STETSON

According to legend, John B. Stetson made his first hat in the early 1860s.  He was working in the Western gold fields, and was suffering from ill health.  In a move to keep his head dry and warm, he made a hat from beaver fur felt, with a large brim to shed rain, and a tall crown to retain heat.  After selling his hat to another miner for $5, he decided to enter the hat-making business.  In 1865 he returned to his home in Philadelphia,  and opened a small shop with himself as the only employee.  Within a year the business had grown, and people hired to help make hats.

The hats were first a success in the American West, where their practically was immediately obvious.  In time, Easterners came to accept a  smaller variation of the hat, and in 1872, other, dressier hats were added to the lines produced.  By 1886, Stetson was the largest maker of hats in the US, and in 1906, produced over two million hats.  By that time, the hats were no longer made one at a time, as John Stetson had introduced modern machinery into the hat-making industry. 

Stetson is still one of the largest hat producers in the country, with dozens of styles being made in their Texas and Missouri factories.