I learned that lesson many years ago as well, H.J. That was a primary requirement for working cowboys, which often gets overlooked by those who make western movies.
Great article on cowboy hats, Derrick! 👍 I'm not a real hat guy, having just a felt, Smokey Bear hat that's more decor than worn. My son says a modern cowboy hat lowers one's IQ by 15 points just by putting it on. 😁He may be too critical I'm thinking. But I wouldn't mind having one of those "Gus" hats these days!
I’ve know many a “cowboy,” wearing the traditional cattleman’s crease, to have little more than hair under their hat. I’ve also know many a cowboy, wearing the traditional cattleman’s crease and others, who had more horse sense and smarts than a good number of a hatless dudes.
Ain't that the truth! 👍 I've not got much hair under my hat or my do-rag, my go-to headgear these days. But I keep a wide-brimmed hat for riding the tractor and the four-wheeler these days...my dermatologist insists. 😉
My dad never left the house without a hat. He favored Stetsons and wore one all over Australia while we lived there in 1966-67. Some Aussies shouted out "Hey, LBJ!" when they saw him! He always wore his hat leaning to one side in a sort of hipster tilt. Always! Even in his WWII US Army photos, there it is, tilted! Remember when every cafe and roadhouse had hat racks? I sure do and when we entered one, off his head and onto the rack it went! I worried that someone else would grab his hat. He said nobody else wanted "his" hat because they had their own! 😄
I've got the hair, though it's turning snowy, and often cover it with the do-rag when hiking. I'm with you on the wide-brim while working outside. My grandfather, like your dad, always wore a hat but not a wide-brim one. Fair skinned, he was diagnosed with melanoma and had to have a portion of his left ear amputated. That taught me to always wear a wide-brimmed hat whenever I'm out working under the sun.
Your dad probably wore an open road Stetson, if he was called LBJ. And wearing it at a tilt tells me he was a man of style. My grandfather did exactly the same—and with a red fedora.
Hard to get more authentic than the bandit hat. Look at any old photograph of cowboys from the 1880s and nearly to a man the front brim will be folded upward. And the Josey Wales hat, well, who doesn’t love the simplicity but with a touch panache in the pencil roll?
While working, unless they were running a horse which often turned the brim up, they usually turned the brim down, to protect them from the sun. But when they went to town (and especially when they got their photo taken) they often turned the brim up and pushed the hat back on their head. I can't say for sure, but I suspect it was to see the ladies better.
Haha. I bet you’re right about that. It gets lonely out there. That’s a great breakdown, Derrick. I love Substack. You never know what you’ll learn on here. You’re running an awesome page.
This post reminds me of a great anecdote that Andrew Prine told about Slim Pickens from when they worked together on the rodeo series "The Wide Country":
"I had this brand new Stetson hat on. He said, ‘Let me have that a minute.’ I gave him my hat, and before I could say a word, he spit tobacco juice all around the hat band and rubbed it in. He said, ‘Makes it look like you’ve been to work.’ I realized that I was dealing with a man who knew what he was talking about."
The trail crew in "Red River" seemed to display about one of every style of hat you can imagine—I wonder if that's accurate, or if they would really have been more uniform in 1860s Texas? And there's some really excellent, authentic-looking costuming in "Blood on the Mood," with a lot of the higher-crowned northern hats.
Out of curiosity, where does an Open Road hat fit in and to what degree were cowboy hats different from either townie hats or farmer hats (thinking Little House on the Prairie as examples). Was there a sharp distinction or would they be more on a spectrum?
The Open Road is a modern style, created by Stetson in the 1930s. It’s a hybrid hat—a cross between the cowboy hat, in that it sports a Cattleman’s crease, and a fedora, in that it has a narrow brim. It was a style favored by Texan Lyndon B. Johnson. Concerning other types of hats worn by working cowboys of the historic West there was generally a spectrum, at least among greenhorn (newbie) cowboys. Many of them came from the farm and wore whatever kind of hat they owned—often the slouched hat (al a Little House on the Prairie), but often bought a more traditional cowboy hat in one of the cowtowns when they got paid. “Townie” type hats, like a bowler, were quickly abandoned on or before—and certainly after—trailing cattle because they were too impractical for the elements of the open range.
I bought a beaver felt hat in Montana years ago. Had them put a Gus crease in it. The salesperson told me a cowboy never lays his hat down flat but to rest it on the crown so the good luck doesn’t spill out.
I liked Robert Taylor's hat from Longmire. It always looked great even though he beat the crap out of it every 2nd or 3d episode. I like it so much I had Shorty's Caboy Hattery in Oklahoma City Stockyards make me one out of beaver. A beautiful hat that cost me so much I am reluctant to wear it except at ceremonial events which is a shame. I got to get over myself and just wear the dang thing.
I know the hat. It’s a nice one. Yours needs to be worn, no matter the cost. If it’s beaver it will clean up well and keep its shape—that is, unless you bury it in a pile of manure and drive a tractor over it.
As I learned many, many years ago, my hat needs to keep the sun off my face and the rain from running down my neck.
I learned that lesson many years ago as well, H.J. That was a primary requirement for working cowboys, which often gets overlooked by those who make western movies.
