Cowboys Did Not Wear Cowboy Hats - Here's What They Really Wore
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- It's widely believed that cowboys of the Wild West wore Stetson cowboy hats, but they did not. In this video, I reveal the hat they actually wore, along with where the myth that they wore what we call cowboy hats came from.
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You are largely right with what you say. For the Wild West era, cowboys along with those in the West would have mostly worn a mixture of Derby hats/bowler hats, along with Mexican sombreros and hats styled along those lines rather than the atypical cowboy hat as we know it. The historical evidence including the picture evidence, and sales evidence, does back this up.
Though to the common eye, some may argue that a version of the cowboy hat was around and prevalent, most of these are typically sombreros, along with other hats that had been styled along those lines, where the ends have been turned up through personal styling by the owner, or through age and use.
Of interest, the reason people began wearing sombreros so much, and began more personal stylings, and the reason there was an explosion during this era in creating new hats styled along the lines of a sombrero, was because of the inadequacies of the bowler/Derby hat for the West.
For example, the reason the Derby/bowler hat was so popular in the Wild West era was because it was created at the perfect time, in 1849, not because it was perfect for the West. The moment it went into production, it exploded in popularity amongst the working classes everywhere across the Anglo world and Europe simply because of its robustness. The first version of it, the Coke hat, was actually made for a rich aristocrat's coachmen, and it was made specifically to stay on their heads while driving the coaches and riding horses, and to protect their heads from overhead branches.
Sounds perfect for the West, right. On every level but one it is. It doesn't provide good protection from the sun. But people didn't know this to begin with which is why when everyone started moving west into the new American territories, they brought their bowler/Derby hats with them. This is why they were really common amongst rail workers, coach workers, stage workers et cetera, and cowboys. It was mostly working-class folks who wore them (at least in the beginning, rich folk caught onto the trend a little later), which is why when the mass immigration took place, they took their bowler/Derby hats with them.
Of course, over time as the inadequacy of the bowler/Derby hat to protect from the sun became clear, first Mexican sombreros started to grow in popularity amongst settlers. Then second, lots of people started creating new hats styled along the lines of Mexican sombreros. One of these was the boss of the plains hat, but none of these really became overly popular until pretty much the end of the Wild West era.
Though I think it's important to add the rest of Lucius Beebee's statement about the Bowler Hat as the hat that won the West, he made clear that the bowler hat was the most popular throughout the West by a good distance, but he also added that:
"Only a very small fraction of the population of the West, and that largely in Texas and concerned with ranching, wore a Stetson or other variety of shade hat.”
The link if you're interested:
bellatory.com/fashion-industry/The-Bowler-Hat
This is why largely in Texas today, it is the Stetson a.k.a. cowboy hat that is the most popular. It is in Texas where the rise of the cowboy hat began, it started with Union cavalry members like you say, along with fellow cowboys and ranchers. The union cavalry members started in forage hats, before moving to the Stetson, the Cowboys would have started in bowler hats, top hats, other European styled wide brimmed hats, before progressing to sombreros, and eventually Stetson's.
But yes, what you're saying is largely right, and the reason the bowler hat and the Mexican sombrero were the most popular during the Wild West era, even among cowboys in Texas, is mainly because they were the hats most popular and most widely available at the time, and it took time to create new hats that were better suited for the new territories - and of course for fashions to change.
Great video, I never knew about the Union cavalry story, that was extremely interesting, thanks for sharing it!
Thanks! And you are right, it is likely the inadequacy of the bowler hat along with other European-styled wide-brimmed hats that led to the rise in the popularity of the sombrero among settlers, and the eventual rise of the cowboy hat as we know it. After all, it was the inadequacy of the forage hat that led the Union cavalry members to start preferring the Stetson alternative.
In a way, the rise of the cowboy hat is a perfect example of a culture adapting to a new territory. They entered it with the tools for the world they came from, and over time, they replaced those tools with more adequate tools for the new world they had entered.
The speed with which it happened, over several or so decades, is perhaps an example of just how fast humans are to adapt and innovate so that they gain the tools to thrive in any new environment.
That's a very interesting and valuable piece, you did. I user to do Civil War reenacting, years ago, and some of the hats we used, were bowler/derby hats. The cavalry stetsons, I think came after the Civil War, mostly for cavalry units, obviously. A lot of your cowboys kept them, and eventually others started buying them, directly from Stetson...
The Stetson and the Conestoga wagon developed apace, and in the same area. Pennsylvania. Americans started migrating West in the 1840s.
Yeah…that is for the over long unnecessary correction. Everyone hates a smart ass.
the indigenous women of bolivia rock their bowlers with elan - viva las cholitas!
My dad, long passed, was a tough, kind man, and a true Texan. He wore the same tan Stetson for many years until one day it just disappeared. That bothered him a lot, but he never bought another. One day he was driving down the road and saw little four year old Joey out in his yard on a stick horse , with some boots on and dad’s Stetson bouncing around on his head. I suggested he could walk over and get his hat, but he told me he could never take a cowboy hat from a four year old. Joey is well into his fifties now, still cowboy to the bone, and cried at my father’s funeral. That’s a true cowboy story.
Amazing story, Doug, thanks for sharing!
@@TabascosK9Academy I never thought about it like that😂. The little fella sure had good taste in hats.
Whatever hat a cowboy wore, was a cowboy hat
I just did a quick web search of early western photographs and there are many photos of wide brimmed hats dating back to the 1870- 1860’s Many are taken on the range showing working men and pioneers wearing hybrid sombrero style hats with stylized brims and very tall crowns down to short ones. Stetson may have standardized the look in 1865 but the wide brim hat designed to protect from sun and rain can be traced back centuries.
Correct.
In fact, you can find the wide brimmed hats commonly worn at least as far back as the 1830s.
Yes, there were. The US calvary campaign hat was very popular style in working hats.
We have to make a difference here between people riding and people working on the ground. Riders were wearing the Bowler hat, because it is protective headgear with its hart felt. It even was invented in 1849 for exactly that reason.
CAVALRY@@christineweiler-allen8448
Confederate cavalry and raiders used wide-brimmed hats and brought those west with them. There are plenty of civil war photos where you can see those hats. Many of them looked unique because they were likely one-off products.
You need to be careful using old photographs. They were mostly posed. Thus the subjects would be in their best clothes. Not their daily wear.
100%
Exactly so
OTOH sometimes it's backwards. The white sheet outfit the KKK is known for was invented for a movie.
You gotta take into consideration that cowboys were working men of very little means, and probably were working in their old best clothes. Some of the young men that used to work for me would show up in some pretty fancy work clothes to do some pretty rough work, because they only spent their money on clothes that they could impress girls in.
Posed, yes. Candid, not so much.
You reasoning that the photographic evidence backs your point is like looking at wedding and prom pictures and deducing that all men in 70s wore white tuxedos and pink ruffly shirts to work.
Hey hey hey now....
back off my white tuxedo and disco shirts now.
Very interesting history... However, I'm wondering if the studios photos of "Wild West" personages (especially the Cassidy & Kid gang) were wearing bowlers because it was a special occasion and their wanted to look fancy, and so they chose bowlers. In most photos of cowboys *in the field,* so to speak, where they are doing their day-to-day *work,* they ARE NOT wearing bowlers!
