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When John Stetson was a little boy he made hats at his family's hat store.John Stetson was a good hat maker in the old west.He lived in New York.John Stetson got sick when he was little at his familys hat store. http://www.stetsonhat.com

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John Stetson was the man who made Boss of the plains . He was born in New Jersey and he built hats with his family. He had tuberculosis so he went west. He met some people and tried to find gold.It was 750 mile trip. On the way he was better. The hat does many abilities for exampale barries and hiding. He hardly ever coughed.One night the Pikes peakers huddled around their campfire.

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Do you know who John Stetson is?

I'll tell you. John Stetson is a famous hat maker.

He lived in New Jersey and got really sick. So he

went to the west because it was damp in New Jersey.He went to the west and he found gold.Then he went to Philadelphia.Then he started to make hats there.But no one wanted to buy his hat.So he started to make a new hat called Boss of the Plains.

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Shop Stetson hats including men's and women's ball cap, cowboy hat, out door, fedora, straw, and youth!

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John Stetsons life was good and bad because his family made hats. Here is a web site.He made hats when he was a adult.It was famous because he made money from the hat.John Stetson made hat's when he was a young boy.

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john b. stetson "boss of the plains" style hat jj

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John B. Stetson "Boss of the Plains" Style Hat JJ

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John B. Stetson "Boss of the Plains" Style Hat JJ - Burley Auction Group

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John Stetson made hats for the west.

John Stetson childhood was like making hats with his family.

John Stetson adult life was like making hats for cowboys and cowgirls.

Boss of the plains hat was important because it blocks the sun out of there eyes

Scoops up food and water gets a cows in its corral.

John stetson was born in 1830 orange New Jersey.

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John Steson is very good at making hats.John Steston was born on May 5, in East Orangan.John S. headed west to recover from tuberculosis. John made the boss of the plains hat. He found a little gold in the west. This is John's time line. He sold his hat for money where he was looking for gold. He has eleven brothers and sisters. He had a hat shop in Orange,New Jersey.

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John Stetson hats were very famous back then in the west.

He has a story on his life for kids. Here's a link to learn all about him and his life or you can keep reading to find out more that we know. John Stetson got a sickness called Tuberculosis. He got this sickness by making hats for a long time and the dampness filled his lungs up with wet air. John Stetson went out to the west a few years later and found a peace of gold on a trip that hat makers did not go on and it cost $5 and that was A LOTof money back then. He used the money wisely and made a hat called The Boss Of The Plains that hat won the west.! John Stetson hats today cost a bout $ 150. Hat makers wouldn't go on the trip but John Stetson did go on the trip.

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Background

The Stetson hat, named after its inventor, John B. Stetson, is synonymous with the more generic cowboy hat. A symbol of Western pride and bravado, this modified sombrero, with its large crown and wide brim, has graced the heads of America's most treasured Western heroes, from old-time favorites like actor John Wayne, Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger, and country singer Gene Autry, to modern-day popular artists like Garth Brooks and Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing on the television series Dallas. (J.R.'s hat is now displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's contemporary Americana exhibit.) The Stetson hat is not just a male fashion statement, either. Prominent country singers from Dale Evans to Trisha Yearwood, spurred on by legendary female maverick Annie Oakley, have proven that females can carry off this most essential Western look, too.

The Stetson Hat Company was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1865 when John B. Stetson decided to mass-produce the modified sombrero he had fashioned for himself out of necessity during a lengthy Western expedition. Stetson's "Boss of the Plains" model, with its high, creased crown and wide, molded brim, became the prototype for all other cowboy hat designs. Now located in St. Joseph, Missouri, the Stetson hat factory there and its second factory in Galveston, Texas, continue to turn out the "Boss of the Plains," along with over 100 variations for men and women.

History

John B. Stetson was born in 1830 in Orange, New Jersey, the 12th of 13 children born to Stephen Stetson, a hatmaker. As a youth, the younger Stetson worked in the hatmaking business with his father until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and his doctor predicted he would have only a short time to live. Given this dire prognosis, Stetson left the hatmaking business to explore the American West, afraid this would be his only chance to see it. He eventually settled in St. Joseph, Missouri, a trading post where expeditions to Pike's Peak and similar western destinations were outfitted.

In the 1860s, unable to enlist to serve in the Civil War due to his poor health, Stetson set off on a Pike's Peak expedition himself and found himself becoming healthier throughout the course of the journey. When his party was unable to find suitable shelter, Stetson and the others fashioned makeshift cover by sewing together the skins of the muskrat, rabbit, beaver, and coyote they had shot for food. Given their rustic environs, the men had no means of tanning the hides, however.

