John Batterson Stetson was born into a family of New Jersey hatters on May 5, 1830, the 8th of 12 children.
 |
| John B. Stetson's portrait, created in 1895, by Benoni Irwin |
As a youth, John Stetson learnt the hat trade, working with his father before setting out on his own. However, Stetson was diagnosed with tuberculosis and he left the hat-making business to explore the American West and seek his fortune during the gold rush.
Stetson realized the cowboys and drovers' various headgear were impractical, and he wondered whether fur-felt would work for a lightweight, all-weather hat suitable for the West.
Stetson invented and sold his first hat styled for the Wild West in Central City, Colorado. It was a broad-brimmed, high-crowned, design that he called "Boss of the Plains," and was more commonly known as the "ten-gallon cowboy hat".
The life outdoors restored Stetson, and in 1865 he moved to Philadelphia and opened a hat factory. The John B. Stetson Company achieved success by relying on its founder's own taste for style and by building a reputation for quality.
Stetson's cowboy hat was later renamed "Stetson" after the maker. The Stetson soon became the most well-known headgear in the West. The high-crowned, wide-brimmed felt hats protected cowboy and ranchers eyes from the sun and their necks from the rain and could also double up as a water bucket.
An active and generous Baptist, Stetson wintered in De Land, Florida, where he supported the De Land Academy whose name was changed to the John B. Stetson University.
At his death on February 18, 1906, Stetson left an industrial plant employing 3,500, with production of two million hats a year and employee benefits such as profit-sharing, bonuses, and a company hospital.
Sources Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999, Inventors
Stetson realized the cowboys and drovers' various headgear were impractical, and he wondered whether fur-felt would work for a lightweight, all-weather hat suitable for the West.
Stetson invented and sold his first hat styled for the Wild West in Central City, Colorado. It was a broad-brimmed, high-crowned, design that he called "Boss of the Plains," and was more commonly known as the "ten-gallon cowboy hat".
The life outdoors restored Stetson, and in 1865 he moved to Philadelphia and opened a hat factory. The John B. Stetson Company achieved success by relying on its founder's own taste for style and by building a reputation for quality.
 |
| Stetson Pixabay |
Stetson's cowboy hat was later renamed "Stetson" after the maker. The Stetson soon became the most well-known headgear in the West. The high-crowned, wide-brimmed felt hats protected cowboy and ranchers eyes from the sun and their necks from the rain and could also double up as a water bucket.
An active and generous Baptist, Stetson wintered in De Land, Florida, where he supported the De Land Academy whose name was changed to the John B. Stetson University.
At his death on February 18, 1906, Stetson left an industrial plant employing 3,500, with production of two million hats a year and employee benefits such as profit-sharing, bonuses, and a company hospital.
Sources Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999, Inventors
No comments:
Post a Comment