While travelling the Colorado trail with friends, in 1865, hatmaker John Batterson Stetson decided to create the perfect headgear for long days on horseback and long nights by the campfire. Made from beaver fur felt, the high-crown, wide-brimmed hat he made was lightweight, resilient and waterproof. John Stetson sold that first cowboy hat to one of his friends for $5 and then took orders from the rest of the group. Within a few years, he had a factory in Philadelphia, producing 3 million hats per year. However, it struggled during the 1950s and 1960s downturn in hat wearing and eventually, in 1970, production stopped. Nowadays, Stetson Cowboy hats are made in the US by Hatco, which also acquired former competitor Resistol and several other brands. In Europe, the Stetson name survives in a range of straw hats, caps and Trilbys. Meanwhile, for thousands of consumers all over the world, the name ‘Stetson’ simply means any Cowboy Hat.