Then, Stetson suggested that he make cloth for tents using the felting process he had learned in his father's hatmaking business. He shaved the fur from some of the skins and fashioned a hunter's bow from a section of a hickory sapling and a throng from one of the skins. Stetson agitated the fur with the bow, keeping it in a small cloud in the air and eventually allowing it to fall to the ground and naturally distribute itself over a small area. As the fur fell to the ground, Stetson blew a fine spray of water from his mouth through the fur, creating a mat that could be lifted from the ground and rolled. Stetson then dipped the sheet of matted fur into a pot of boiling water. As the sheet began to shrink, he manipulated it with his hands, rapidly and repeatedly dipping it in hot water and eventually forming a small, soft blanket. By repeating this process, Stetson and the other members of his party created enough of this water-repellent material to construct a tent. This same method is employed in felt-making today, although the fur is raised to the air by a fan and the water is sprayed mechanically.

To shield himself from the daytime sun, wind, and rain, Stetson also fashioned a hat from the felt. The high, indented crown and wide brim were modeled after the Mexican sombrero. According to legend, the other members of Stetson's party ridiculed him for wearing the hat until a passing bullwhacker from Mexico one day offered Stetson a five dollar gold piece for his invention.

After mining gold at Pike's Peak for a year, Stetson traveled to Philadelphia in 1865 and set up a small hatmaking business with $100 for the purchase of tools and fur. After designing several unsuccessful models, Stetson again created his modified sombrero with a 4 in (10 cm) crown and a 4 in (10 cm) brim and, when he was unable to sell Easterners on the innovation, began to market his product, grandly dubbed the "Boss of the Plains," in the Southwest, where it took off almost immediately. By the time Stetson died in 1906, his business was a booming success, and the company that bears his name still turns out a wide variety of Western hats at its St. Joseph and Galveston factories. Today, the Western hat is nearly as popular in the eastern United States, not to mention internationally, as it is in the American West.

Raw Materials

The primary component of the Stetson hat is felt, which is fashioned from a variety of fur, preferably beaver, rabbit, and wild hare. Hot water is also integral to the felting process. Dyes are used to achieve a variety of felt colors (the original color of the felt depends on the color of the original fur). Powder is used to soften the felt. Leather is another component of the process, used to form the interior sweatband of the hat. Attaching the sweatband may require glue. Two-ply or two-cord band is used to create the ribbon that encircles the outside of the crown where it meets the brim, and thread is used to stitch the ribbon. Small metal eyelets are also typically used for venting.

Design

For the style-conscious, three of the most important considerations in purchasing a Stetson hat are the slope of the crown, the roll of the brim, and the number and arrangement of the creases, or pinches, in the crown, which are viewed as giving each Stetson its distinctive character. The pinch can be prefabricated or chosen by the consumer and blocked by the hatter. Cowboy hats may also be adorned with feathers, embroidery, silver accessories, and the like. The appeal of the Stetson hat for many is that, when fitted in cowboy boots and a Stetson, the wearer appears at least 6 in (15 cm) taller.

The Manufacturing
Process

Carroting, cutting, and sorting

1 Typically beaver, rabbit, and wild hare pelts are used. They are cleaned to remove grease and other impurities.

2 An acid solution is applied to the fur which prepares it for the felting process. This procedure is known as carroting.

3 The skins are then fed through a cutting machine, fur side down, and the skin is cut from the fur.

4 The fur is then sorted by feeding it through blowing and picking machines.

5 Next, the fur is bagged in 5 lb (2.27 kg) increments and baled for shipment to the rough body plant.

Felt mixing and initial shaping

6 First, the fur must be weighed out and the three types combined to the company's specifications for the appropriate mix.

7 The fur is cleaned and then placed in a giant bin and mixed into a fine blend.

8 Next, the fur is forwarded into a feeder, where it is broken down into an even softer blend.

9 From the feeder, the fur is forwarded into a blowing machine and, upon exit from the machine, bad fibers are manually removed from the mix.

10 Next, the mixture is placed on a conveyer, which presses the mixture out into long sheets.

11 These sheets are then blown onto a large dome-shaped prototype, known as a former dome, which sets the initial body of the hat. The dome spins around rapidly for approximately 30 seconds, gathering the fur much in the same way a spinner wraps cotton candy.

12 The former dome is placed in hot water for 35 seconds to mold the fur fibers into place.

Felting and dyeing

13 Through a series of applications of hot water, pressure, and rolling, known as "starting" and "stumping," the dome-shaped figure is dipped in hot water and twisted.

14 The hat is then placed in a hardening machine four times. Over the course of these two steps, the hat begins to shrink from its original size of almost 2 ft (61 cm).

15 The hat bodies are then dyed with various pigments to create a range of colors.

Initial blocking and pouncing

16 Blocking, or shaping, is performed by a three-person team. First, a tipper stretches the crown of the hat. Next, a brimmer forms the band-line and brim. A blocker then sets the shape of the hat and applies a stiffening substance.

17 The hat is then turned inside out and hung to dry overnight.

18 The next day, the hat is sandpapered to remove any surface hair that was not eliminated in the blowing process. This procedure is known as pouncing and the overall operation is technically known as the back-shop.

