Stetson still the hat of the American West

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2006

DALLAS, United States (AFP) — Few icons are as American as the cowboy hat: grandiose, utilitarian and a trademark of the West.

The king is still Stetson, the original cowboy hat, created almost 150 years ago.

Philadelphia's John B. Stetson headed west in the 1860s for health reasons. He fashioned himself a big hat to protect him from rain, sun and wind which he dubbed the "Boss of the Plains." Praised for its utility, a Stetson could pull water from a stream, fan a campfire or even provide storage.

Its earliest influence was likely the high-crown, wide-brim hat worn by Mongolian horsemen centuries ago. Spaniards wore similar head wear when they came to the New World with another indispensable cowboy accoutrement: the horse. Those hats eventually evolved into...