Book: Boss of the Plains-The Hat That Won the West

[Tango Yankee]

Found this book at the Portsmouth, OH library. It must be the definitive book on the creation of the Boss of the Plains hat and the John B. Stetson company! Not sure why it was in Youth Services... :eusa_doh: lol lol lol

I think I'll read it to my granddaughter.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[duggap]

Tango Yankee, some young librarian probably read the title and thought it was a western cowboy story. How about reporting to us if the book tells you the first year that the Boss was made. I have been trying to establish if they were used during the American civil war. I am pretty sure I saw an example of one with a Confederate uniform but I wasn't 100% sure it was a Boss of the Plains. Thanks.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Duggap,

It doesn't give the exact year the first one was made or when he started making them for sale. It does say that in 1859 he went with a group of would-be gold miners to Colorado, and while working there he decided he needed a better hat then the one he had. It also says that enroute to Colorado he amazed his fellow travellers by making felt to be stitched together to make a tent!

Not much detail, just a general story; it really is a children's book!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[K.D. Lightner]

There were hats that looked somewhat like it before the Civil War (saw a photo of someone wearing one in 1860) but it was 1865 when Stetson made his first hat , the one that became known as the Boss of the Plains.

karol

 

[Fast]

hat history

Tango Yankee, some young librarian probably read the title and thought it was a western cowboy story. How about reporting to us if the book tells you the first year that the Boss was made. I have been trying to establish if they were used during the American civil war. I am pretty sure I saw an example of one with a Confederate uniform but I wasn't 100% sure it was a Boss of the Plains. Thanks.

Got this from the Stetson site:
"Stetson History
In 1865, with $100, John B. Stetson rented a small room, bought the tools he needed, bought $10 worth of fur and the John B. Stetson Hat Company was born. A year later the "Hat of the West" or the now famous "Boss of the Plains" hat was born and the name Stetson was on its way to becoming the mark of quality, durability, innovation and beauty. " Hope that helps.

Carpe Diem
Fast

 

[deanglen]

Looks like a great book! (But the bow on the hat on the cover is on the wrong side.)

dean

 

[duggap]

Thanks guys, looks like the hat didn't get started until after 1865. Makes me wonder some as there was a hat that looked somewhat like the boss but it had about a 4 to 5 inch brim on it. I have some old pics in a book that show the hat from a distance.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

There were a number of hats cowboys wore before then, some looked like the "boss." There were plantation hats, slouch hats, bowlers, a hat called a beehive, and, of course, the original western hat, the sombrero.

This photo, shows a westerner in 1860 wearing a hat somewhat like the Boss, which probably would cause a lot of confusion as to when the original Boss was created.

http://www.curtrich.com/03.hot.jpg

Hope that displays.

karol

 

[Fast]

Maybe it's a convergence of the mexican sombrero, the southern plantation and the derby somehow meeting in the west. When you see hats in various stages of assembly or build or whatever they call it, and people generally wanting to have their stuff suit their problems, anything's possible. Oh Yeah, the cavalry hats, and some of those taken from previous european hat incarnations.

Ouch.

Carpe Diem
Fast

 

[ITG]

Ah yes, a book I used to read to my classes. A great children's book and even one for adults. I love the part where it shows Stetson making the felt.