By Penelope Morgan

There is a popular cultural comment in America: ‘It’s the last thing you take off and the first thing that is noticed.’ It here refers to the cowboy hat. Among the few things that have an extreme symbolic importance in American culture and history, the cowboy hat occupies a place of prime importance. A cowboy hat can be placed immediately in the context of Americas cultural history.

John B. Stetson created the cowboy hat. So the invention of the cowboy hat is quite new in Americas popular culture. Before this the cowpunchers in the plains were seen in second-hand items of earlier jobs and lives.

The cowboy hat is known around the globe as Old West cowboy folklore. The hat has a widespread usage. It is almost a dress code for the farm and ranch workers in western and southern United States and northern Mexico, for country-western musicians, and for those who are a part of the rodeo group in North America.

The cowboy hat is a creation that contains influences of other culturally significant attires. The form of a broad-brimmed, high crowned hat worn by horse riders is traditionally a cultural symbol of the Mexican vaquero. But the hat itself that we see today has evolved through a number of designs. There are designs like sombrero and galan. These are the kind worn by farmers and stockmen in east United States and the same is the design of the United States Cavalry.

John B. Stetson was the inventor of the cowboy hat in USA. He was also responsible for its design and marketing. He named the hat “Boss of the Plains.” Earlier the shape of the hat was directly linked to its place of origin. Once you could know the hometown of a cowboy by the crease of his hat.

The wide rim of the cowboy hat was originally intended to protect the cowboys from the rain and the sun. It was mainly functional. It could alternatively be used to send signals to others, keep a campfire burning and even draw water from a stream. The hats even today have these uses.

But, more than that it is a style statement of the Western American lifestyle. A number of elegant designs are there in soft colors like black and many shades of beige, brown and gray. There is a light fuzzy gray called silver belly. The styles are all unisex. But women can get cowboy hats at a wide range of shades, even, bright vivid colors.

The most popular attire of cult status in western clothing is the western cowboy hat. For many today, it is just another way of being fashionable. But earlier on, they had a variety of functions. It protected the cowboys from the rain and sun, kept a campfire burning, sent signals, smack a horse or give it a drink by filling up the hat with water.

Certain methods are there to maintain the hats. Keep them well to make them retain their shape and durability. While laying it for a short time, rest it upside down on the crown. You can also hang it on a hook so that it does not touch anything. For a longer time, keep it in your hatbox or fit its crown on a cardboard ring.

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