Thanks for the comment, very much appreciated! You may find the following article of interest, it provides more detail on what is being said, so it covers cowboys in the field:
medium.com/p/c3354c67b55c
Thanks again for the comment!
@@TheKnowledgeofEverything0013 Yes, also interesting, but I doubt very much Buffalo Bill Cody and his comrades on the Pony Express wore bowlers. Stetsons and the Army's slouch hats, which may have been their inspiration are just more practical for the conditions on the plains.
@@WarDog793 They would have worn whatever hat they had available that they thought was most suitable for what they were doing. Hats during that era were very much for functional use first, at least for the everyday person.
The point of the video is merely to highlight that the most commonly worn across the board during the archetypical years of the Wild West, so the 1860s/1870s, were bowler hats and Mexican sombreros, not cowboy hats, which didn't technically exist at the time. At least not in the way we think of them today, so as the hat defined by the Stetson of the of the early to mid 20th century.
You're not wrong about Buffalo Bill, he was very much a showman and would wear the most striking outfits he could. Though I do believe he used to dress up as a Mexican Vaqueros, sombrero styled hat in all, in his most famous act, the one where he would kill the leader of Cheyyene. Legend has it I believe, that before the actual fight where he actually killed Yellow Hand, so the real-life fight that he based his performance on, before it took place the legend is he got changed out of his army outfit and into his showman outfit.
Just a random fact, but anyway, thanks again for the comment!
If you look at photos of the men building the railway/railroads in the USA during the 19th century the mostly wore flat caps of various styles common in Europe at the time the odd top hat often hard worn and bowlers.
Check out slouch hats and Boss of the Plains hats for cowboys at work on the trail or drives. Bowlers were more for townsfolks or for cowboys at the end of a cattle drive as they would provide little protection from the elements or sun while out on the plains.
There is an episode of Rawhide where Rowdy Yates buys a new suit and bowler with his pay at the end of the drive. I believe this is where the rumours that Clint Eastwood was Stan Laurels son began.
@@mikesaunders4775 They even got that wrong.
Clint Eastwood is really Oliver Hardy's son!
The Clint Eastwood pic you kept showing, if memory serves, he's wearing a "plantation hat", which is from the antebellum South. And plenty of southerners went west and further south into Mexico
1:35 -- close, but no kewpie. Stetson and Resistol hats were common in movies because, during the silent era, most of the cowboys WERE cowboys, straight off of the range, and these hats had become popular years earlier. They were derived from Hardee hats worn by some soldiers as early as the 1850s.
The cowboys brought their own clothes (and hats) with them, usually their saddles, sometimes even their horses and guns, and hung out in what was known as "Gower Gulch," near the studios. Assistant directors and casting managers would drive over there and just hire however many they needed for the film being shot. They would ride over to the studio, work for a day or two, then go back to hang out again. Thus, the big hats became a common -- even expected -- identification of who the cowboys were in films.
As these became the stereotype, wardrobe departments found that it was cheap and easy to turn an extra into a cowboy by simply putting them "in a 5-cent bandanna, under a 5-dollar hat." That cemented the image.
Interestingly, many of the cowboys were from the South, the sons of former Confederates, and they wore grey hats -- which showed as white to the camera. The blue hats worn by the Union looked black. Thus the "good guys" were the Confederates and the bad guys wore the Union Army color!
Fascinating, thanks for sharing!
Yes, '...in movies because, during the silent era, most of the cowboys WERE cowboys, straight off of the range...' - ie At the very end of the cowboy era, wasn't that what the narrator said? The photography shows us they wore cook, or 'HW Bowler ' hats!
Damn right they were the good guys! 🤠
Well the further west you get from the Mississippi Hmm? Could it be there not many trees to be under and out of the sun?
Let see was a army hat good protection from the sun in Ft Irwin?
There wasn't any particular look in the Wild West. It was just wear what you had and what you had, depends on where you were from.
You are both right and wrong. Before the Cowboys, even the Mountain Men wore Cowboy hats....as well as other types of hats. "Cowboy hats" as we know them were around and very popular, as well as Top Hats, Boulder Derby hats, and many others. It's a hat, not a uniform.
Most people who wore "cowboy" hats were farmers (sod busters) and not cowboys (ranchers or cowpokes)
Work out west outdoors in the sun and weather and see if a bowler hat would do.
'Bowler hats', not Boulder.
@@kayzuber6204 lmao talk and type is bad for people from the south. 🤪
I liked Hoss Cartwright's ( Dan Blocker) hat in Bonanza .
Hoss wore a sugar lough. This is more to form of what cowboys were wearing then.
Big dude, big...hat. Fun fact, my dad was friends with Dan Blocker when I was growing up. In the early 1960's, he was a guest at one of the folks Christmas parties. Very nice gentleman, but sadly he didn't show up in a hat. 😢
It was called a ten gallon hat. Dan Blocker was a Math teacher in Odessa Texas before he started acting. I went to the school where he taught.
All you have to do is look at Old West photographs. Slouch hats were popular too and the wide-brimmed range hat.
Sombrero
@@rentatrip1videos Those too. The photographs show several styles of hats, including sombreros. Some famous photos of Texas Rangers show them wearing slouch hats and range hats and these are very common.
John Wayne and Clint Eastwood in a bowler hat just doesn’t hack it.
Haha you're not wrong, they certainly made the right choice with the movies!
People wore what they had, and what was available. A wide brimmed Mexican hat makes perfect sense for sun protection. Bowlers were common so of course they show up. What people now don’t realize is clothes were really expensive and you took care of things and wore them for years. Hats especially - felted from animal fur and built to last. A change in circumstance that puts a man in a new place riding cattle doesn’t mean he runs out for a hat.
The sombrero could easily be trimmed back on the brim and modified so you have no idea what it's a regional hat was I'm sure there's plenty of that going on
My grandfather worked as a ranch hand in Wyoming in the 1890's. His description of ranch life was very different than what was in the movies. The "cow boys" were really boys most were in their teens. The pay was bad the housing was bad, you could watch the snow in bed through the gaps in the bunkhouse wood walls. English was not spoken on the ranches he worked on. Most of the hands spoke Volga German or Spanish. No kid could afford a gun if someone had a pistol, they stuffed it done the front of their Overalls, No kid could afford a pair of Spanish riding boots as what he called cowboy boots, They wore work boots. My grandfather laughed at the old cowboy movies from the the 30's and 40's He said they were so far from reality that it was laughable. The hats were called sombreros and protected you from the harsh sun while working in the beet fields or working cattle. the little money the boys made working cattle was given to their parents until they turned 21 as was the custom.
Thanks for sharing, Tom, truly appreciated, fascinating information! I’ve heard before how tough the role was, and how poorly paid, but the way you described it there really puts it into perspective how tough it truly was!
