The white cowboy hat is an icon of North American Western culture and is most closely associated with the cowboys of the Old West. Here is a quick overview of the history of this fascinating and highly symbolic fashion accessory.
Importance of the white cowboy hat
Calgary, Canada has a custom of putting a white cowboy hat on each guest as the mayor warmly greets the city. (Instead of a key to the city, guests get the hat.)
It’s a picture of western hospitality and every Calgary mayor has gifted it to visiting superstars, officials and athletes since World War II.
The white cowboy hat is also a symbol of goodness in people. The hero of the western movies wears a white hat and the bad guy wears a black one.
White Cowboy Hat and PBR
Each year, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) publishes a calendar that often features their professional riders wearing white hats. The late Lane Frost loved to wear a white hat with a turkey when he rode and his best friend and fellow bull riding champion, Tuff Tedeman, often wears a white hat when he rides as well.
2009 PBR World Champion Kody Lostroh wore the white hat for many of his races in his win last season, as did two-time PBR World Champion Chris Shivers. It is a favorite accessory of bull riding gear for the bull rider as it symbolizes everything good in a western hero.
White Cowboy Hat Base
Cowboy hats were originally designed to protect ranch workers from rain and sun while working outdoors. John Batterson Stetson was the son of an American hatmaker who grew up working in the family business.
Immediately after being diagnosed with tuberculosis at a young age, he left the family business to see the Wild West before he was too ill to travel. He met gold miners, ranch hands, and cattle herders on his journey and noticed that they wore top hats, coonskin caps, derbies, and even old military caps to protect their heads from the hot sun and rain.
Using his knowledge of the hat industry, he designed a hat that had a straight-sided crown and a wide, flat brim with rounded corners. In 1865 he moved to Philadelphia where he made a hat called “Chief of the Plains”, but soon, the people he sold it to simply called it Stetson.
It was an essential piece of equipment for the working cowboy. The Stetson was a symbol of high quality and was worn by many icons of the Old West. Buffalo Bill, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, and Annie Oakley all wore Stetson hats, but it was the Lone Ranger who made the white cowboy hat famous. He was never without him as he fought bad guys and he always won. (Not a bad tradition for the hat to line up.)
