The Cowboy Hat has been around since 1865. A person might think that a Texan could have possibly been the first to invent the cowboy hat. Truth is - the son of a Philadelphia hat maker created the first cowboy hat. John B. Stetson, the inventor of the first cowboy hat.

How did Stetson make the first cowboy hat? Stetson was having health problems and had to move west. On a hunting trip, Stetson showed friends how he could make cloth out of fur without weaving. Using hides from his hunting trip kneading the fur, using boiling water and spreading it out, kneading, dipping again in boiling water, he created a soft, smooth piece of felt. The first cowboy hat Stetson made was a large hat called “The Boss of the Plains”. He wore this hat on the remainder of his hunting trip.

The hunters might have laughed at first at this large homemade cowboy hat, but Stetson liked the way this “cowboy hat” protected him from the sun and weather. Later Stetson met a bull wacker who wanted the hat and Stetson sold the hat to him for a $5 dollar silver piece.

Stetson figured he could make more money by selling more hats of all shapes and sizes. Not only does the cowboy hat protect from the outside elements, but it gives a great “cowboy” image and covers many a bald spot. Now when you wear your Stetson cowboy hat, maybe just maybe you will imagine John B. Stetson and the first cowboy hat ever made.