On a side note, the poor pay was why Stetsons were not common among them, they were an expensive hat! Crazy how different reality is compared to how it is often painted!
although not wrong there is a lot more to consider. Many soldiers continued wearing the civil war hats and the mail order market was going crazy. Stetson from NJ (worked in his father's hat shop Orange NJ) had so much interest in his designs that he opened a factory in Philly PA in 1865.
There are many old west photo collections showing men wearing several styles of hats, with few sombreros and bowlers.
You are correct, though bowler hats and Mexican sombreros were the most popular over the duration of the era, they of course were not the only hats, far from it, which is perhaps not surprising how long the period lasted for. For example, the Stetson itself first emerged in 1865 I believe. Also, there were many variations of the sombrero, along with top hats and variations of that, along with much more. I would imagine before the industrial revolution really took off, the variation would have been greater still. So yeah, even though the consensus is that bowler hats and sombreros were the most popular, they were far from the only hats. Thanks for the comment!
@@TheKnowledgeofEverything0013 The bowler was obviously not popular with cowboys. Stetson was not the only manufacturer of wide brimmed hats. Look at the photos and admit your error. The picture of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch was while they were spending their ill-gotten gains in a city. They wouldn't dress like that on the trail. Bat Masterson was a dude, not a cowboy. If you study all of the wild west photos available, you will see that you are wrong.
You do realise that photography wasn't invented until 1816, and it wasn't in widespread use until the 1900s, even then it wasn't much used until much later in the period due to costs involved, which means photographs are not really much use for understanding the Wild West era…
Also, you do realise this is not my opinion, it is historians who report that the hat of choice was the bowler hat, check the reference list attached to the video. And they base it on evidence, widespread evidence, visuals included, but also including from authors and writers of the time. For example, Lucius Beebe, an early 20th-century writer, reported that the bowler hat was the hat that won the West.
But anyway, yeah, if you wish to argue that the bowler hat was not the most popular hat, you need to argue that point to historians and writers from the 1800s, who say that it was based on the evidence. If you wish to, that is of course your prerogative, but I didn't make this video to challenge the consensus, I made it to report on it.
Thanks again for your comments :-)
@@TheKnowledgeofEverything0013 photography became popular after the Crimean war. It was widespread in the US prior to the Civil War. You cited no historical documents to bolster your claim. Louis Beebe was a journalist, born in 1909 who wrote an editorial in October 1957 "The Hat That Won The West." He could hardly be considered a contemporary of the wild west cowboys. The editorial is his opinion. In it he claims Billy the Kid wore a bowler. In the only surviving photograph of The Kid, he is not wearing a bowler.
Photography didn't become popular amongst the general population outside of the odd portrait until taking pictures became simple, and cameras became affordable to the general population. Before that it was mainly the press who took pictures, along with pro portrait photographers, even then, as pictures were expensive they were not used widely back then.
You may find this link of interest:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography#:~:text=In%20July%201888%20Eastman's%20Kodak,introduction%20of%20the%20Kodak%20Brownie.
Regarding your other points, like I say, check out the reference list for the video, you will find historians' report that the visual, documented and physical evidence shows bowler hats and Sombrero-styled hats were most popular. You may also find these of interest:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_hat#:~:text=Contrary%20to%20popular%20belief%2C%20it,brimmed%20and%20high%2Dcrowned%20hats.
stageswest.com/blog/myths-about-western-wear/
For Wikipedia, remember to check out the reference lists used, as provide more detailed histories.
Thanks again, and I get the feeling we will have to agree to disagree on this!
Stetson, an eastern hatter, made himself a felt hat when visiting the west in 1865. A cowboy Stetson met on the way home liked the hat and bought it for $5. Stetson saw a market for this hat and started making them and shipping them west when he got home. Thus was born the cowboy hat.
Thus you are wrong.
Article from the American Cowboy Museum:
The hat is possibly the most defining staple of the cowboy’s iconic image. The round, curved brim and pinched crown has made the cowboy hat the most recognized piece of Western wear, but it didn’t always have this look.
John B. Stetson, a famous hat manufacturer from Philadelphia created the “Boss of the Plains” hat in 1865. By today’s standards, the hat was rather ordinary in design, with a round flat brim and smooth, rounded crown. Stetson made the hat out of fine fur from beaver, rabbit and other small animals to withstand the elements. Thanks to its durability, the “Boss of the Plains” was ideal for the demands of the working Westerner and became incredibly popular.
Over time, the cowboy hat underwent changes in shape to better suit the needs of its owner and evolved into the form we are more familiar with today. The brim curved up on the sides to stay out of the way of a rope, and the crown became pinched to allow better control.
Today the cowboy hat has become as much a part of fashion as it is function. Adorned by cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo athletes, musicians and movie stars alike, the cowboy hat is a truly traditional item of the West.
For more information on the cowboy hat, visit the National Cowboy Gallery.
Thanks, Stetson called his hat The Boss Of The Plains
@@Plasmastorm73_n5evv "cowboy hats" are pretty ordinary when they're first made. The crease in the crown and curve of the brim are added later
@@user-jb9jr4yk3o I'll go you even one better, how many pictures of 19th century WORKING MEN wearing derbys? Vast majority of them are wearing some sort of wide brimmed hat or a cap of some sort
All because of that cowboy who liked the hat... .
Same with the holster, the fast draw holster was invented in the thirties. Hand guns were carried in in a military stile holster, or in the belt. Hickok carried in a sash.
Actually in the pants not the belt. It isn't secure in the belt.
Barrel lengths on the Colt SAA were wrongly depicted in Hollywood films also. The 7 1/2 inch Calvary model looks impressive on screen, but is difficult to draw quickly. Colt made a model with a 4 3/4 inch barrel called "The Gunfighter" that was quicker to get on target.
Sales of Texas Stetsons surged during the TV series Dallas with Larry Hagman.
You're only going from pictures. People wore "Their Sunday Best" for pictures as they were much harder to do then, and very much a special occasion.
truth hurts huh?
Yep. The wide brim hats and boots were for WORK. Out doors work. Miners wore what we'd call caps, as did railroad men, who mostly rode in trains between cities. Stuck on a horse, or behind them, you'd need the protection afforded by a wide brim and a tall crown.
Most genuine old West pictures were carefully posed often with props supplied by the camera man, including hats and guns. You can only be wearing the wrong hat if you can identify the exact year the person is supposed to be from and then can decide if the hat is in some way anachronistic. I think it's a safe bet people would wear military surplus hats simply for reasons of economy if nothing else.
No unless firmly ensconced in their own heartland they would have been unlikely to wear say old civil war kepis and cavalry hats as it would identify their position on the war even many many years after a confederate hat could still cause ire to the northern troops and vice versa. Sombereros of differeing shapeas and heights were popular as they were cheap and offered a wider spread of shade to both rider and his horse.
Spend an afternoon on horseback out in the Sonoran/Mojave desert and you will understand why the Sombrero became popular.. I bet.
"Hollywood" and historical accuracy has never been a thing... only by coincidence.
This nothing new. The Knights, like the ones described in popular knight-novels never existed. Their mith was created at the very end of their time, when both, heavy cavalery and feudalism were on their decline.
