Biography
Born in Orange, New Jersey, the 7th of 12 children born to Stephen Stetson, a Hatter. As a youth, the younger Stetson worked in the hat making business with his father until John was diagnosed with tuberculosis and his doctor predicted he would have only a short time to live. Given this dire prognosis, Stetson left the hat making business to explore the American West, afraid this would be his only chance to see it. Stetson traveled to the West in the 1860s to improve his health where he met many drovers, bullwhackers and cowboys. Eying the flea-invested coonskin caps favored by many of the gold seekers, he asked himself why a fur-felt couldn be applied to a light weight, all-weather hat, suitable for the wildest weather in the West.
Until the 1860s, there was no such thing as a cowboy hat. Then John Batterson Stetson "invented," the Boss of the plains hat. It cost a whole months wages. In hot, sunny climates hats evolved to have wide brims, like sombreros. To serve the same function in this country, John Stetson invented, the cowboy hat.
Boss of the Plains
In 1865 "a time when almost everyone wore hats" Stetson moved to Philadelphia to enter the "hat-making craft he'd learned from his father" and began manufacturing hats there suited to the needs of the Westerners. Stetson made a western hat for each hat dealer in the Boss of the Plains style "he had invented," during the trek to Pike Peak. These lightweight hats were natural in color with four inch crowns and brims; a plain strap was used for the band.
It kept the sun out of your eyes and off your neck. It was an umbrella. It gave you a bucket (the crown) to water your horse and a cup (the brim) to water yourself. It made a hell of a fan, which you need sometimes for a fire but more often to shunt cows this direction or that.
Before the invention of the cowboy hat (which means before John B. Stetson came along), the cowpunchers of the plains wore castoffs of previous lives and vocations. Thanks to the time he spent with cowboys and Western settlers, he knew firsthand that they wore impractical head wear, such as coonskin caps, sea captain hats, straw hats and wool derbies.
John decided to offer people something better. Durable and well-made from waterproof felt, its high, open crown and broad rim would keep the hot sun off their faces, necks and shoulders.
The hat achieved instant popularity and was named the oss of the Plains. The first real cowboy hat. Stetson went on to build the Carlsbad, easily identified by its main crease down the front.
Buffalo Bill
His hat was called a Stetson, because he had his name John_B._Stetson_Company embossed in gold in every hatband. The Stetson soon became the most well known hat in the West. All the high crowned, wide brimmed, soft felt western hats that followed are intimately associated with the cowboy image created by Stetson.
The Stetson Cowboy hat was the symbol of the highest quality. Western icons such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, Will Rogers, Annie Oakley, Pawnee Bill, Tom Mix, and the Lone Ranger wore Stetsons. The company also made hats for law enforcement departments, such as the Texas Rangers. Stetson's Western-style hats were worn by employees of the National Park Service, U.S. Cavalry soldiers, and many U.S. Presidents.
The cowboy hat is truly an example of form following function. "Invented by John B. Stetson," today cowboy hat has remained basically unchanged in construction and design since the first one created in 1865. In addition to the cowboy hats, Stetson also made fedoras, and women's hats.
The Company
A cowboy hat really sets off a person. It tells others who you are and what you stand for. It is your statement of character.
Under Stetson's direction, The John B. Stetson Company became one of the largest hat firms in the world. Stetson hats won numerous awards, but his company grew, he "faced the challenge of developing a reliable labor force." Reportedly, "people working in the hat trade at that time tended to drift from employer to employer" and "absenteeism was rampant." Stetson, "guided by Baptist religious principles, believed that by providing for his employees he would lend stability to their lives and attract higher caliber ones." Unlike most other employers, Stetson decided to offer benefits to entice workers to stay. Stetson also made sure his employees had a clean, safe place to work, also building a hospital, a park and houses for his 5,000 employees. Stetson's unusual moves helped him build a factory in Philadelphia that grew to 25 buildings on 9 acres (36,000 m2). By 1915, nine years after Stetson's death, 5,400 employees were turning out 3.3 million hats.
Philanthropy
While Stetson profited from his business, he also wanted to give back to his community. Near the end of his life, Stetson began donating almost all of his money to charitable organizations. He built grammar and high schools and helped build colleges, including Temple and Stetson universities. He also helped establish the YMCA in Philadelphia. Stetson donated generously to DeLand University (in DeLand, Fla.), which was renamed (1889) John B. Stetson University. In 1900, Stetson created the first law school in Florida: Stetson University Law School.
John Stetson owned a mansion in DeLand where he died in 1906. The over 8,000 ft masterpiece called John B. Stetson House is a mixture of Gothic, Tudor, and Moorish styles. Stetson is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
References
Bender, Texan Bix. (1994) Hats & the cowboys who wear them ISBN 1-58685-191-8
Carlson, Laurie. (1998) Boss of the Plains, the hat that won the West ISBN 0-7894-2479-7
Manns, William. (1997) Cowboys & the Trappings of the Old West ISBN 0939549131
Reynolds, William and Rich Rand. (1995) The Cowboy Hat book ISBN 0-87905-656-8
Snyder, Jeffrey B. (1997) Stetson Hats and the John B. Stetson Company 1865-1970. ISBN 0-7643-0211-6
^ Kristin Palm. Stetson Hat Retrieved August 7, 2007.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n One Man's Crowning Glory; Top Hat: Stetson's keen marketing savvy made him "Boss Of The Plains" MICHAEL MINK. Investor's Business Daily.SECTION LEADERS & SUCCESS; NATIONAL EDITION; Pg. A03. October 12, 2004.
^ Flanagan, Mike The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Old West (1999) pg 239 ISBN 0028629450
^ Carlson, Laurie. (1998) Boss of the Plains, the hat that won the West. ISBN 0-7894-2479-7
^ Young Inventors at Work! Learning Science by Doing Science By Edwin J. C. Sobey (1999) pg 95 ISBN 067357735X
^ Snyder, Jeffrey B. (1997) Stetson Hats and the John B. Stetson Company 1865-1970. Pg 50 ISBN 0-7643-0211-6
^ Blevins, Winfred Dictionary of the American West: over 5,000 terms and expressions from Aarigaa! to Zopilote (2001) pg 370 ISBN 1570613044
^ Reynolds, William and Rich Rand (1995) The Cowboy Hat book. Pg 8 ISBN 0-87905-656-8
^ Cowboys & the Trappings of the Old West by William Manns. Pg 22 ISBN 0939549131
^ Snyder, Jeffrey B. (1997) Stetson Hats and the John B. Stetson Company 1865-1970 1997 pg5 ISBN 0-7643-0211-6
^ Reynolds, William and Rich Rand (1995) The Cowboy Hat book. Pg 8 ISBN 0-87905-656-8
^ -- Sheila Kirkpatrick Stetson exhibit at National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas
External links
Basic Information
Biography-West Laurel Hill Cemetery web site
In search of the real cowboy hat, Cowboy Chronicle April 2004 reprint, accessed online April 1, 2009.
Categories: Hat makers Hat companies Rider apparel Western wear People from Orange, New Jersey 1830 births 1906 deaths I am China Toys Suppliers writer, reports some information about body jewelry catalogs , elastic hair ties.
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