How One Hatmaker Shaped the Image of the American West
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 4 July 2025
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, the cowboy hat didn’t come from Texas or tumbleweeds. Instead, it came from a modest Philadelphia workshop. John B. Stetson transformed durable felt and a wide brim into a practical design that would become one of the most iconic symbols of the American frontier. His creation topped the heads of Western legends like Buffalo Bill and Will Rogers, and later, Hollywood cowboys like John Wayne. Our own Reagan Habeeb shares the story of how a simple hatmaker helped shape the look and legacy of the American West.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:04.4 | Summer's here and with the kids home and off to camp, it's easy for moms to get lost in the shuffle. |
| 0:09.0 | On good mom's bad choices, we're making space to center ourselves with joy, rest, and pleasure. |
| 0:14.1 | Take the kids to camp. |
| 0:15.5 | You know what? |
| 0:16.3 | It was expensive. |
| 0:17.7 | But I was also thinking, you have my kid. |
| 0:20.0 | This is kind of priceless. Take her, feed her, |
| 0:23.3 | make core memories. I don't have to do anything. Main thing, I don't have to do anything. |
| 0:29.3 | To hear this and more, listen to Good Mom's Bad Choices from Black Effect Podcast Network on the |
| 0:34.1 | IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. |
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| 0:42.8 | everybody. |
| 0:44.1 | From Bloomberg Business Week, I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. |
| 0:46.7 | And I'm Max Chaffkin. |
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| 1:02.8 | The single grades marketing campaign, the music business has ever seen. |
| 1:05.3 | I decided to ask people how they felt about the penny going away. |
| 1:09.4 | Listen to everybody's business wherever you get your podcasts. |
... |
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