Stetson Hat - The Stetson Hat an All American Tradition

The Stetson hat is truly an all American hat as it has become synonymous with the cowboy thanks in part to reality and to the hundreds of cowboy movies that Hollywood has produced in the last century. According to history Stetson hats were created as the result of a bet by John Batterson Stetson in 1865. The original hat was made from horse hides and featured a wide brim and a deep crown. The first cowboy hats that Stetson sold in Central City, Colorado were sold under the name "Boss of the Plains" for the hefty sum of $5.

However there are those that claim the original Stetson hat was based on the Mexican sombrero that had been around for many years. Stetson hats soon became very popular with cowboys as the brim was deep enough to carry water in either for themselves or to give their horses water when there was no river nearby.

The brim was wide enough to keep the sun out of their eyes and provide just enough shade to help them keep cool in the sweltering sun of the desert Southwest. As an added bonus the brim provided enough of a breeze to help fan their campfires to life at the end of the day to cook the evening meal.

Another traditional American hat is the Fedora hat; this hat became known as the gangster hat in the roaring 20s and 30s as gangster like Al Capone and Bugsy Segal were never seen without one perched on their heads. The Fedora features a crown with a pinched front and a wide floppy brim. The hat was named after a character in a play that ran in 1882 where the main character Princess Fedora Romazova wore a hat that looked just like it.

While not as popular as a Stetson hat, you will still see many older men wearing fedoras and Frank Sinatra wore one for years. Today these mens hats have begun to become popular as a fashion statement among many younger men and women thanks to musicians such as the members of bands like Run DMC and many Rap and Hip Hop stars are sporting them. Not only are younger men wearing them but some of the hottest young female stars have discovered them and can be seen wearing them.

While Stetson hats and fedoras are fine for some guys if you want to look very chic and in style you could choose to go with a Panama hat. This hat looks a lot like the fedora except that it is made from straw. These hats originated from Panama and were first introduced to the rest of the world during the construction of the Panama Canal. Traditionally they are made from straw that is grown on the slopes of the Andes in Ecuador. The straw must be allowed to grow for at least two and a half years before it is harvested.

Although these hats were worn by the workers building the Canal they soon found their way into the hands of those headed to California during the Gold Rush that began in 1848. Top quality Panama hats are made using Toquilla straw and can take as long as a month to make by hand. These hats can cost thousands of dollars as they are made from thousands of thread thing strands of straw woven into each hat.