If a damsel in distress was found by a medieval feudal heavy-cavalery noble, and his entourage they usually were r*ped by them instead of saved. Honor was a good thing....if you could use it for your advantage, and if not it was quikly dismised.
The medieval chieftains were certainly a ruthless pack of "mafia-bosses" (above all the ones between the years 600 and 1000) who would have laughed their asses off at how they were depicted some 400 years later........
The same applies to the samurias. Their legend was forged when they had already transformed into a burocratic class at the service of the japanese empire.
The ACTUALL Samurais, the ones that lived in the sengoku-period did NOT commit "sepukku" if they found themselves on the losing side of a battle. They retreated and lived to fight for another day. And if they had to swindle to win a fight or a battle (or change sides in the middle of it), they had no problem with it. Honor? The surviver is the one that decides whats honorable and what not! They would also have been suprised if they could read about al the rules and precepts their decendants asigned them to have followed.......
So you see, Hollywood is not the first to "bend" the truth.......
It's sad that a kid's show, The Apple Dumpling Gang, had one of the most accurate variety of hats worn in the wild west for motion pictures.
Well the bigger the brim the more protection from weather. Then In town or corting small brim.
The Wasey Hat had a very wide brim.
If you are a true cowboy, riding the range behind cattle, you want a hat that covers your ears to avoid sunburn. hence a wide brim would be essential.
Again and again, it seems that notions established in movies become conflated with actual history. Thanks for the interesting content
My pleasure! Thanks for watching!
Cowboys in general weren't fashion conscious or into wearing uniforms. They would wear whatever they had if it worked for them. Most cowboys wore clothes not very different from work clothes worn by farms and ranch hands in other parts of the country. Certain things like chaps were adopted to meet certain needs like riding through brush. Many cowboys in Texas were Mexican and brought cultural things like sombreros with them. Many cowboys after the Civil War were former soldiers who went west and used their old Army uniform hats. Few of them chose their work clothes to make themselves "look like a cowboy".
Very true, great comment! I believe of the estimated 40,000 cowboys during the peak years of the Wild West, as many as 40% were believed to be Mexican or Mexican American. That’s one of the reasons Sombreros were so popular among cowboys!
So, Wild Bill Hickok must not have been a slave to fashion, as he wore a very wide brimmed hat cocked to one side, very ahead of its time. The photo of Butch and Sundance et al, showed them in their Sunday best and fashionable bowler hats, taken in the late 1890's, I believe. The Wild West was almost gone by then. I honestly dont remember seeing old phoyos of actual cowboys on the ranch wearing bowlers while herding cattle. Just my observations.
I think perhaps you have missed the point of this short history. It's looking at the most popular during the archetypical Wild West era, so the 1870s/1880s, while highlighting that the Stetson, which defined the atypical cowboy hat as we know it, was not around at that time - at least not in the form that we know it today. Even in the form it was around, so the boss of the plains hat, it was not greatly popular at the time. It did not become popular until the era was passed, and it didn't take the form we know as the atypical cowboy hat, until later still.
It has to be remembered that the "cowboy hat" is a specific hat, so it is a style of hat, and that styling was not popular during the Wild West era - which is the point. But there were a lot of hats around during the era, widebrimmed, narrow brimmed, everywhere in between. In fact, there were more variations of hats and stylings back then arguably than there are now, simply because mass production was not as widespread as it is now. So there were a lot of small hat makers making hats to go with medium-sized businesses, and then the most popular ones.
If you want to see some of the stylings from the times, you may find these links of interest:
www.photosmadeperfect.com/Genealogy_%20Corner/Photo%20Dating%20Page%20Top%20pg/AAMens%20Fashions%20Page.htm
www.pinterest.com/pin/victorian-mens-hats-top-hats-bowlers-western-hats-in-2023--537476536792399522/
www.kathrynj.shop/ProductDetail.aspx?iid=725363705&pr=27.88
The above of course barely touches the edges of the number of hats available, especially once you add the mass migration to America that took place from Europe, with all the different hat styles they brought with them. The steampunk hat and the variations of it, along with top hats, would also have been popular.
A crazy fact to add, most people had more than one hat. For example, in the summer people would wear straw hats, but they would move to felt in the winter. They would also have different hats for different places and occasions. A bit like we have different outfits for different places and occasions.
It's often forgotten that people always wore hats back then, so even working-class people had a mixture of different hats for different occasions and environments.
The beaver felt trade even nearly caused beavers to go extinct due to the beaver fur hat becoming so popular for a period due to the warmth they brought in Winters!
But anyway, hope that all makes sense! The bowler hat and the Sombrero were merely the hats most widely owned and preferred during the said era for cowboys. They would have obviously not been the only hats, not even close, and even those who wore them, would have had other hats to go with them.
None of the people you mentioned were cowboys. Cowboys are the men who worked cattle. Hence the name - cow boy.
@@gusmonster59 So, did "cowboys" wear bowler hats?
The Stetson must have gained some ground in the west by 1880 as the company moved from New Jersey to St Joseph Missouri. One early purchaser who took advantage of this company move was Jesse James.
@@mikesaunders4775 indeed they did, they became especially popular among well to do folk in Texas.
It’s often forgotten how expensive Stetsons were, $5 for an entry level version Boss of the Plains, $100 plus in today’s money. $30 for a top level, $600/$700 in todays money. Way out of reach for most folk, especially cowboys.
But this helped make them quite a prestigious hat, though due to being felt rather than straw they weren’t much good as a working hat, at least for the sunny plains!
But anyway, their popularity among the well to do in Texas added to the campaign hat really boosted the brand throughout the 1870s which allowed them to enter mass production by the mid 1880s.
Stetsons are for cold weather. Straw hats are for the hot desert.
Hat blanks was pretty prevalent. Round crown big brim. Mtn men also wore the hat blanks.
Bowler hats make the wearer look like a dandified fancy-boy. I'm glad Hollywood substituted the Stetson.
Gangs in New York wore bowler hats and and they scared Davy Crockett on his visit to the 5 Points at night.
Most of this is click bait.
And when you say: That's what Hollywood does..., that's just foolishness and ignorance.
There are films, we will talk westerns, that were very actuate. In fact, some of them were
made by the people who actually did the things depicted. For example. Emmett Dalton of the
Dalton gang was a movie actor! He was shot 23 times and tried to rescue his brother, Bob,
at the Coffeeville robbery. The 3 Guardsmen of Oklahoma actually starred in and shot a film!
THE PASSING OF THE OKLAHOMA OUTLAWS...1915. Starred the men that had killed most
of the Doolin gang, including Bill Doolin, himself. Henry Star, who told of the Hanging Judge,
was also a movie star. Arkansas Bill, appeared in a movie. Their are many different aspects
to "Hollywood". Which you would have known had you done your research. And by the way
there are plenty of cowboys in cowboy hats. See...Deadwood Dick, for example.
Or even Bass Reeves.
