Editing Stetson (section)

== Singing cowboys and ten-gallon hats ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2024}}[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00053, Tom Mix.jpg|right|thumb|[[Tom Mix]], an early 20th-century movie star, wearing a ten-gallon hat]]In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, a hat was an indispensable item in every man's wardrobe. Stetson focused on expensive, high-quality hats that represented a real investment for the working cowboy and a statement of success for the city dweller.

Early on, Stetson hats became associated with legends of the West, including "[[Buffalo Bill]]", [[Calamity Jane]], [[Will Rogers]], and [[Annie Oakley]]. [[George Custer]] allegedly rode into the [[Battle of Little Big Horn]] wearing a Stetson.<ref>Snyder, Jeffrey B. (1997) ''Stetson Hats and the John B. Stetson Company 1865–1970'' {{ISBN|0-7643-0211-6}}</ref> Later on, [[Western movie]] cowboys were quick to adopt the Stetson; many were drawn to the largest, most flamboyant styles available.

Texans were known for their preference for the "Ten Gallon" model. According to Win Blevins' ''Dictionary of the American West'' (p. 388), the term "ten-gallon" has nothing to do with the hat's liquid capacity but derives from the Spanish word ''galón'' (braid), ten indicating the number of braids used as a hatband. However, an early Stetson advertising image, a painting of a cowboy dipping his hat into a stream to provide water for his horse, symbolized the cowboy hat as an essential part of a [[Cowman (profession)|stockman]]'s gear and was later featured inside every western style hat.