Cowboy hats - opinions?

[MattJH]

Disclaimer; I'm not being judgmental nor do I intend to insult anyone. This is something I've been meaning to ask since I've been reading this forum. I did search through old threads, by the way, but most had to do with cowboy boots.

According to what I know and have read, until Mr. Stetson created the Boss Of The Plains in 1865 with some fur, water, and some dexterous hands, people in the west/southwest typically wore bowlers and top hats and leftover Civil War hats, with the occasional Mexican sombrero for those closer to the border. Even the original Stetson Boss Of The Plains western hat basically looked like a bowler with a particularly wide, flat brim.

The modern cowboy hat with the triple-dent and the flamboyant side-upturned brim and the concrete-stiff felt is so... okay, I just reread the "conduct" portion of the FAQ. They're very... unseemly to me. Costume-esque, even. They look like fedoras that were left in the wrong hands, stretched to ridiculous proportions, and soaked in stiffener. The classic cowboys didn't even wear them as far as I know, so their very name is inaccurate (as are many western movies, apparently).

They just make me think of grown adults playing dress-up. They also make me think of a genre of music I'm not particularly fond of. I can't find anything about the cowboy hat, be it the hat itself or the culture it represents, that agrees with me. I'm also reminded of George Carlin's "Cowboy Hats & Cowboy Boots" bit from the Back In Town album when I see them.

The simple answer: "Well then, don't wear them!" And I know that, but that's not what this is about. I'm not looking for anybody to change my mind, necessarily, and I certainly don't want anyone to feel like they need to be on the defensive, but for those who have an opposite opinion to mine, what are your thoughts? Is it because I'm an east coast guy and I just don't "get it?" What does a cowboy hat provide you with on a practical level that can't be provided by a fedora? There are western/outback-flavored fedoras.

Eh -- maybe it really is as simple as me being an east coast guy and being biased towards the fedora. For those who live in the southwest, are cowboy hats as common as it seems? Has anyone here ever looked at a cowboy hat with covetous eyes and said to themselves "Now there's a hat I have to have and wear!"?

 

[Rick Blaine]

Reminds me of a joke I once heard

...One cowboy asks the other "why are you wearing Dockers, a ball cap and tennis shoes instead of a cowboy hat, wranglers & boots?" to which he responds "I don't wanna be mistaken for a truck driver."
All seriousness aside, my father-in-law is a lifelong westerner (Calgary AB) and he always wore either an Open Road or something similar & when I am out there I still see allot of people in the cattle industry who still wear wide brim western hats.

 

[DOUGLAS]

I have seen cowboy hats and western styles that I had to have.I would love to have some of the hats from the old cowboy films. For me it is just another style of hat. I have many cowboy hats some of which are stiff and others that are not.I don't feel as if I am wearing a costume given the right clothing they look great just like any other hat. I would much rather have a cowboy hat in the desert than a stingy brimmed fedora.
Check out GoneSolo's Stetson Open Road with the cattleman crease, It looks fantastic!

 

[Feraud]

Has anyone here ever looked at a cowboy hat with covetous eyes and said to themselves "Now there's a hat I have to have and wear!"?

I just found out a friend of mine went into business for himself.
He is selling old school kicks to the Hip Hop afficionados. Before I could comment on what kind of profit he could be pulling in, I stopped and thought about my time spent on the Lounge.

 

[BuddyJ]

As the new guy, this may be a bit brash, but I'll take a stand for the cowboy hat. I've lived in Oklahoma and Texas for the better part of my life, yet I'm originally from Seattle. The cowboy hat here is very common. Not as much as a ball cap, but I see more of them than any other type of felt.

The hats, in general are designed to be functional and aesthetically pleasing. The wide brim protects the face and directs water away from the eyes.

Like any other hat, the styles are based heavily in tradition, but they're also regional. Here in Oklahoma City, if attending the World Quarter Horse Show, or any other world western riding event, you can tell where someone is from by the shape of their hat. In some cases, you even know their position. For example, Hispanic men from the southern and southwest part of Texas wear their hats with a tall crown and the brim with two sharp creases comming from brim to the hat band. They're similar to a Stetson Sentry.