Both north and south during The Great Unpleasntness wore, i believe it was called the Hardy Hat, when they could get away with it. Grant and others were photographed with them, pre-stetson. Ben franklins hat was often picted as similar to the original stetson, and similar to the cavaliers hats of even earlier. Bowlers and "top hats" were eastern style, long before bat masterson went west, and were considered high fashion. Sombrero simply means, loosely, shadow-maker, and wasent always tourist-trap huge with curledup brim, sequins, and dingleballs. The tricorn and bicorn hats, u.s.revolutionary war and nelson-napoleon, were felt, like the musketeer and cavalier hat, but pinched up to keep from sagging down like a hillbilly hat what done losst its fancy flatbrimmin shape.
I've seen it explained that the bi- and tri-corner hats were basically pinned back so weapons could be shouldered w/o knocking the hat off. It doesn't take much imagination that everything derives from a slouch hat of some sort which has probably existed since the material like felt could be manufactured. eg, someone could style their own Fedora if they so wished.
first time I have ever heard of the civil war, a war of great savagery and loss, described as "the great unpleasantness".as if it were only a passing bad smell.
@@richardelliott8352my first few times running across the term, were from suthinnahs, (where many called it the war of northern agression). I have heard it used in reference to the revolutionary war, too, by some british types. aint history crazy!.
I can't agree. Just have a look on civil war era photographs. There is a wide variety of headgear. A lot soldiers choose civilian hats, but these were not bowler hats, but most often wider brimmed ones. BTW, your sample photos doesn't show cowboys in their working dress. The regulation full dress headgear of the army in the 1860ies were neither forage caps nor Stetsons, but Hardee hats. Later there were newer variations of field hats plus civilian purchased ones, mostly wide brims. So to speak, with an enormous spread of former soldiers after the civil war they took their common style of headgear with them to any corner of society.
It depends on what period of time in the West you are specifically talking about. The problem with western movies is that they treat the entire period between 1865 to 1890 as one period when actually there was a lot of technological and cultural progress then, even in the west. The guns used by the military and by the citizens were changing rapidly. The lever actions and the revolvers went through several model design changes but Hollywood mixes them up without thought about when the movie actually takes place. The same thing with hats. The most iconic hat from the real west was the Stetson Boss of the Plains hat that cowboys began to treasure by the 1880s. They were great for cattle drives because they were durable, could serve as a water bucket, and protected the cowboys from the elements. But, they did not have the distinctive rolls and creases that you see in the movies. Another thing is that trouser belts and belt loops were not a thing at all during most of the western period. Suspenders were used to hold up pants and belts were used without loops only to hold gun holsters and sword sheaths. Hollywood isn't the only industry to blame. This cultural vision of the west started in the early 1900s with the Wild West shows that travelled around the world that told stories form the West but the fashions were changed and glamorized to attract crowds. Hollywood just picked up the entertainment trends and moved on with them.
Great comment, thanks for sharing! The Wild West stage shows certainly played a big hand in things, especially for the depictions of the Native Americans!
Not to mention that Western Clothing was nothing more than Victorian Era Clothing not the type of Western Clothing that Clint Eastwood & John Wayne wore their clothing was nothing more than modern Western Clothing.
To be fair, in the bowler hat pictures everyone is in a suit. Getting your photo taken was a big deal back then. I wonder if the men wrestling cattle or making their way across the desert wore something that would keep the sun off…
Thanks for the comment, a great question, you may find the following article of interest as it looks into that question:
medium.com/p/c3354c67b55c
Thanks again for the comment!
The cowboys of Florida were called cowhunters, not because they shot the cattle, but because you had to seek your cattle in a jungle. There are still cattle ranches like that in my county in Florida. But the hats of the cowhunters looked like fedoras.
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for that info. I never knew that. What perplexes me is that modern day cowboys will hardly ever be seen outside their homes not wearing their Stetsons or straw hats, blue jeans, cowboy boots and large belt buckles, even if they are riding a bicycle or shopping in a store. It seems to have become a uniform for them. A friend of mine in high school always wore a cowboy hat and boots, and he grew up in suburbia! Perhaps he was a cowboy in a past life. I own a Stetson, but have never worn it. It's just symbolic for what I always wanted to do, and that is to become a rancher or a farmer. Many of my relatives are real countryfied and wear cowboy gear. One of my cousins grew up in suburbia just like me and she now owns a horse riding and training business in Colorado. It's a totally different culture than what I grew up with. My mom and dad grew up on a farm, but my dad always wore a fedora, which was the same style hat that male actors wore in the old movies of the 1930s thru the 1960s. He wore a fedora years after they totally went out of style! My mom liked to wear a straw hat.
Fascinating info, Bob, it is amazing how it has almost become like a uniform. Originally, people just wore the best functional options of what they had available. That's why sombreros, for their extremely wide brims, and bowler hats, for their hard hat capabilities, were used so widely.
Fascinating about your family, thanks for sharing!
No problem. I always find an excuse to write about something. Since you mentioned sombreros, I'll have to admit that I have a sombrero that was given to my mom. I inherited it after she passed. It's hanging on the wall. I don't own a bowler hat though, but I do have an old WW1 army helmet that I bought in a thrift store. I wish that I knew the name of the soldier that wore it. I know that I sort of went off topic, but your video just got me thinking. Thanks for your reply. I liked your channel and subbed. Cheers 🪖🤠 @@TheKnowledgeofEverything0013
@@Bob_C That's very cool about the sombrero, and especially the World War I helmet. It would be amazing to know who it belonged to, the story of it, as I bet it must have some history to it!
And thanks very much for the sub, great to hear you like my channel! Hopefully you'll enjoy future videos! :-)
No. Bowlers were the most common hat, but most people lived in towns. People in towns didn't need the wide brim, so they wore bowlers, top hats, john bulls, etc. Those who worked outside wore wide brimmed hats, when they could afford them. You also are only telling such a shallow version of the history, which is more vast than you know. There were very few 'cowboys'. There were more miners (who didn't need wide brimmed hats) and farmers (who DID wear wide brimmed hats). But there were bankers, merchants, saloon keeps, accountants, executives, etc. who were townies and wore town clothes, including narrow brimmed hats.
When one had one's picture taken, there was a variety of wardrobe options and props to use. A bowler looked better than a weathered wide brimmed hat, so even 'cowboys' who came into town and were photographed chose bowlers to present a better appearance to the folks back home, to the photographic record is skewed.
Very lame and shallow video.
He is less knowledgeable than he likes to think.
Most of the time, Hollywood couldn't be bothered to get the right guns in their westerns either.
A real bowler hat was formed from felt pressed to a thickness of about 1/4 of an inch. It was that era's equivalent of a safety helmet and in many a police report was crediting with saving the life of the hat wearer from a swing of a lead pipe. A real lead pipe made of lead metal, readily available and silent if dropped, fairly soft and malleable.
Fascinating info, Lynn! Thanks for sharing!
1. Outlaws were not "cowboys." 2. Men often duded-up for photos. 3. Spend a day or three in the western sun or rain testing your bowler hat theory.
They also didn't wear the kind of gun slinger holsters that drop off a belt that Hollywood portrays
Probably the best depiction in a TV series of the hats worn during that era was in Deadwood. Not a Stetson was seen.
