by Julie Carter
It was black, floppy, completely misshapen and the brim had
torn away from the crown in a few places. The hat band was long gone and so was
the sweat band inside.
The boy was only 4-years-old, but already he identified his
look with that sad looking little “cowboy” hat. He’d outgrown his first one,
the one with an actual shape and look of a cowboy hat. It didn’t have time to
wear out but then it also didn’t get the high mileage that its successor
endured.
I wasn’t quite sure if he would ever part with that pathetic
excuse for a cowboy hat but I vowed it would have a decent burial as soon as he
gave it up. Offers to kidnap it were considered, but I knew it would just come
crawling home.
His hat and the way he wore it indicated much of his
personality at each stage in his life.
There were not many days in his early years that he didn’t
have some sort of hat on his head. The occasional cap sufficed when the wind
made that a better choice.
At the onset of his teen years, a cap that stated an
allegiance for a sports team or matched his camouflage wardrobe garnered equal
time with the classic cowboy version.
Similar to the day he deemed he was too cool to allow his
mother to cut his hair and instead insisted on a barber, the same professional
touch is now required for the shaping of a new felt hat. It has almost made me yearn for that original
piece of limp felt that passed for a hat so long ago.
Giving credence to the priority of a hat in a cowboy’s life,
much has been written about the reverence required for it. There is an aura of
authority that comes with the man in a cowboy hat. United States presidents
have worn them, even when it was followed by the “all hat, no cattle” insult.
The cowboy hat exudes power and macho like no other piece of
clothing. Those with the ability to do so, keep a special “wedding and funeral”
hat, usually the once-in-a-lifetime buy off the top shelf.
While created to be, and remains so today, a functional,
utilitarian piece of a cowboy’s wardrobe, his hat is almost as individually
identifying as his name. The sport of
rodeo produced a fashion in hats with event-specific shapes to them. A bull rider’s hat has a completely different
style to it than a roper’s or a bronc rider’s.
Ranchers, cattle buyers and stockmen also maintain a
uniqueness of style when it comes to the style of their hats. There is also the
territory-specific look of cowboy hats. Nevada buckaroos are clearly
discernable from a cowboy working the brush in south Texas, or the hot plains
of eastern New Mexico and West Texas.
Hats are endlessly useful. Horses have been known to drink
from hats, as well as get swatted on the behind when needed or “fanned” with
them after a successful bronc ride. Passing the hat to collect money for a
specific purpose is part of the culture.
A sweat-stained hat that will stay with you through rain,
wind, snow and sun is a valuable tool. Women who have “cowboyed” enough to have
their own sweat-stained hats are given all the room they need in a group of
cowboys.
Cowboys of all ages are attached to their hats. They will
get in a fight over them and at the same time, adhere to an age-old
superstition that laying it on the bed brings all kinds of bad mojo.
Take a good look at the man and his hat. You’ll find a
relationship that parallels his standards in life. And like the man that he is,
it evolved over time, from the little boy notion of “good enough” to the desire
for proper perfection.
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