The white cowboy hat is an icon of North American Western culture and is most closely associated with cowboys of the Old West. Here’s a quick overview of the history of this fascinating and highly symbolic fashion accessory.
Importance of the White Cowboy Hat
Calgary, Canada has a custom of putting a white cowboy hat on each guest as the mayor warmly greets the city. (Instead of a key to the city, guests get the hat.)
It’s a picture of Western hospitality and has been gifted to superstars, officials and visiting athletes by every Calgary mayor since World War II.
The white cowboy hat is also a symbol of goodness in people. The hero of western movies puts on a white hat and the bad guy puts on a black one.
White Cowboy Hat and the PBR
Each year, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) publishes a calendar that often features its professional bull riders wearing white hats. The late Lane Frost loved to wear a white hat with a turkey on it when he rode and his best friend and fellow champion bull rider, Tuff Tedeman, often wears a white hat when he rides as well.
2009 PBR World Champion Kody Lostroh wore the white hat for many of his races in his win last season, as did two-time PBR World Champion Chris Shivers. It is a favorite bull riding equipment accessory for the bull rider as it symbolizes all that is good in a western hero.
White cowboy hat base
Cowboy hats were originally designed to protect ranch workers from rain and sun while working outdoors. John Batterson Stetson was the son of an American hat maker who grew up working in the family business.
Immediately after being diagnosed with tuberculosis at a young age, he left the family business to see the Wild West before he became too sick to travel. He encountered gold miners, ranch hands, and cattle herders on his journey and noted that they wore top hats, coonskin caps, derbies, and even old military caps to protect their heads from the hot sun and rain.
Using his knowledge of the hat industry, he designed a hat that had a straight-sided crown and a wide, flat brim with rounded corners. In 1865 he moved to Philadelphia where he made a hat called the “Plains Chief”, but soon the people he sold it to simply called it a Stetson.
It was an essential piece of equipment for the hard-working cowboy. The Stetson was a symbol of high quality and was worn by many icons of the Old West. Buffalo Bill, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, and Annie Oakley all wore Stetson hats, but it was the Lone Ranger who made the white cowboy hat famous. He was never without it while fighting the bad guys and he always won. (Not a bad tradition for the hat to line up.)
