John Wayne's Hat Band

Trivia Tuesday! I have a question for all of you out there in Movie Land. What is the Hat band that John Wayne wears in some of his movies called and where did it originate from?? (see picture)

 I think this Hat Band gives any Hat a rugged look, and could also mean there are plenty of stories to tell, and also lived in this Hat.

Old Hats

For Memory Monday I would like to tell you a little bit about one of my old Hats. I was pushing some watusi cattle with my Grandpa in tamarack trees on the river. At the time of year the tamarack were dropping their seeds, and were really sticky. Our saddle pads, coats, and felt Hats were covered in the sappy thorns.

The good thing about a broken down felt Hat in this type of country is that the brim can fold down over your ears and cheeks to protect you from the thick, sappy, thorns. The tamarack was so thick, the cows would go lay in it, and we would have to get off our horses and crawl underneath the brush to push the cows back onto the trail. As we were crawling under the tamarack we would come across dead calf carcuses that were half way eaten by cougars. After seeing these dead, half eaten calves I never wanted to get my job finished so quickly!!! I wasn't sure if I should be loud to scare the cougars, or just sneak my way through the tamarack and find the hiding cattle. Finally we were able to rope the cows and "persuade" them back to the other side of the river where they belong!

It was a good thing I was wearing one of my old Hats that day. If it weren't for that Hat, I wouldn't have the ears and cheeks I do now!! After that day, my Hat was never the same. It did it's job, and had to be retired!

Hey Mister, nice Hat!

Today is Featured Friday! This is one of my personal favorite Hats. I was wearing one and had a gentelman buy it right off my head. The pictured Hat is a 10x quality, Pecan in color with a charcoal brown bound edge and matching bow. It has a 4 1/2 inch brim with a "5" hand creased cattleman crown. The five crown in our Hat line has softer creases and shorter than a "3" crown or "8" crown.

The great thing about the pecan color is that it really pulls out your skin tones. I would say this color looks smashing on 80% of people that try it on. It is also dead center between a dark or light Hat. With the darker brown edge it really pulls the dark under tones out, which makes it wearable with about anything! When you can't decide on a dark or a light colored Hat, try on the pecan and see if that works for you.

The Fuzzy Slipper

I found this poem, and it made me laugh! I thought it was perfect for Wild & Wooley Wednesday. The reason I think it hit me so funny is that all the woman in my life do everything in flip flops or slippers. My wife was wearing them through the last snow storm we had. My sister used to clean stalls every day in flip flops. Can you just imagine all that stuff between your toes?? Every time we go practice my mom cusses her flip flops, and yet somehow the next day she shows up to run chutes in her flip flops again, and we hear about it one more time.

Warmer Days

I am back had an AWESOME weekend off! I am ready to spill a little more information on Hats. I spent my weekend in a warmer climate, wishing I had packed my Straw Hat. This inspired me to tell you more about Straw Hats.

There are 8 main Straw types that are used in making these Hats, which are hand woven. I have already educated you on Jute Straw Hats, and the next one I want to share with you is Shantung. It is sometimes referred to as Shantung Panama.

Shantung is a man-made high performance paper yarn. The Japanese people named this high performance paper "Washi," which literally means "Japanese Paper." Because of availability, and tensile strength, washi is now mainly made from the Manila Hemp Plant. One of the characteristics is that it can absorb thirty percent moisture without having the feeling of wetness. It is considered to be one of the strongest of all natural fibers. It is awesome for making hats. Shantung is light weight, and durable.  It is very similar, by looks, to genuine Panama Hats. 

Funky Fact Friday

Here are some things I have come across this week that I think everyone should know even though you will probaly never need it.
*In the original version of Cinderella the slipper was made of fur, not glass.... maybe they should have just had it a Hat?
*Owls are the only birds that can see blue
*Iron weighs more after it rusts
*The only king without a mustache in a deck of cards is the King of Hearts
*Cans of soda have a 4x longer shelf life then bottled soda
*To be awoken by a kiss on Valentine's day is considered LUCKY!
*15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day

If anyone has some Funky Facts, leave a comment below to let me know what it is, and I will pick a few to feature on one of our Funky Fact Friday posts!

Kettle Iron Curl

Here it is "Throwback Thursday" upon us once again. I want to tell you a little about the Kettle Iron Curl. It is when you have your brim rolled up over the sides. I have heard lots of differnt names for it. Most of the names come from the diameter of the curl such as the quarter iron curl, pencil curl and rain catcher curl. To achive this look it takes a Heat, Steam, Water and a Kettle Iron.

By doing this, it helps strech the Hat fibers to curl in a half circle around the brim. (See above picture) You can just run it on each side, rather than all the way around, for a more traditional look. You can also do it just in the back for more of a flat top Buckaroo look. Or like Tom Mix, Hop Along Cassidy and Val Kilmer as Doc Hoiday in the movie Tombstone, with the Kettle Iron Curl around the whole brim.

This week I have been practicing the Kettle Iron Curl since going to visit JW Hats. It's really growing on me, and I think I want a Hat with that curl to it. Yesterday I had the opportunity to make a Hat that looks just like Tom Mix's hat he wore. I will post a picture of my replica Hat tomorrow.

Steer Wrestling Terminology

Here we go with some "Trivia Tuesday". So before we go any farther, everyone should know that I am a bit passionate about Rodeo especially the Steer Wrestling and Roping.

When you run up on a steer, get in the hole, grab the left horn and just when your feet come out of the stirrup, you and the steer take a nose dive and go ass over elbows. I would like to see how many of you know what this is called in the Steer Wrestling event.

Here is a picture to further my explanation! Going along with the theme of Hats, I have destroyed many Hats this way. Check out his Hat!!!!!! They don't last very long when you throw steers this way!

JW Hat Adventure

For Memory Monday I would like to tell you about my little adventure up to JW Hats in Salt Lake City, Utah. I have been working on my quarter iron curls but decided I needed some help. So I found out who made the irons for us and saw how close they were located to us. I called JW Hats Thursday afternoon and told him I needed some help on my technique. He told me to be there the next morning and he would show me how. Kade and I drove up Friday morning and spent the day learning and building Hats with JW. Both Kade and I built some Hats from a raw state, it was sweet to go through the process.

When we were finished at JW Hats, we drove over the hill to the Burns Cowboy Shop in Park City and helped sell some Hats to a few of the skiers and people shopping in the store. I got to try on one of the "ugliest coats in the whole world!" is what my wife says, but I think it is the most spectacular piece of clothing I have EVER tried on! This coat made me feel like a King! Hmmm......King Kody.....kinda has a little ring to it, don't you think?!

How It's Made Stetson Hats

Here is a video that i found that walks you throught building a hat! Check it out!