Stetson - Mass Production

Mass Production

Stetson sent a sample hat to merchants throughout the Southwest with a letter asking for a minimum order of a dozen “Boss of the Plains” hats. The hat was an immediate success: in less than a year Stetson set up a new factory in the outskirts of Philadelphia to handle his growing business. By 1886 Stetson's hat company was the largest in the world, and had mechanized the hat-making industry ("producing close to 2 million hats a year by 1906"). The Stetson Hat Co. was sold to another hat company, but these hats still bear the Stetson name with the hats being produced in St. Louis. "Today's cowboy hat has remained basically unchanged in construction and design since the first one was created in 1865 by J.B. Stetson."

Stetson also produced “dress” hats, distinguished from “western” hats by narrower brims and shorter crowns but it was his “Boss of the Plains” style hat and its many variants which fueled the company’s growth and fame.