The white cowboy hat is a figure of North American Western culture and is most directly relevant to the cowboys of the old west. This is a brief summary of the history of this fascinating--and remarkably symbolic--fashion accessory.
Significance of the White Cowboy Hat
Calgary, Canada has a tradition of placing a white cowboy hat on every visitor that is welcomed to the city by the mayor. (Instead of a key to the city, visitors receive the hat.)
It is a symbol of Western hospitality and every mayor of Calgary has presented it to visiting celebrities, politicians and athletes since the Second World War.
The white cowboy hat is likewise a symbol for the nice in people. The hero in Western films puts on a white hat and the bad fella puts on a black one.
White Cowboy Hat and the PBR
Yearly the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) issues a calendar that usually highlights their professional riders sporting white hats. The late Lane Frost really loved wearing a white hat with a turkey feature on it when he rode and his best companion and fellow bull riding champ, Tuff Tedeman always wears a white when riding also.
2009 PBR World Champion Kody Lostroh wore the white hat during many of his rides in his last season win as did two time PBR World Champion Chris Shivers. It is a favorite Bull Riding Gear accessory for the bull rider as it symbolizes everything good in a western hero.
Origin of the White Cowboy Hat
Cowboy hats were initially created to shield ranch workers from the rain and sun while doing work outside. John Batterson Stetson was the son of an American hat maker who was raised working in the family business.
Right after being diagnosed with tuberculosis during his early age, he left the family business to see the Wild West before he was too sick to travel. He met gold miners, ranch hands and livestock drovers towards his journey and noticed that they were wearing top hats, coonskin caps, derbies and even old military caps to keep the suns heat and rain from their heads.
Making use of his expertise in hat industry, he developed a hat that had a straight-sided crown and a broad flat brim with circular corners. In 1865 he relocated to Philadelphia were he manufactured a hat named "Boss of the plains" but soon, the ones he sold it to simply called it a Stetson.
It was a significant piece of equipment for the working cowboy. The Stetson was basically a symbol of top quality and many Old West figures wore it. Buffalo Bill, Will Rogers, Tom Mix and also Annie Oakley wore Stetsons, however it was the Lone Ranger who caused the white cowboy hat renowned. He was never without it as he faced the bad guys and he always won.
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