I’m an 8-year Humboldt resident who recently concluded a long career in sports and outdoor media, and now I’m launching a small business venture with something that’s been a lifelong passion: Western hats. I was born and raised in the remote High Sierra region of California, which was the setting for hundreds of Western films and TV shows during the period just prior to my birth. My parents, who h
ad me and my brother rather late in life, owned and operated a popular restaurant in Lone Pine and were acquainted with all the stars of that era, including John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Audie Murphy, Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Barbara Stanwyck, and the rest. Growing up, I did a bit of what could generously be called “shaping” of my own hats with a friend from a cowboy family who’s still tending cattle in our native land to this day, and I’ve done touch-up work on a lot of them over the years using the steam from a tea kettle. The idea to make a business out of it came to me late last summer when I saw an ad for the Hat Masters training program. After doing some serious research on that company, I bought in. I started with the 35-part online custom shaping course, and in November I went to Denver for three days of intensive in-person training. I derived the name of my business from two things I dearly love: baseball (ball covers were originally made from horsehide) and Henry fi****ms (of which I own many and shoot often). The Henry company has the best customer service I’ve ever encountered in the hunting/fishing/fi****ms industry and they’re an inspiration for me as I go into business for myself. Personal attention and integrity will be my hallmarks. Do I think I’ll get rich in this venture? But I do anticipate having lots of fun producing the custom hats that people want, and also reviving some older hats that just need a bit of professional care to return to their former glory – or at least close to it. It’s a really cool feeling knowing that I can use my skills and tools to take an open-crown hat (just a dome with a flat brim) and turn it into anything from a Hoss Cartwright style to a Little Joe Cartwright, or something in between. I can create all sorts of crown types – Cattleman, Brick, Gus, Cool Hand Luke (named for a bullrider, not the Paul Newman character), Teardrop, Minnick, West Texas Puncher, Heart, Gambler, etc. For brims, I can do the Taco, Relaxed Taco, Low Profile, Pencil-Curl, George Strait, Come-and-Go, whatever. I offer traditional cowboy hats and Fedora types, including hybrids exhibiting elements of both. I also do straw hats and really enjoy shaping them, but style options are just a bit more limited than with felts because the brims can’t be cut down. I can do some personalized branding as well – I have brands for all the numerals and letters of the alphabet, plus a few designs (crossed revolvers, barbed wire, barrel racer, cactus, heart, dueling cowboy, holy cross, horse, etc.). I’ll use the revolvers as my signature (I have both small and larger versions) for those who’ll allow me to stamp it on the hat. I won’t stock a lot of inventory, as this will be primarily a custom-order operation, but I’ll have a few samples so people can see and feel the various levels of felt quality. I can get the hats in within a week or 10 days and I can do the shaping in my garage, the customer’s garage, or anywhere else that has an electrical outlet for the steamer, as I can easily transport all of the necessary equipment in my truck. If a family or other group all wanted to get custom hats, we could make sort of a party out of the shaping process. I’ve created just about all the hats I’ve always wanted over the past several months. Now I’d like to do the same for other folks. Please take a look at the attached photos and descriptions of hats I’ve shaped from open crowns – it’s nowhere near all that I’m capable of, just the ones I’ve done for myself. For those who are interested, I can be reached via Facebook PM, at (928) 605-8232 or [email protected].
