Benjamin B. Green-field (1897-1989), Bessie Green-field Warshawsky. The children of a milliner, Benjamin and Bessie Green-field opened a hat shop in 1920 in Chicago.  They combined the first three letters of each of their names to form the shop's name. "Bes-Ben."  Several years later, Bessie left the business.

Known for elaborate and creative themed hats, Bes-Ben hats were pretty much mainstream until World War II.  In 1941, Benjamin Green-fields began decorating his hats with unusual objects such as cookie cutters and little stuffed animals.  Such creativity did not come cheap - the average price for a Bes-Ben hat in the 1940s was $50.