The hat makers suffered temporary insanity from the chemicals they were exposed to. Especially stove-top and bowler hats.
hence the madhatter
The bicorn hat a century long popularity among eastern emigrants (1790-1890). With the brim unbuttoned, it has a resemblance to the modern cowboy hat. Mountain man Jim Bridger and the Wyoming Territory Justice of the Peace, George Nighy, preferred the colonial wool Bicorn unbuttoned as it did not allow the rain to travel down the back of the neck and provided superior cover for the eyes and face. The ability of the brim to be buttoned out of the way was a bonus. However, when Nighy travelled to New York and Washington, his Lakota friends were eager for him to bring back gifts of Bowlers.
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing!
so the accurate hat is what Stan and Ollie wore! Now there's an interesting concept!
Of course cowboys wore cowboy hats! The fact that cowboys wore hats, made them defacto "cowboy hats."
Cowboys didn't wear bowler hats; they were much more likely to wear sombreros or ten gallon hats, or types of hat in between. Townspeople wore bowler hats.
The costume for the Man With No Name series was bought at a sporting goods store.
How mad, I didn’t know that! Thanks for sharing!
You can't really base a certitude on studio photos of the period, they were often contrived & of course, the paying sitters wanted to look their best. Also urban Victorian gentlemen didn't wear the same head attire as a cow puncher out on the plains.
Outdoor photographs of real cowboys at work & indeed paintings by such artists as Frederic Remington, who often painted in situ, show that "cowboys" wore a variation of hats, not many bowlers/derbys but which we would recognize today as being "cowboy hats;"
One thing is sure though, the wide selection of styles/creases available today, cattleman, Gus, Montana, teardrop, etc. are 20th century creations but back in the day, hats were sold open crown & developed shapes of their own from handling & the weather, which to modern eyes, appear mis-shapen & cowboy hat wearing folk today will only want to wear a specific style & not let it do it's own thing. Also modern felt is far inferior to felt of the late 19th century which affects how a hat behaves but that is another story.
There's a museum in Coffeeville Kansas. You can see items from the bank robbers there including the hats they wore. It's nothing like what you see on TV.
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing! I’ve not been to Kansas but it’s a place I’d love to see one day, if I make it there will make certain to check it out as sounds super interesting!
I suggest we look more to paintings and sketches of the era than photographs. Photography at the time tended to be more staged than candid.
I don't know what's worse, finding out that cowboys didn't wear Stetsons or that there is no Santa. 😭
😂
Hold on a minute ....... what's this about Santa ?? 😮
During the American Civil war & before the slouch hat , a flat/round crown, various length brims were the most common form of headgear for those who spent most of their time out in the elements. It was a necessity to cover a persons head from rain, wind, sun etc., something a bowler or top hat or cap, did do somewhat,but Not to the extent needed. Look at photos of captured confederates at Gettysburg for example. Kepis and bummers(a larger version of a kepi) were often standard issue, but as the war progressed, they were increasingly of poorer quality often falling apart after the first good rainstorm. Even a good quality cap of this type wouldnt shield a person from the elements very satisfactory. Although still issued as part of regulation uniform, it was generally delegated to dress occasions, parades, inspections by visiting upper echelons of officers, government officials, politicians or special guests Or soldiers on garrison duties in & around the forts or bases.
Finding out Iron Eyes Cody was Italian just about killed me.
I’m blaming Wyatt Earp he was hired by movie studios to give specialist advice on the Wild West.
The "American" cowboy has always wanted to disassociate from the Mexican sombrero......... You can appreciate its modification on the 10 gallon hat. Funny how this lifestyle is from the Spanish/Mexican but the some cowboys of today look down on those that started this culture.
Boss of the Plains was designed in 1865, and it was popular by 1870. It remained popular until around 1900. The cowboy hat we know today was invented in the 1920s for Hollywood. I believe you have your dates different than most sources I've seen.
Hi, you are correct, the Boss of the Plains was invented in 1865. However, the entry-level cost was $5, which in today's money, would be over a hundred dollars. A top-level one, so one made of the best materials, cost as much as $30, which in today's money, would be as much as $600/$700.
The only people who could really afford them were well-to-do folk, which is why it became popular in Texas mainly among such folk - so the well-to-do folk. But it was not really popular outside of them, and in a way that makes sense why.
For example, working cowboys, so cowhands, typically only earned between $20/$30 a month. Even if they were highly experienced, the highest they could expect to earn was $40 a month. But for most, it would be $20/$30.
Considering how much the Stetson hat at the time cost, it was simply out of reach for them. The brand obviously got a big boost when it was selected as a campaign hat by the military in the 1870s, which is why you would see it amongst Union Cavalry members.
But on the whole, it didn't really become properly popular outside of mainly Texas well-to-do folks until the 1890s, mainly because it didn't go into mass production and so become more affordable until the mid-1880s. So the rise of the Stetson to the most popular hat was a slow one but once it did take off in the 1890s, it really took off and by the early 1900s, Stetson hats were by far the most popular hats.
Hope that makes sense! Thanks for the comment!
On the flip side we native Americans wore eagle feathers not painted turkey shame on Hollywood for these inaccuracies
On the other hand we didn't wear wigs are drums didn't sound like that and those whooping sounds I hope you realize I'm not really serious I like to joke around a lot I don't want to offend anyone
Stetson made the bowler/derby hat. In those days, bowler/derby hats were sometimes just called Stetsons.
Your focus on bowler hats is out of context. Bowler hats, or 'derbys', were a dress hat or town hat, and the Wild bunch photo you shared was taken when they were flush with cash after a robbery and wanted to look fashionable and prosperous. Cowboys, scouts, Buffalo hunters etc, wore broad brimmed hats, for protection from rain and sun. A narrow brimmed hat is useless in the rain. There are thousands of photos of western men, Texas rangers, cowboys, scouts, teamsters etc, wearing broad brimmed 'cowboy' hats. Where Hollywood screws up, is in the styling of hats, which as you pointed out, was all too often in the current popular style. Mexican Sombreros were used in the southwest, Judge Bean for instance wore one, but the hats north of the Rio grande generally weren't as wide or tall as the Mexican ones. Anglos were more than just a little prejudiced against Mexicans. By the way, Daniel Boone wore broad brimmed felt hats, and he was not a cowboy. Young cowboys starting out wore whatever they had, hats and footwear, but if they stuck to the profession, fashion and practicality lead to highbheeled boots and broad brimmed hats. I cowboyed for 28 years, and can attest to the usefulness of a broad brimmed felt hat for work.
My 2 cents.
Hey thanks for the fascinating comment, great stuff, much appreciated! You may find the following article of interest, it may better help explain where this video is coming from, and what is being said in regards the bowler hat:
medium.com/the-knowledge-of-everything/cowboys-from-the-wild-west-did-not-wear-cowboy-hats-here-is-what-they-really-wore-c3354c67b55c
Thanks again!
We learned how to be cowboys from the Spanish/Mexicans, they ran the desert southwest long before the other Europeans showed up on the scene. Many things picked up from them.
Cowboy hats, as we know them today, are functional. At least for cowboys.
The different styles are for the different weather you will encounter in different parts of the country. The hat protected you from sun, wind, rain, etc. The brim acts as a rain gutter channeling the rain down your back because you are probably wearing a raincoat.
