4 Ways of Looking at a Hat

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AS AN ICON
In 1865 John B. Stetson took $100 and a vision to a Philadelphia apartment, handcrafted a sharp-looking beaver-fur hat with a wide brim and a middle crease, and brand-named an enduring symbol of the AmericanWest. That’s one version, at any rate. Another is that the Stetson originated at Christy’s Hats of England. Either way, it doubled as a water vessel on long, lonely rides across the plains. Today, the Stetson Hat Company, based in Garland, Texas, sells 250-plus variations of its classic design, in everything from chinchilla fur to white wool.