Authentic Old West Hats

The Cowboy Hat defines the wearer. . . .

A 19th century cowboy prized his old west hat above all things – with good reason. It was often worth a month or two’s wages – and that made it very expensive. The cowboy likely spent hours personalizing the hat with creases to the crown and molding the brim – making it his.

An old west cowboy would go to hell and back to retrieve a misplaced cowboy hat and it was seldom further than an arm’s length away.

Old Fashion Quality

You won’t find these western hats at your nearest mall. Many of the brim shapes or crowns may look familiar – may even be the same – but they are poor imitations, cookie-cutter designs.  They are mass produced and available virtually anywhere. Don’t follow the herd – strike out on your own with a classic custom western hat from The Last Best West.

The Last Best Cowboy Hat

We start with the best fur-felt hat body available – made in the USA – and fashion as fine a hand-made western hat as you can find anywhere, for any price. Don’t believe us? Read our testimonials page.

You’ve owned the rest, now wear the best!

Our thanks to the Major and his Roughriders for the honor of making 4 custom 1898 Roughriders’ Hats for the Commander and 3 Non-Com’s of USF-1. Color: Pecan

From: Uhe, Roger C MAJ USA USF-I J-3 Convoy Ops/Rough Riders
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010
To: ‘Sonja’ Subject: Rough Rider Hat

Howdy Sonja: The hat arrived safely and is now a part of the unit. Attached is a photo of me with one of my “horses” in our motor pool. As you can tell from vehicle and me we are both old war horses. But the hat looks great! With Honor and Success! MOUNT UP!

ROGER C. “CHANCE” UHE
MAJ, FA
USF-I ROUGH RIDERS
Commanding

The 1898 Rough Rider  
Crown: centre trench/side pinch
Brim: hand rolled – Open.
Hatband: 1″ Satin with 1898 bow. Color: Sahara in 20X Fur-felt

Teddy Roosevelt called these short 4 months in 1898 the most exciting of his life; culminating in leading his “Rough Riders” up San Juan Hill in that storied charge. If you look at any picture of the US Expeditionary Force {above}, you’ll see almost as many brim and crown treatments of the same basic hat as there are soldiers.

Over at the Old West Theater you can watch hundreds of classic TV shows and films including, Rough Riders. Staring, TOM BERENGER, SAM ELLIOTT, GARY BUSEY and more, it tells the story of Teddy Roosevelt, USV1, and the taking of San Juan Hill, in the Spanish American War of 1898.

Old West Cowboys and their Hats

Up until the turn of the 20th Century most cowboy hats were sold in Mail Order Catalogues. In those days if the local haberdasher didn’t have the hat you wanted, he likely had a catalog to order one from.

The first cowboy hats were all made from 100% beaver fur-felt, natural and undyed, and worth their weight in gold to working cowboys and other Westerners.

The Montgomery Ward Catalog of 1872 was the first to offer a “Western Sombrero” for sale to the public. Like our open crown cowboy hat, Captain Call, most hats were shipped with uncreased crowns, and little shape to the brim. Manufacturers knew that most cowboys would personalize the hat themselves so they shipped unfinished. Remember Hoss from Bonanza and his big dang hat? That was the most authentic old west hat of any of the Bonanza cast.

James Butler Hickok lived a fast, violent life.

A union scout/spy, frontiersman, buffalo hunter and lawman, Wild Bill was murdered just days after arriving in Deadwood, Dakota Territories in 1876.

He was the first hero of the wild west and likely the most ruthless and famous as well. Hickok was an imposing figure, a giant of a man at 6’3″, when the average man wasn’t much more than 5′ 6″ in the 1860s. And when he pulled his pistols he always shot to kill.

The prototype of the old west pistol fighter, Bill Hickok had the size, the sad eyes and the heroic exploits to make an impression on most any body. When Davis Tutt bragged he could, “Shoot a bird on the wing”, in Springfield, in 1865, Bill Hickok was quick to reply, “Did the crow have a pistol? Was he shooting back? I will be.”

There’s a number of reasons people say Hickok and Tutt fought, but what ever it was, this is about the only actual documented face off in a dusty street in Old West History. And so on July 21, 1865, in the town square of Springfield, Missouri, Hickok shot dead Davis Tutt, Jr. continued

The Hickok

Crown: 3 3/4″ Texas Flat
Brim: 4 1/2″ Pencil Roll Bound
Hatband: 1 1/2″ Satin with Bow
Color: Black

Bill Hickok was larger than life and he liked his hats the same way – this is our best guess on what Wild Bill was wearing in the picture at right. We start with an over sized hat body to make this classic western hat, with a short crown and wide brim.

The brim has a thick pencil roll and a slight roll to the brim. A simple yet classic hat that has stood the test of time.

George Custer and Wild Bill were contemporaries, and according to history Custer thought very highly of the tall, rangy plainsmen. Hickok acted as scout for Custer in 1868 and it is interesting that Custer and Hickok died within a few months of each other, in 1876. Custer at the Little Big Horn, and Hickok in Deadwood.

The Custer

Crown: 4″ Soft Pecan
Brim: Hand shaped right center pushed up
Hatband: 1 1/2″ Satin with Bow
Color: Rust with black hatband and bound edge

Here’s a great example how any of our custom hand made hats can be put into service for any type of use. Guitar Master, James Thornbury, sporting a modified Custer hat is just one fine example.

James Thornbury (passed in 2017) is a world-class guitar player and musician. Here’s a video of James re-united and performing with legendary blues-rock band, Canned Heat.

From: Rhyl Lewis Sent: January-13-13
To: service at thelastbestwest.com
Subject: Thornbury Custom Lid

Hi Sonja, We are loving James’s custom lid (Modified Custer) and wanted to send you a glimpse of its new home. Next time James will be gigging in it! Thanks for everything. Rhyl and James in Australia.

The Wasey
(pronounced: Way see)

Modified Sagebrush shaped crown was one of the most common of the first few decades of the 20th century. Made famous in the early silent westerns by pioneering movie maker and star William S. Hart.

Hart lived the old west and wore this crown shape with many different brim styles, through out his long career. This crown shape traces back to old tyme handling dents.

We’ve modified this look by starting with an oversized hat body, and have slid an optional horse-hair hat band over the satin ribbon and bow. We have put a big hand roll on the brim, with a heavy dip front and back.

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