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couple of prototypes while voyaging out West. The had. To keep these skilled workers in his factories,
widest-brimmed model he made while out West John used pensions, shared stock, and sizable
started out as a joke, but was promptly Christmas bonuses to encourage loyalty.
bought by a passing cowboy. His factory had a library, a dentist’s office,
In 1865, now back in Philadelphia, a hospital, and an auditorium all to help
Stetson founded the John B. Stetson out his workers. He also held classes to
Company, specializing in the high-end help his largely immigrant workforce
felt hats he’d toyed with back West. gain citizenship and navigate their
His most famous model is the one seen new home.
above – the Boss of the Plains. It came
with a dome-shaped crown, which ALL DOWNHILL
called to mind the famous bowler hats
of the era, but with a far larger brim. FROM HERE
Stetson kept things simple by avoiding any The Western hat phenomenon could
preset creases or garish decorations, which only last for as long as Americans actually
would allow his customers to start wore hats. Sales of Stetson hats were strong up
with a blank slate, one that would until the Great Depression. This financial crisis
transform over time. further spurred a change in style, where folks simply didn’t
John B. wear hats in the same way. While hat-wearing picked up
Stetson Co.
JOHN B. STETSON factory, again for a time during and after World War II, the
Philadelphia, industry never recovered. Hats had once had practical
COMPANY PA, 1894 applications, especially before everyone had their own car
John Stetson sent out samples to travel in. The modern world removed much of the
of the Boss of the Plains to every inconvenience that wide-brimmed hats protected against,
Western wear retailer he could so they could now only be worn for the sake of fashion.
reach and was sure to include a After the 1971 closure of the Philadelphia factory, Stetson opened
blank order form with each sample. up shop in St. Joseph, Missouri, where coincidentally, the young John
The as-yet-unknown brand was Stetson had worked as a bricklayer before his great westward journeys
then assailed with enormous orders inspired the famous hats. The factory there stayed open until 2004, at
from every corner of the frontier. which point production moved to Texas – about 13 years before I
The Boss hat was offered in only pulled up.
two colors to start, black and a
pearl-gray white. Cowboys in A view of the factory floor of the THE STATE OF THINGS
Texas preferred the black ones Philadelphia manufacturing facility. The outlet had the crummy carpets and harsh fluorescents I’ve come
with a wider brim, while riders up to expect in the outlets and stores of the great, but maybe out-of-touch
in Montana chose the white, albeit with a narrower brim that was less American brands. I really did feel 13
likely to be swept off their heads in high winds. years too late when I arrived. A handful
By 1886, Stetson was not only a household name, but his hat brand
was the largest in the world. A fully mechanized factory took up nine of other customers were there, but I was
left alone in a cavernous part of the
acres of Philadelphia and was churning out 2 million hats a year by former factory to watch the educational
1906. Even after the West was fully won, people kept buying up VHS tape. The Stetson Outlet feels
Stetsons right and left. trapped in time, but not necessarily
John Stetson passed away in 1906, that landmark year when
production ramped up significantly. But in the years before his death, in a particularly successful era of the
company’s history.
he adopted many new modern manufacturing methods and took a Some of the older folks working at
paternal interest in his employees. Before industrialization, most the outlet had also worked at the factory
hatmakers were itinerant and remembered the years after the
workers who traveled release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the last
around the country, great rush for the factory. During a
wherever work was to be
1980s Urban Cowboy revival, the
factory had been working
round the clock, dividing
into night and day shifts.
Trend forecasters
predict an impending
cowboy-style renaissance,
and with it, John
Stetson’s great contribu-
tion. We’ll see what the
future holds. But until
then, what’s for sure is
that you’d be hard-
pressed to find someone
who makes a cowboy
hat better.

Right, From the Ray Bentley
Collection, this is an original
Alonzo Megargee, The Last Drop from his John Wayne Stetson worn in
Stetson, oil on board, c. 1922, sold for $90,000 the The Sagebrush Trail,
against an estimate of $10,000-$15,000 at Stetson advertising by noted American artist, 1933 and for sale for $5,700
Scottsdale Art Auction, LLC on August 26, 2023 Robert C. Kauffmann (1900-1999) at Buffalo Antiques

26 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles