HATS OFF TO STETSON!

Unbelievably, the year 2015 is drawing to a close. Boy, was that quick! It was a great year for the Western Fictioneers. We added more members, saw the release of many fantastic new western novels and short stories, and gathered for our first convention. 

I can’t let the year go by without acknowledging a very special birthday. This year, the iconic Stetson hat is turning 150 years old! In 1865, John B. Stetson set up a little shop in Philadelphia and began hand-making the classic “Boss of the Plains,” which became the favored hat for ranchers, cowboys and movie stars. There is evidence that he had been working on prototypes since 1860. 

That means that, up until 1865, westerners wore an assortment of hat styles. The most common hat was actually the bowler, or derby hat. (Think Butch and Sundance.) Larger brimmed hats evolved from southern planter hats and sombreros worn by southwestern vaqueros. But it was John B. Stetson who is credited with the creation of the classic cowboy hat as we know it.

"The Boss of the Plains"

The felt was made from a mixture of fur and water and then shaped into a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat that protected its wearer from rain and heat and cold. Later styles featured creased crowns and curled brims to suit each owner’s personality and needs. Click here for a cool video outlining the process of making a Stetson hat.

Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, Will Rogers and Tom Mix all wore Stetsons. By the early 1900’s, Stetson owned the country’s largest hat factory. This popularity continued throughout the “flapper” and World War II eras, as Stetson released modified styles to suit changing fashion trends.

By the 1980s, it became more economical for Stetson to license other partners to make its hats. They also branched out into other products: fragrances, luggage, home decor items, and even bourbon.

The Stetson Hat Company continues to try new ways to keep “on top” of the mercurial world of fashion. The current CEO of Stetson is Izumi Kajimoto, a Japanese-born fashion executive who came up through the ranks of designer labels Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein. Kajimoto sees the brand appealing to the “hipster” demographic and European markets, since there is a shift toward more sophisticated dress. This year’s 150th Anniversary Collection includes both traditional western hats and smaller brimmed fedora types.

The Paragon
150th Anniversary Collection

The Benchmark
150th Anniversary Collection

Styles come and go, but it appears that the Stetson is an American classic destined to last. And, yes, every single Stetson is still made right here in the USA…Garland, Texas, as a matter of fact.

Happy birthday to you, dear Stetson…and many, many more!

All the best,

Vonn

Keep up with Vonn!

Facebook

www.vonnmckee.com

RESEARCHING THE WEST by MEG MIMS

I love research. Always have, always will... and I soak up lush, wonderful details in the westerns I've read. Most of them since DOUBLE CROSSING, my western mystery set in 1869, was published -- but I cut my teeth on television and movie westerns since early childhood.

Did I rely on all that when I started writing my book? Heck, no! I knew costumes, sets and such generated in Hollywood were far from accurate. I spent months delving into fashion changes from hoops to bustles, what a Bowie knife looked like, Colt revolvers, train schedules and routes, what a UP Pullman Palace car looked like versus the CP Silver Palace car, Texan cowboys, etc. etc.

I knew better than to rely on western TV and movies, where the soiled doves wore glittering gowns worthy of a Ziegfeld Follies girl. Other big problems are the cliches stemming from dime novels of the 1800s, still popping up in current western novels. Lawmen tracking murderers who kill without reason. Helpless women who sat around waiting for their man to rescue them.

Pioneer women that I've researched knew how to handle weapons and protect themselves, how to survive snakebites and nurse sicknesses or wounds, and many adapted after being kidnapped by Indians. I rather doubt they lounged around in the stable (after pitching some clean hay) with their bosom exposed like Jane Russell.

Okay, maybe that is an extreme example. But take for example the Stetson hat.

Some writers have their heroes wearing these famous hats as far back as the 1850's. Check out this link for a fascinating history on how John B. Stetson got started making the trademark hats in 1865. Yep. AFTER the Civil War. Or weapons -- here's a link to a great website on military sabres, rifles, revolvers, etc. manufactured during the 1800s. And here's another link, similar to it. With dates of when those weapons were in use.

Trains are another big pitfall for writers. I've read some books where characters found their way west on the railroad before the Civil War or immediately after it ended. The first railroad crossed the vast expanse of the American west in May of 1869, when the Union and Central Pacific lines joined together at Promontory, Utah. For the first time, travelers could ride from New York to Chicago to Omaha and then to Sacramento -- not San Francisco. That took another few years. Other rail lines to Kansas and Arizona and Montana were completed by the mid 1870s or late 1880s.

I've read and seen a wide range of stories with either the total absence of native Americans or a bloodthirsty savageness of tribes (and not always the right ones in the right spots!) set on revenge. Savagery happened on both sides. The main point is to avoid "stereotypes" --  characters need reasons for the choices they make in our stories. Readers might forgive a modern word or phrase in dialogue, but when such things add up, they're "thrown out" of the story and may give up reading the rest of the book.

I love a good, juicy western where I can walk the dusty streets or ride the prairie on horseback, smell the goods on display in a general store, taste the grit in the air or touch the sweat-soaked shirt of the hero. Go beyond the visual. Make sure your characters have a goal and a motive in mind. And for your reader's sake, do the research.

They'll thank you with great reviews and word-of-mouth sales in your future career.

Meg Mims is an award-winning author and artist. She writes blended genres – historical, western, adventure, romance, suspense and mystery. Her first book, Double Crossing, won the 2012 Spur Award for Best First Novel from Western Writers of America and was named a Finalist in the Best Books of 2012 from USA Book News for Fiction: Western.

She is currently working on the sequel, Double or Nothing, which will be released this year. Interested in a sneak peek? Check out Meg's blog for The Next  Big Thing!