If a cowboy wanted to look nice, say for a date, he wouldn't wear the cowboy hat because it wasn't seen as a style, it was seen as workwear. He would wear the bowler. That is why you see cowboys from the old west wearing bowlers.
I doubt you will ever find a cowboy working and wearing a bowler.
Bowlers just don't seem to convey the romance of the Wild West.
Neither does the mud, lice and lack of bathing. The real world is very much unromantic.
They say "you learn somethin NEW everyday". Well I'm 75 and just had my day's dose of learning something new. Thank you for that interesting history lesson.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!
I've heard the movie "tombstone" with Val Kilmer has period accurate hats. I've also read the bowler was designed so it wouldn't blow off your head in a wind, so it's seems natural a guy on horseback would like that.
....that is why Cowboy Hats and Mexican Hats have chin straps 🙄
The wide brimmed "slouch" hat was common in the west outside of settled areas, like towns. It probably evolved from something like the Mexican sombrero, but it was worn well before Pancho Villa showed up in 1916. The pictures you display of the seated men all bedecked in caplock revolvers were of soldiers in the Civil War period, and the Southern man's hat is typical of homespun cavalry getups. Masterson dressed like that in town, he was a town marshal after all, but that's not what he was wearing when he and Billy Dixon fought Quanah Parker's Comanches at Adobe Walls in 1874. The Picture of the Wild Bunch was taken on about 1900, in a large city (hence the dude outfits) and this picture was the beginning of the end of Cassidy and his gang. Prior to that picture, nobody outside of the criminal element in Wyoming knew what these guys looked like. After that Pinkerton agent and law enforcement knew who to look for.
But thanks for playing.
Maybe... That Wild Bunch photo is in Ft Worth TX, and they put on city clothes for portraits
The Bowler hat, AKA the Coke hat, was originally designed to protect the heads of men on horseback. Very popular amongst working men in the late 19th century.
The stereotypical "cowboy look" with stetson, boots, waistcoat and chaps, which became the default outfit in movies for decades, actually had a stranger origin.
The American movie industry started in New York, but quickly transferred to California. To save money, when producers needed extras for some sort of western movie, they would hire local men who would come dressed as they were. Being California, these were typically cowboys who dressed in the Spanish style, harking back to when California had been part of Mexico. There are parts of Spain where you can still see the same type of outfit at important events, including the ornate saddles.
The other issue is with guns. Pistols and rifles were extremely expensive compared to the wages of Vaqueros, so few men had them. Arguments would be settled with fists or knives. Equally, if cowboys went into town, the usual drink was beer.
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing!
Post 1865, it was not the Union Cavalry... it was the US Cavalry.
Fair comment, you are indeed correct, a slip of the tongue on my part! Thanks for watching, and for the comment!
In the old west, a hat was worn to keep the sun and weather off of you, not so much to water your horse.......a stupid idea.
And they did not wear gun holsters either...
They wore a hat called a Champie, a sombrero sized hat. They also wore wide brim straw hats. Sun was a huge issue for cowhands and Vaqueros.
Why Mexican sombreros? Because they shelter a lot from the baking sun of the summer and yet more in a desert. From Texas to California, that is the weather and geography, plus the territory used to belong to Mexico...
That's exactly it, great comment!
My DAD was a “cowboy” when he lived in Oklahoma and he always wore a STETSON HAT ! He bought a NEW STETSON HAT EACH SPRING WORE IT ALL SUMMER AND WINTER ! He also worked on DAIRY FARMS ! He always wore his old STETSON HAT ! 🙀👵🏻😱🖖🏼👽🐲👍🏻🗳️💙👍🏻🇺🇸👍🏻
The traditional bowler hat was actually a form of helmet providing head protection against strikes. I've seen demonstrations of their toughness where a man can stand on the hat without it collapsing. Not as good as wider brim types against sun light but they did originate in a cooler climate (weaker sun) part of the globe after all.
Vaqueros were the original cowboys, with the original cowboy hats. Vaqueros were herders and ranchers of the Spanish horse loving culture, beginning during the time of the Renaissance. They began roaming in the Americas a century before the Mayflower; from the tip of South America to the southwest up to Oregon. Cowboy is a direct translation of the Spanish "vaquero". Vaca is cow in Spanish. Vaqueros wore big straight sombreros (leather hats); not as big as the current popular Mexican sombrero, nor as curved at the edges. They also wore a bandana over the head and under the hat. All the cowboy culture as we know it came from the Spanish Vaqueros many centuries ago, and 100 years before Shakespear. Hollywood did a great job in omitting the Spanish Vaqueros, and instead they romanticized synthetic characters and at the same time made everybody else, including the vaqueros, look like dirty greasy bandits from south of the border.
They wore whatever they could get their hands on.
Another thing that Hollywood gets wrong is the tumbleweed (Russian thistle). Imported accidentally from Russia (of course) into the Dakotas around 1890, they didn’t really spread throughout the West until around 1900. So for most of the era when Western stories took place, they didn’t exist. But they DID exist in the areas used as sets for Western movies when Western movies started being filmed, so movie makers turned them into a cultural icon of the Wild West era. There was even AT LEAST one song written for an actor playing the part of a Wild West character in the 1870s or 1880s to sing, “Drifting Along Like the Tumbling Tumbleweed,” a simile that would have been unknown to anyone in the ACTUAL Wild West!
I didn't know that, thanks for sharing, Allan, fascinating stuff!
Cowboys of the Wild West wore whatever hat they wanted. USA use to be free.
The curl on the side of the hat came from where you grabbed your hat , thus the Spanish/mexican hat began to appear like the modern cowboy hat.
Seeking a wider brim was sought early on to prevent more sun off your face
Hats came in many size brims
Most people in the Victorian age wore Victorian clothes!
Stetsons came in about the same time as the "gun fighting era". Most cowboy movies depict the same era. The problem is I didn't see one cowboy in your whole film except the Mexican in a sombrero. Do you think those businessmen in bowlers were cowboys? How about Butch Cassidy and the wild bunch? Do you think cowboys wore suits? If you want to know what cowboys wore in the old west you need to start by looking at pictures of cowboys. I've studied the old west most of my life and I don't ever remember seeing a cowboy wear a bowler. So I just googled for old west cowboys wearing bowler hats and did not see one. Cowboys were typically poor and could not afford a suit or the bowlers that went with them.
And bowler didn't start until 1849. That's only 22 years before stetson. And please don't insult any more cowboys by confusing them with businessmen or outlaws.
Hi, thanks for the comment, during the wild West cowboys were not typically referred to as cowboys, they referred to as cowhands or stockmen. It was typically outlaws and thugs that were referred to as cowboys.
You may find this video of interest, it covers the subject:
th-cam.com/video/aPmsGXcFXMY/w-d-xo.html
The Hollywood version of the cowboy was of course the lawman.
During the peak Wild West years, so the 1860s and 1870s, just running into the 1880s i.e. the years of the great cattle runs, the most prevalent hat for cowhands and stockmen would have been Mexican sombreros, mainly because about 40 percent of cowhands were Mexican/Mexican-American and so descended from vaqueros. Another 25 percent were believed to be black.