The hats with extra-high crowns and super large brims, like the 10 gal. hat variety came from showbiz. Nobody wears anything like that unless they're an entertainer or artist.

Just as a well dressed man should wear a hat, so should the well dressed cowboy. In fact, in barrel racing and many equestrian events, it is required as part of the uniform for the sport. Should a participant's hat come off during the run, they can be fined.

All in all, those wearing cowboy hats around here are no more playing dress up than many of this forum's members. For so many people, it's just part of life.

 

[deanglen]

Honest. I love these! I really do! I'm nuts.

dean

 

[Aaron Hats]

They just make me think of grown adults playing dress-up.

The same could be said about some of the clothes and hats on this board.

To each his own.

 

[MattJH]

Just as a well dressed man should wear a hat, so should the well dressed cowboy. In fact, in barrel racing and many equestrian events, it is required as part of the uniform for the sport. Should a participant's hat come off during the run, they can be fined.

All in all, those wearing cowboy hats around here are no more playing dress up than many of this forum's members. For so many people, it's just part of life.

This is exactly what I was referring to when I said I'm an east coast guy, born and bred, and that it's just a facet of American culture that I have never been exposed to on any regular basis.

I should elaborate on the "dress-up" comment. There are very few actual cowboys left -- that is to say that there aren't really any open ranges anymore. A fedora doesn't bring to mind any specific profession, to me. Just an all-around usage hat. A cowboy hat brings up a specific profession; one that is, for all intents and purposes, dead. If I'm incorrect, definitely educate me! My presumptions may be based on my own misinformation.

 

[Rick Blaine]

A Poem by Clark Crouch_Cowboy Poet

No Real Cowboys


Today there ain't no cowboys
like there used to be.
Not many who lived that life
are still here for us to see.

But there are would-be cowboys
who have never rode a steer;
they ride around in pickups
nursing their six packs of beer.

Driving their big pickup trucks...
huge old four by fours...
with rifle racks in back
and ranch signs on the doors.

These jokers wear big felt hats
with pretty factory crowns
playing lonesome cowboy songs
while they make their rounds.

They wear decorator boots
that have never seen no muck
the only dirt they've been in
is on the floorboard of the truck.

Instead of riding line,
line dancing is their game
and catching little fillies
is just not quite the same.

No, not many real cowboys
are still around to see,
would-bes have taken over
and it seems a shame to me.

 

[RBH]

A great song by Willie Nelson..

My heroes have always been cowboys

I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy,
and Lovin' the cowboy ways.
Pursuin' the life of my high-ridin' heroes,
I burned up my childhood days.
I learned of all the rules of the modern-day drifter,
Don't you hold on to nothin' too long.
Just take what you need from the ladies, then leave them,
With the words of a sad country song.
My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.

Cowboys are special with their own brand of misery,
From being alone too long.
You could die from the cold in the arms of a nightmare,
Knowin' well that your best days are gone.
Pickin' up hookers instead of my pen,
I let the words of my years fade away.
Old worn-out saddles, and 'old worn-out memories,
With no one and no place to stay.

My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.

Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.

 

[Slicksuit]

I should elaborate on the "dress-up" comment. There are very few actual cowboys left -- that is to say that there aren't really any open ranges anymore. A fedora doesn't bring to mind any specific profession, to me. Just an all-around usage hat. A cowboy hat brings up a specific profession; one that is, for all intents and purposes, dead. If I'm incorrect, definitely educate me! My presumptions may be based on my own misinformation.

I'd like to add my .02 as much as my midwestern upbringing can...

I think that maybe you're confusing the cultural image of the cowboy with the modern day version of him. A cowboy doesn't necessarily have to work on the "open range", per se. A cowboy is essentially anyone who is an animal herder, particularly horses (a wrangler specifically works with horses). Southern forum members: correct me if I'm wrong, but the rodeo circut also regards their performers as "cowboys", and it is still quite alive. Until about the 1950's, when the rodeo circut became professional, a regular, 'working' cowboy and the 'rodeo' cowboy were one in the same.

