Ever wonder why we call every cowboy hat a "Stetson" even if it isn't one? It's like calling every tissue a Kleenex. Honestly, the John B Stetson Hat Company is basically the reason the American West looks the way it does in our heads. Without them, cowboys might still be wearing floppy wool caps or flea-infested coonskin hats.
John B. Stetson didn't just start a business; he invented a vibe that hasn't quit for over 160 years.
The Weird Way It All Started
The story is kinda wild. John B. Stetson was a guy from New Jersey who should’ve been dead by thirty. He had tuberculosis, and back in the 1860s, that was a death sentence. His doctor told him to go West for the air, basically to die somewhere scenic.
Instead of dying, he went to Colorado and started messing around with beaver fur.
He saw guys wearing heavy, smelly animal skins on their heads. They were hot, they leaked in the rain, and they looked terrible. Using a technique he learned from his dad—who was also a hatter—Stetson felted some fur into a big, durable hat with a wide brim to keep the sun off his neck. He called it the "Boss of the Plains." It was ugly. His friends laughed at him.
But then a traveler saw it, offered Stetson a five-dollar gold piece for it, and the legend was born. Stetson realized he wasn't just making a hat; he was making a tool for survival.
Why the Quality Actually Matters
Most people think a hat is just a hat. But a real Stetson is basically a piece of high-tech engineering made from biological materials. If you pick up a premium one today, you're looking at a mix of rabbit and beaver fur.
The "X" system you see on the bands? That’s not just marketing.
Back in the day, the number of X’s told you how much beaver fur was in the felt. Beaver is the gold standard because the individual hairs have tiny barbs that lock together when you hit them with hot water and pressure. It makes the hat waterproof and tough as nails.
- The Forming: They blow fur onto a giant rotating cone. It looks like a gray cloud.
- The Shrinking: They douse it in boiling water. It shrinks to a fraction of its size.
- The Pouncing: This is basically sanding the hat with fine paper to make it smooth.
- The Blocking: They use steam and wooden molds to get that specific crown shape.
It takes about four weeks to finish one hat. If you buy a cheap one, it’s probably wool. Wool is fine for a fashion statement, but if you get caught in a Texas downpour, a wool hat will turn into a wet pancake. A fur felt Stetson will literally hold water like a bucket if you turn it upside down.
The Philadelphia Empire
By the early 1900s, the John B Stetson Hat Company was a monster. They weren't in Texas yet. They were in Philadelphia, occupying a massive nine-acre campus with 25 buildings.
Stetson was a bit of a "paternalistic" boss. He hated unions, so he tried to make his workers so happy they wouldn’t want one. He built them a hospital. He gave out Christmas bonuses and shared stock. He even built a park for them. At its peak, the factory employed over 5,000 people and cranked out millions of hats a year.
It wasn't just cowboys wearing them. You had Frank Sinatra in Stetson fedoras and Winston Churchill rocking the "Open Road" style.
What Happened to the Company?
The 1960s were brutal for hat makers. JFK didn't wear a hat to his inauguration, and suddenly, every man in America decided they didn't need one either. Plus, cars had lower roofs, making tall hats a pain to wear.
The Philadelphia factory eventually shut down in 1971.
Today, the John B Stetson Hat Company doesn't actually "make" the hats in their own factory in the traditional sense. The brand is owned by a holding company, and the western hats are manufactured under license by Hatco, Inc. in Garland, Texas.
Does that mean they're fake? Not really. The Garland factory is the same place that makes Resistol hats, and they still use the old-school machines and methods. But some purists will tell you the vintage "Philly Stetsons" are the only "real" ones. Honestly, unless you're a hardcore collector, the modern ones are still the best you can get off a shelf.
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Who Wore It Best?
- Buffalo Bill Cody: Basically the company's first unofficial influencer.
- LBJ: President Lyndon B. Johnson loved the "Open Road" so much Stetson actually ran an ad campaign called "The L.B.J. Look."
- The Texas Rangers: They were the first law enforcement agency to make the Stetson part of their official uniform.
- Ronald Reagan: Often seen in a Stetson on his ranch.
How to Not Get Ripped Off
If you're looking to buy your first real Stetson, don't just grab the first thing you see on Amazon. There’s a massive range in quality.
A 6X Open Road is a great entry point. It’s classic, you can wear it with a suit or jeans, and it won't cost you a mortgage payment. But if you see a "1000X" hat, be prepared to drop a few thousand bucks. Those are usually made of pure belly beaver or even mink.
Pro Tip: Look at the sweatband. It should be high-quality leather. If it feels like plastic or cheap vinyl, you’re looking at a budget model.
Also, check the lining. A real Stetson usually has a silk or satin lining with the logo embossed in gold. It’s those little details that have kept the company alive while almost every other 19th-century hat maker disappeared.
Your Next Steps
If you're serious about getting into the Stetson world, here is what you should do:
- Check your head size: Use a soft tailor's tape measure. Wrap it around your head about a half-inch above your ears. Most Stetsons use US hat sizing (like 7 1/4), so find a conversion chart.
- Identify your face shape: Wide brims look better on larger faces; narrow brims (like the Fedora or Trilby styles) suit thinner faces.
- Visit a real hatter: If you can, go to a physical Western wear store. They can "steam" the hat to fit your head perfectly. A hat that doesn't fit right is just a headache waiting to happen.
- Invest in a brush: Buy a horsehair hat brush. Always brush counter-clockwise to keep the felt fibers laying flat.
The John B Stetson Hat Company is one of the few American icons that actually lived up to the hype. It’s a piece of history you can actually wear.