Cowboy Hats and More

Since the19th century the cowboy hat has symbolized the American wild west. It has been a subject featured on big & small screens from the very beginning of movies & television. Tom Mix wore his cowboy hat on movie sets at the start of the 20th century. Born in 1880 in Mix, Pennsylvania, Tom grew up shortly after the creation of the first cowboy hat. His greatest achievements came portraying cowboys in western silent films like “Ranch Life in the Great Southwest.”

Leonard Franklin Slye first stepped on screen as Roy Rogers in 1928 in “Under the Western Stars.” Roy Rogers first became a regular part of American households on the radio waves. His radio show entertained the public for nine years before it moved to television’s small screen from 1951 to 1964. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans will always be remembered for “Happy Trails” and the many different cowboy hats that became synonymous with Roy.

Since then cowboy hat fans from the Lone Ranger to Tim McGraw have proudly worn their cowboy hats as a part of their daily routine.

You don’t have to be watching fiction to see cowboy hats on screen. Celebrities and politicians alike have made cowboy hats common attire. Presidents from Teddy Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover to Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush have all donned a cowboy hat in public appearances, both on & off camera.