Though cattle aren't necessarily bread on an open range any more (thanks to the growth of agribusiness and mass commercialization of the food supply), it is the ideal environment to breed them. Someone has got to tend to those animals. I'm assuming that's where my ground beef for $3/lb at Kroger and my Elmer's glue comes from, at least.

And while not specifically mentioned, cowboys never got into squirmishes with Indians...that's just popular myth. The Union Army had more conflict with Native Americans than any ranch cowboy had.

Nevertheless, I can see the cowboy hat having great utilitarian value in work that deals with extended periods in the sun.

 

[Slicksuit]

By use of the term "dress up", I think you're referring to what popular culture would call the "drugstore cowboy", all hat and no cattle. Especially to us Easterners, anyone who lives in the west or southwest is esentially a cowboy when wearing boots and a hat.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

There are very few actual cowboys left

Well maybe not in Jersey, but there are vast acres across this country that are nothing like Jersey. Since I have done my fair share of cowboying, I am at a loss that such a comment would be made. Where do we think those steaks, roast and burgers come from? For information purposes there is a ranch in south Texas called the King Ranch. The 825,000 acre (3,340 km²) ranch is larger than Rhode Island and since 1853 has employed countless cowboys. To this day, King Ranch still raises cattle as well as some of the finest Quarter Horses in America ( I am a proud owner of one). When I put on my hat, I surely am not playing dress up. There is a reason for brim width, crown style as well as material that the hat is made of. Felts in the cooler months, straws in the warmer months. I do not use a calender to tell me when I wear either. Now before anyone attributes my comments, to just another Texan, I was born and my families ranches are in Mo., I spent time in Colorado and Wyoming before moving to Texas. I think it wise to know something of a subject before commenting on something that is unknown. I have never been a police officer, and am content to leave that subject to those that put their lives on the line to protect and serve. JMHO

 

[MattJH]

Well maybe not in Jersey, but there are vast acres across this country that are nothing like Jersey. Since I have done my fair share of cowboying, I am at a loss that such a comment would be made. Where do we think those steaks, roast and burgers come from? For information purposes there is a ranch in south Texas called the King Ranch. The 825,000 acre (3,340 km²) ranch is larger than Rhode Island and since 1853 has employed countless cowboys. To this day, King Ranch still raises cattle as well as some of the finest Quarter Horses in America ( I am a proud owner of one). When I put on my hat, I surely am not playing dress up. There is a reason for brim width, crown style as well as material that the hat is made of. Felts in the cooler months, straws in the warmer months. I do not use a calender to tell me when I wear either. Now before anyone attributes my comments, to just another Texan, I was born and my families ranches are in Mo., I spent time in Colorado and Wyoming before moving to Texas. I think it wise to know something of a subject before commenting on something that is unknown. I have never been a police officer, and am content to leave that subject to those that put their lives on the line to protect and serve. JMHO

Ah, I'm glad you replied! You're exactly what I'm looking for. The intent of my post was to illustrate the perception I have of cowboy hats with the limited knowledge I have and to seek understanding and education, not to condemn or ridicule. A previous poster mentioned a "drugstore cowboy" and that is, in fact, what I'm talking about.

What I did not know is that there still is an actual cowboy profession that exists. My ignorance of the topic is not out of purpose or intent, but out of a genuine lack of exposure.

I definitely welcome and encourage more replies like this one from folks in the south who have a direct tie into southern/western/cowboy culture and can comment more on my potential misconceptions of what the cowboy hat is for and about.

To be quite honest, up until now it was relegated to "Halloween costume" in my mental rolodex. I'm sure this can be understood within context; I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA and still live within 10 minutes of it. The only horses you see are the ones that lead the carriage tour rides throughout the historic sections of the city.

