John B. Stetson

Children3, including John Jr.Signature

John Batterson Stetson (May 5, 1830 – February 18, 1906) was an American hat maker who invented the cowboy hat in the 1860s. He founded the John B. Stetson Company as a manufacturer of headwear. The company's hats are now commonly referred to simply as Stetsons.

Early life

Stetson was born in Orange, New Jersey, one of 12 children.^[1] His father, Stephen Stetson, was a hatter^[2] and taught his son the trade. He never attended school but was taught to read and write at home by his mother.^[3] In the late 1850s, Stetson was diagnosed with tuberculosis^[4] and his doctor predicted he had only a short time to live. Given this, he left the hat-making business to explore the American West, afraid this would be his only chance to see it.^[5] He moved first to Illinois and then to Saint Joseph, Missouri. In Saint Joseph, he worked in a brickyard and eventually became manager.^[4] He attempted to enroll in the military during the American Civil War but was rejected due to his health condition.^[6] He accepted a position in a party travelling to Pike's Peak in Colorado.^[6] During the trip to Colorado, Stetson relied on his hat-making skills to turn animal pelts into felt for usage by him and his travelling companions as water-proof tents and hats. He had the inkling of a future business when a bullwhacker bought one of his hats from him for $5.^[7][5][8]

Career

In 1865 — "a time when almost everyone wore hats" — Stetson moved to Philadelphia to enter the hat-making craft he'd learned from his father and began manufacturing hats there suited to the needs of the Westerners.^[5] He created a modified sombrero and sent samples of the Boss of the Plains style he had invented to dealers in the West and was soon inundated with requests for more.^[9] These lightweight hats were natural in color with four inch crowns and brims; a plain strap was used for the band.^[10]

Due to the time he had spent with cowboys and Western settlers, Stetson knew firsthand that the headwear they wore (such as coonskin caps, sea captain hats, straw hats, and wool derbies) were impractical. He decided to offer people a better hat. Made from waterproof felt, the new hat was durable and the wide brim protected the wearer from the sun and rain.^[9]

Noted one observer, "It kept the sun out of your eyes and off your neck. It was like an umbrella. It gave you a bucket (the crown) to water your horse and a cup (the brim) to water yourself. It made a hell of a fan, which you need sometimes for a fire but more often to shunt cows this direction or that."^[11]

The hat achieved instant popularity and was named the "Boss of the Plains," the first real cowboy hat. Stetson went on to build the Carlsbad, easily identified by its main crease down the front.^[12]

His hat was called a Stetson, because he had his name John B. Stetson Company embossed in gold in every hatband. The Stetson soon became the most well known hat in the West. All the high-crowned, wide-brimmed, soft felt western hats that followed are intimately associated with the cowboy image created by Stetson.^[13]

The Stetson Cowboy hat was the symbol of the highest quality. Western icons such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, Will Rogers, Annie Oakley, Pawnee Bill, Tom Mix, and the Lone Ranger wore Stetsons. The company also made hats for law enforcement departments, such as the Texas Rangers, which became the first law enforcement agency to incorporate the cowboy hat into their uniform.^[9] Stetson's Western-style hats were worn by employees of the National Park Service, U.S. Cavalry soldiers, and many U.S. Presidents.^[5]

The Company

Under Stetson's direction, The John B. Stetson Company became one of the largest hat firms in the world. Stetson hats won numerous awards, but as his company grew, he "faced the challenge of developing a reliable labor force."^[5] Reportedly, "people working in the hat trade at that time tended to drift from employer to employer" and "absenteeism was rampant."^[5] Stetson, "guided by Baptist religious principles, believed that by providing for his employees he would lend stability to their lives and attract higher caliber ones."^[5] Unlike most other employers, Stetson decided to offer benefits to entice workers to stay.^[5] Stetson also made sure his employees had a clean, safe place to work, including building a hospital, a park and houses for his 5,000 employees.^[5] Stetson's unusual moves helped him build a factory in Philadelphia that grew to 25 buildings on 9 acres (36,000 m²). By 1915, nine years after Stetson's death, 5,400 employees were turning out 3.3 million hats.^[5]

Philanthropy

While Stetson profited from his business, he also wanted to give back to his community. Near the end of his life, Stetson began donating almost all of his money to charitable organizations.^[5] He built grammar and high schools and helped build colleges, including Temple and Stetson Universities. He also helped establish the YMCA in Philadelphia.^[5] Stetson donated generously to the DeLand Academy (in DeLand, Fla.), which was renamed (1889) John B. Stetson University. In 1900, Stetson University founded the first law school in Florida: Stetson University College of Law.

Stetson co-founded Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter and soup kitchen, in 1878.^[14] Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission has since expanded to provide more services and is still in use for the homeless population of Philadelphia.^[15]

Stetson owned a mansion in DeLand where he died in 1906.^[16] The over 8,000 ft² structure called John B. Stetson House is a mixture of Gothic, Tudor, and Moorish styles, and is open to the public for tours. Stetson died on February 18, 1906.^[17] He was originally interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia^[18] and re-interred in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.^[17]

Legacy

The John B. Stetson Middle School in Philadelphia was built in 1915 and named in his honor.^[19]

References

Citations

Sources

• Hubbard, Elbert (1911). John B. Stetson. The Roycrofters.

Further reading

• Bender, Texan Bix. (1994) Hats & the cowboys who wear them ISBN 1-58685-191-8
• Carlson, Laurie. (1998) Boss of the Plains, the Hat that Won the West ISBN 0-7894-2479-7
• Manns, William. (1997) Cowboys & the Trappings of the Old West ISBN 0-939549-13-1
• Snyder, Jeffrey B. (1997) Stetson Hats and the John B. Stetson Company 1865-1970. ISBN 0-7643-0211-6

External links

• Basic Information
• Biography-West Laurel Hill Cemetery web site
• In search of the real cowboy hat, Cowboy Chronicle April 2004 reprint, accessed online April 1, 2009. In Search of the Real Cowboy Hat
• John Batterson Stetson (1830-1906) - Find a Grave...