Anyway, when you add it all together, the most common working hat would have likely been Mexican sombreros. Of course there are not many pictures from this period, mainly because photography was not yet prevalent, and cowhands were not seen as important enough to photograph in great numbers, which is why you don't see great deals of pictures of Mexican/Mexican-American and black cowhands.
Regarding the bowler hat, if they could afford it, as it was the stylish at the time, they probably would have purchased one for everyday use and town use.
In terms of the people who were referred to as cowboys at the time, so thugs and outlaws, a very common hat was a bowler hat because of course they wanted to look good, which can be seen from the picture of the Wild Bunch shared in this video.
The Hollywood version of the cowboy of course is the lawman, and lawman at this time tended to wear bowler hats.
Of course there were very large number of hats available at this time, which is why pictures show such a crazy variety, but the most common hat west of the Mississippi River during the peak Wild West years, was the bowler hat. And for cowboys, the working cowboy i.e. cowhands, it was the Mexican sombreros for work, and perhaps if they could afford it, bowlers for town use, and for the thug and outlaw, along with lawmen, it was the bowler hat.
Hope that makes sense!
The original Stetson would have been available after 1865, and it would have looked like the one Festus Haggen wore: high crown, rounded, no steamed-in shape in the crown or brim.
Even then, at $5.00 a pop (nearly $100.00 in today-dollars,) they would not have been everyday hats for most people: too expensive.
Great comment, Melissa, very true! It’s often forgotten how expensive the original Stetsons were, that’s why they only really became popular among the more well to do folk, like Ranch owners. The top of the range Stetsons back then, so ones made of the best available materials, cost as much as $30, so between $600 and $700 in todays money! It was only in the late 1880s after they had gone into mass production that prices started to be more affordable.
Another thing is that bowler hats were often varnished which essentially made it into a hard hat, good for both head protection and as a weapon.
Very true, great comment. That’s one of the reasons they were so popular among railroad workers, the hard hat level protection they provided!
Actually the derby was far more popular in the US than the bowler. The difference is the width of the brim, the derby's brim is wider and flatter than that of the bowler
This is actually a common misconception. The Derby hat name came into being off the back of the Kentucky Derby, the first one which was launched in 1875. Basically, everyone turned up to the Kentucky Derby, especially the aristocracy, in their bowler hats. Gradually over time, this led to the bowler hat in America becoming nicknamed the Derby hat, but they are actually the same hat.
In today's world, you could argue that there are differences between the Derby hat and the bowler hat simply due to design differences based on the offering of the bowler hat in America, more commonly called the Derby hat, and the bowler hat in Britain, but the reality is, they are in effect still the same hat.
Hope that makes sense, thanks for the comment!
Being a man from the city who invested in a ranch in the bad lands going to work there after a heart breaking tragedy on Valentine's day wearing a bowler hat and doing the work of a ranch hand slowly earning the respect of cowboys by just being motivated to do the work becoming sheriff of a county of north Dakota dealing with criminals with bounty on their head coming back to the city finding out the country is in a war joining the Navy becoming a secretary of the Navy asking for a greater responsibility being sent to the frontlines to lead a cavalry going over that mountain with fear in your heart but too much honor to turn back from the fire being shot off your horse being over the ridge firing from the ground with your issued rifle dying in a far off country from your home.
99% of men would trade their desk job for that.
I need some damn honor.
Buried in your boots a bowler hat on your head no-one showed to your funeral and that's fine you don't need to be remembered.
The 1850s Plug hat was worn as well. I never really thought of why the Kepi cap wasn't more seen due to so many remaining (on both sides) after the Civil War. Thanks 👍.
My pleasure, glad you liked the video! Crazy fact, the name plug hat was also used to relate to the bowler hat, top hat and similar styled hats!
The only problem with your comment about the military wearing Stetson hats is that the only military personnel who could officially wear them were officers. The rank and file wore Kepis. Later in the 1800’s they wore campaign hats, and did so into WW1.
No, the Hardee hat (which the Stetson was patterned after) was official service and dress uniform wear for all ranks, including enlisted. The kepi was part of the fatigue uniform. It was considered more comfortable than the service hat, so was more popular with enlisted infantry troops. After Hardee returned to the South in 1861, the Confederacy adopted grey Hardee hats as the service hat.
When Hollywood started making westerns, there were still a lot of cowboys around. Quite a few worked as wranglers. Hollywood copied the hats these cowboys wore, it is what people expected to see. Historical accuracy was less important than entertainment
There are lots of photos of 1880's train drives. Most show a wide range of hats.
Let's hope they will make a good wild west or why not just a west movie with not so much wild in it with the real clothes and hats for the period. It would be wonderful to see.
You forgot the slouch hat which became very popular after the Civil war.
Very true, due to wide spread use in the civil war, slouch hats were also popular along with forage hats!
Thanks for the comment!
Cowboy culture came from the Gauchos and Vaqueros which has been around long before the USA existed. So their style of hat was introduced way before the calvary wore them. Different styles of hats were worn by people in the west. Bowlers were popular in towns and for fancy dress, Chinese miners mainly wore coolie hats and Cowboys wore wide brimed hat to protect them from the weather. There was a crossover on who wore what style. Fun fact the cowboy 10 gallon hat was a mispronunciation of the Spanish word galon which referred to the band around the hat. Basically it ment a fancy hat.
A few years ago I went to King Ranch in Kingsville, TX. I got to see a few modern cowboys working with the cows: riding pick up trucks and wearing baseball caps. 🤠
Nice, shows you how the times change!
Yes. Wide a brim hat can be a bit of a pain when getting in and out of a vehicle all day.
Here in cattle country we have multiple "cowboy" hats. You got your clean, white, starched dress hat. Then you got your go-to-the-club hat. Clean, with a rolled brim and some feathers, snake skin, or a medallion. You got your ridin' with friends hat. Simple, maybe a bit wore, but clean. Then you got your daily driver. Stained, maybe straw, maybe an old leather strap around the brim. You really should replace it, but it 4:56 stays on your head when the wind blows or the horse bucks.
Sombreros ( a work hat) and bowlers ( not a work hat, but a dress hat) were common in the 19th century. However, those were not the only styles available. If you bought a new work hat, it would have had a large flat brim and a rounded crown. This is a hat blank. A basic starting point. People would shape their own hats to suit their personal style.
One needs only to look at old photographs to see a wide variety of head wear of which many might be described as a cowboy hat. The styles in the movies are not entirely accurate, but not impossible either.
Thanks for the comment! Regarding the bowler hat, a common misconception is that it was a dress hat, it was originally very much a work hat, and was originally designed to be worn by the Earl of Leicester's gamekeepers and coachmen to protect their heads. This is why it became the hat of the working man during the Victorian era, it was extremely robust, and stayed on your head. It only became a predominantly dress hat later.
You may find the following article of interest:
medium.com/p/c3354c67b55c
Also, you are right, there were certainly other types of hats available, in fact, there were more hats available back then arguably than there are today simply due to the lack of a global fashion industry.
Thanks again for the comment!