Great article on cowboy hats, Derrick! 👍 I'm not a real hat guy, having just a felt, Smokey Bear hat that's more decor than worn. My son says a modern cowboy hat lowers one's IQ by 15 points just by putting it on. 😁He may be too critical I'm thinking. But I wouldn't mind having one of those "Gus" hats these days!
I’ve know many a “cowboy,” wearing the traditional cattleman’s crease, to have little more than hair under their hat. I’ve also know many a cowboy, wearing the traditional cattleman’s crease and others, who had more horse sense and smarts than a good number of a hatless dudes.
Ain't that the truth! 👍 I've not got much hair under my hat or my do-rag, my go-to headgear these days. But I keep a wide-brimmed hat for riding the tractor and the four-wheeler these days...my dermatologist insists. 😉
My dad never left the house without a hat. He favored Stetsons and wore one all over Australia while we lived there in 1966-67. Some Aussies shouted out "Hey, LBJ!" when they saw him! He always wore his hat leaning to one side in a sort of hipster tilt. Always! Even in his WWII US Army photos, there it is, tilted! Remember when every cafe and roadhouse had hat racks? I sure do and when we entered one, off his head and onto the rack it went! I worried that someone else would grab his hat. He said nobody else wanted "his" hat because they had their own! 😄
I've got the hair, though it's turning snowy, and often cover it with the do-rag when hiking. I'm with you on the wide-brim while working outside. My grandfather, like your dad, always wore a hat but not a wide-brim one. Fair skinned, he was diagnosed with melanoma and had to have a portion of his left ear amputated. That taught me to always wear a wide-brimmed hat whenever I'm out working under the sun.
Your dad probably wore an open road Stetson, if he was called LBJ. And wearing it at a tilt tells me he was a man of style. My grandfather did exactly the same—and with a red fedora.
The old bandit hat is my favorite but the outlaw Josey Wales commands massive respect, too. Awesome post, Derrick.
Hard to get more authentic than the bandit hat. Look at any old photograph of cowboys from the 1880s and nearly to a man the front brim will be folded upward. And the Josey Wales hat, well, who doesn’t love the simplicity but with a touch panache in the pencil roll?
That’s interesting. You’d think the upturned bill would give them all sun burn. Maybe they didn’t care. Bring on the burn, damn it. Hehe.
While working, unless they were running a horse which often turned the brim up, they usually turned the brim down, to protect them from the sun. But when they went to town (and especially when they got their photo taken) they often turned the brim up and pushed the hat back on their head. I can't say for sure, but I suspect it was to see the ladies better.
Haha. I bet you’re right about that. It gets lonely out there. That’s a great breakdown, Derrick. I love Substack. You never know what you’ll learn on here. You’re running an awesome page.
Thank you so much, Parker. Glad to have you as a reader.
This post reminds me of a great anecdote that Andrew Prine told about Slim Pickens from when they worked together on the rodeo series "The Wide Country":
"I had this brand new Stetson hat on. He said, ‘Let me have that a minute.’ I gave him my hat, and before I could say a word, he spit tobacco juice all around the hat band and rubbed it in. He said, ‘Makes it look like you’ve been to work.’ I realized that I was dealing with a man who knew what he was talking about."
The trail crew in "Red River" seemed to display about one of every style of hat you can imagine—I wonder if that's accurate, or if they would really have been more uniform in 1860s Texas? And there's some really excellent, authentic-looking costuming in "Blood on the Mood," with a lot of the higher-crowned northern hats.
I’d have to go back and look at Red River, but Montgomery Cliff’s hat isn’t authentic—as I recall.
Out of curiosity, where does an Open Road hat fit in and to what degree were cowboy hats different from either townie hats or farmer hats (thinking Little House on the Prairie as examples). Was there a sharp distinction or would they be more on a spectrum?
The Open Road is a modern style, created by Stetson in the 1930s. It’s a hybrid hat—a cross between the cowboy hat, in that it sports a Cattleman’s crease, and a fedora, in that it has a narrow brim. It was a style favored by Texan Lyndon B. Johnson. Concerning other types of hats worn by working cowboys of the historic West there was generally a spectrum, at least among greenhorn (newbie) cowboys. Many of them came from the farm and wore whatever kind of hat they owned—often the slouched hat (al a Little House on the Prairie), but often bought a more traditional cowboy hat in one of the cowtowns when they got paid. “Townie” type hats, like a bowler, were quickly abandoned on or before—and certainly after—trailing cattle because they were too impractical for the elements of the open range.
Thanks. That makes sense Really appreciate your insight and writing
Great hats! ❤️😁
I bought a beaver felt hat in Montana years ago. Had them put a Gus crease in it. The salesperson told me a cowboy never lays his hat down flat but to rest it on the crown so the good luck doesn’t spill out.
Good luck is the romantic notion, not reshaping your brim is the practical notion.
Jeff Bridges’ hat in that True Grit photo deserves a shout out.
I liked Robert Taylor's hat from Longmire. It always looked great even though he beat the crap out of it every 2nd or 3d episode. I like it so much I had Shorty's Caboy Hattery in Oklahoma City Stockyards make me one out of beaver. A beautiful hat that cost me so much I am reluctant to wear it except at ceremonial events which is a shame. I got to get over myself and just wear the dang thing.
I know the hat. It’s a nice one. Yours needs to be worn, no matter the cost. If it’s beaver it will clean up well and keep its shape—that is, unless you bury it in a pile of manure and drive a tractor over it.