historically this style, a wide brimmed hat with a tall crown, goes back to Mongolian horsemen in the 13th century. Mongolia, land of the horse, had riders covering their heads with this type of hat as they rode through the steppe. On the North America continent, in the 1800s, Mexican vaqueros wore sombreros, and found protection under the broad brim, and cool insulation underneath the tall crown, as they worked on ranches. The United States Calvary wore the headwear design in the 19th century. John Batterson “J.B.” Stetson, in 1865, originated the modern Western hat model we know today. His creation was called the “Boss of the Plains”.
The cowboy hat, high crowned and wide brimmed, customized by creasing the crown and folding the brim is made of fur-based felt or straw and sometimes leather. A sweat band is on the inside, and a band decorates the outside of the crown. Other embellishments are attached for a more fashionable style. The tall crown insulates, and the wide brim provides shade. As a cowboy accessory, the turn-up brim prevents hats from getting knocked off during lasso use on the ranch or at the rodeo. Styles vary by location. In the Southwest, the high crowned “10 gallon” hast provide more insulation. Picture Hoss Cartwright from Bonanza wearing this hat. In the Great Basin, buckaroos wore a “flat hat” with a wide brim, flatter crown and strings designed to keep it from flying off.
A diverse range of people wear the headgear. Western fashion, cowboy style and Hollywood mixed and created the modern Western American cowboy look. Cowboy hat fashion went from the screen to the range. To name a few wearers of the American symbol, Tom Mix, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood in the movies, Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans on television, and more recently the wonderful Kevin Costner. Texas Rangers and the Canadian Mounted Police are a few of the enforcement agencies wearing the Western look. Country singers, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, and Kacey Musgraves, all hit the stage wearing the fashion. From ranchers to movie stars and country singers, to presidents, namely, President Lyndon Johnson, President Ronald Reagan, and President George W. Bush, all have supported the time immemorial rolled broad-brimmed, tall crown, creased top hat. Lest we forget, the Winter Olympians at Lake Placid, NY, 1980, showed the world what Western cowboy hats and attire were all about as they paraded into the stadium.
https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/biodiversity/wild-horse-mongolia/horse-mongolian-culture
http://cowboyhathistory.org/
https://www.filson.com/blog/field-notes/history-of-cowboy-hat/
https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/explore/history-of-the-cowboy-hat/
https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/campfire-stories/vaqueros