19 The two-ply or two-cord band is stitched around the outer bottom of the crown of the hat, where it meets the brim.

Western blocking and finishing

20 The hat is steamed and an appropriately sized wooden block is pressed in the crown for shaping.

21 The crown of the hat is then ironed and the brim is plated.

22 The hat is then placed on a crown-pouncing machine, which uses very fine sand paper to remove any excess fur and finish the hat.

23 Powder is applied to make the hat softer and the color richer (this step is eliminated for dark-colored hats).

24 The hat is again placed in the pouncing machine.

25 The shape of the brim is set and dry heat is applied. The brim is then pressed to maintain its shape.

Sweatband

26 Excess plastic wire, known as polyreed, is cut off the leather sweat-band to make it lay flat.

27 The band is hand-fitted inside the hat.

28 Any excess leather is cut off.

29 The band is stitched and then tacked or glued.

30 The hat is cleaned, brushed, and steamed.

31 The final cutting of the brim is executed.

Creasing and miscellaneous details

32 A bow is stitched to the outer two-ply or two-cord hatband.

33 The hat is hand-creased.

34 A satin name pad is pressed and steamed inside the crown.

35 If eyelets are required, they are placed in the crown at this point.

36 A cleaning instructions tag is glued to the crown.

Quality Control

Stetson hats are subject to many stages of inspection to check that the finish, shape, body, and feel are appropriate and to identify any flaws. One major factor in determining the price of a Stetson hat is the quality of the felt, demarcated by the number of "x"s that appear on the sweatband. Factors contributing to the quality of the felt include the fur and skin types, the living environment of the animal from which the fur was culled (wild, domestic, or season), the age of the fur, and its color.

The Future

Western hats are considered as stylish today as they were when they were invented. The Stetson Hat Company and many others are continually developing new variations on the style of this product and exploring different materials such as straw and leather.

Where to Learn More

Books

Reynolds, William and Ritch Rand. The Cowboy Hat Book. Gibbs Smith, 1995.

Other

Biltmore Hats. "The Story of the Cowboy Hat." http://www.in.on.ca/~biltmore/story.html(July 9, 1997).

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John Batterson Stetson facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about John Batterson Stetson

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The Stetson hat, named after its inventor, John B. Stetson, is synonymous with the more generic cowboy hat. A symbol of Western pride and bravado, this modified sombrero, with its large crown and wide brim, has graced the heads of America's most treasured Western heroes, from old-time favorites like actor John Wayne, Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger, and country singer Gene Autry, to modern-day popular artists like Garth Brooks and Larry Hagman as J.R.

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John Stetson used to work in a shabby old hat shop,but it wasn't always like that. All his brothers and sisters worked there too. John Stetson got tuberculosis from the wetness of the steam in the shop.So he could no longer work at his family shop,so he decided to go to the west before his life was over.So he traveled with other men to find gold. He didn't acomplish finding gold anyway,but he did acomplish making a special hat for lots of people.He thought he failed because no orders came in for 2 weeks. All of a sudden a bunch of orders came all at once,and John was relived everyone loved his unique hats.You can us the Boss Of The Plains Hat for many things like... helping rain stay off your back, keeping the sun out of your eyes, helps you to have cows,sheep,and horses move. That is just a few things that you can do with the Boss Of The Plains Hats.

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Shop Stetson hats including men's and women's ball cap, cowboy hat, out door, fedora, straw, and youth!

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John Stetson is good at making cow hats in the old west.

When he was a boy he wanted to go to New Jersey.

One day he did. When he was a adult he lived New Jersey to make his dream come true. When he want to New Your city he made a hat called the boss of the plains.

It was super rare in the old west he was selling it around the all of the west.

That big picture is a link for you to click on. click it!

It tells how they make the boss of the plains hats and how to get them!

The boss of the plain hats were super important because it helped people with many things like: get a drink in a lake , impress the lades.

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Shop Stetson hats including men's and women's ball cap, cowboy hat, out door, fedora, straw, and youth!

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By: Ava Nuding / Regan Fiorito/Faith Schlichter

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By: Ava Nuding / Regan Fiorito/Faith Schlichter

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This is a timeline of John Stetson's life. When John Stetson was little his family owned a hat shop and there John Stetson got tuberculosis and when he went to the west his lungs got better from the open air. When John Stetson was an a adult he traveled to the West and there a man bought a hat right off of John Stetson's head! And after a year of mining and blazing hot sun he moved to Philadelphia and bought his own hat shop but the sale did not go well. John Stetson also worked at a hat shop. John Stetson said "Fur can be made into cloth without tanning."A cowboy bought John Stetson's boss of the plains hat for a five-dollar gold piece.

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Hello folks! Your assignment is to create a post about John Stetson and the Boss of the Plains hat. You should use your anthology along with additional research you do.

You must include the following information in your post:

- Who was John Stetson? What was his childhood like?

- What did john Stetson do as an adult

- Why was the Boss of the Plains such an important hat?

-Try including a picture of John Stetson and the BOP hat.

- Try Inserting a link to a website that is related to this topic