 

[Haversack]

Plenty of folks here in the western US wear what might be called "cowboy hats" but aren't involved with animal husbandry. Call it a "western hat" if you will, it makes a great deal of sense if you have to spend any length of time outdoors. Stop in any number of diners around 7:30 AM on a Saturday in California towns like Salinas, or Alturas, or Ukiah and I can pretty much guarantee you will men wearing a straw or felt cowboy hats at breakfast with their wives. Judging by the wear on their boots and the attached prod-spurs some of them sport, there might even be a few actual cowboys there as well.

Haversack.

 

[Hamandbacon]

Maybe no "open range" but still pretty close!!

Certainly there is no longer a true "open range," but anyone who has ever visited the rural midwest (Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, etc.) will tell you of the vast farms, miles and miles from any population centers, where farmers and ranchers work the land and animals, still. Boy, I can almost taste one of those fresh 20+ oz. steaks from there

Anyway, hats serve a very practical purpose when working in the rain, sun or snow, when there are no shades or trees around for protection.

:eusa_clap RBH, You are definitely correct, Bob Wills is the King of Western Swing!! I thought I was the only Texas Playboys fan around.

 

[tonyb]

If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that Western hats far outsell "dress" hats (fedoras, homburgs) here in the USA. I've never lived on the East Coast, Dumbjaw, but I can tell you that out west it's a whole lot easier to find a place that sells cowboy hats than one that sells fedoras. (And even those few places that sell lots of dress hats also sell cowboy hats, but vice-versa ain't so.)

 

[jkingrph]

Methinks if you were to look around this great country, you would find "real cowboys" in places you never dreamed. Florida has a huge cattle industry, hence cowboys. A few years ago I stayed with some real cowboys in west central Mississippi in the dead of winter. When one very cold, wet morning they went to move cattle to a more protected area, the dress was traditional as to what you think, boots, spurs, heavy dusters to protect from wind, chaps, and last but not least, a well worn western hat.
After fedor's went out of style in early 60's, my father as a buisnessman in northeast Louisiana switched to westerns and stuck with them until he died about 7 years ago. Thats the reason I got started with westerns and only recently have developed an interest in the fedora. In those days and areas a nice western was and is considered as dressy as a fedora.

If you look around this country there are many places where people work cattle off horses, probably the best place for western hats in all weather. They are better than fedoras for many trades working in the weather, so I consider them a modern workingmans hat, some plain and down to earth, some fancy, Myself, I prefer a mid grade of a nice stiff felt, stiff enough the brim holds up when it gets wet.

Jeff

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

I'm a native New Mexican. I lived most of my life in Texas until moving to Southcentral PA. Down there, whether it's big-city Houston or way-out-west Midland; whether you are a banker or a rough-neck - everyone has a starched pair of Wranglers, a pair of Tony Lamas of Justin ropers and a Stetson or a Resistol in the closet to look smart at the stock show and rodeo each year. To some it was "dressing up" but to others, like me, it's daily attire. It's more a cultural thing down there. I think Bud and RBH will agree with me. I wear my Open Road with a Alpine/Cattleman's crease and the front brim turned down, ala fedora-style.

There's a book by David Stocklein

www.thestoeckleincollection.com/item--The-Cowboy-Hat--BK-30031.html

It may give you some of the information on the origins and mystique of the cowboy hat. I recommend it to everyone.

One other thing - on a nice summer evening, run on down to Pilesgrove, NJ between the end of May through the end of September. I think ya'll will be very surprised to see how many cowboys show up in NJ for the Cowtown Rodeo every Saturday night.

 

[Russ]

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it was that John Stetson invented that didn't exist before. Wide brim felt hats had been worn around the world since at least the Cavaliers, and even in the west, there already were lots of felt hats with fairly wide brims such as the slouch hats from the Civil war. True, a lot of cowboys were still wearing their small brim city hats when Stetson came along and woke them up.

The cowboy hat of the 19th century was not as extreme as the ones we see today. Those big fancy hats first appeared in movies. But they became widely accepted and could be found on the heads of real cowboys everywhere. Thus they became the genuine cowboy hat style of the 20th century.