Hat
In the early days of the Old West it was the bowler hat rather than the slouch hat, centercrease (derived from the army regulation Hardee hat), or sombrero that was the most popular among cowboys as it was less likely to blow out off in the wind. By the 1870s, however, the Stetson had become the most popular cowboy hat due to its use by the Union Cavalry as an alternative to the regulation blue kepi.
Stampede strings were installed to prevent the hat from being blown off when riding at speed. These long strings were usually made from leather or horsehair. Typically, the string was run half-way around the crown of a cowboy hat, and then through a hole on each side with its ends knotted and then secured under the chin or around the back of the head keeping the hat in place in windy conditions or when riding a horse.
The tall white Ten gallon hats traditionally worn by movie cowboys were of little use for the historical gunslinger as they made him an easy target, hence the preference of lawmen like Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson for low-crowned black hats.
Originally part of the traditional Plains Indian costume, coonskin caps were frequently worn by Mountain men like Davy Crockett for their warmth and durability. These were revived in the 1950s following the release of a popular Disney movie starring Fess Parker.
Read more about this topic: Western Wear
Famous quotes containing the word hat:
“It’s no go the Government grants, it’s no go the elections, Sit on your arse for fifty years and hang your hat on a pension.”
—Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)
“The hat I was married in,
will it do?
White, broad, fake flowers in a tiny array.
It’s old-fashioned, as stylish as a bedbug,
but it suits to die in something nostalgic.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I saw a guide-post surmounted by a pair of moose horns.... They are sometimes used for ornamental hat-trees, together with deer’s horns, in front entries; but ... I trust that I shall have a better excuse for killing a moose than that I may hang my hat on his horns.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)