h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Stetson (Cowboy Hat) - A1092764
Author: PhantomObserver - U232722

Previously submitted to the Writing Workshop; revised after 3 days of commentary.

I would mention the white Stetsons which are worn in the spring/summer are made of straw (?) and the black felt ones are usually worn in the Autumn/Winter months.

When i bought my two in Austin I was told never to wear the White Stetson after Labor Day - it just simply wasn't done

The WW thread for this fine entry is here F129226?thread=290671


Scout

I've emailed a couple of people (including Mrs Gosho's dad who was born, raised, and still lives in San Antonio) about Stetson/cowboy hat etiquette. I'll post the results when I get enough replies to form a concensus


Scout

A fine entry - succinct but none the worse for that. I look forward to seeing what Gosho's research unearths. It's probably worth linking to Messrs. Stetson's very stylish website: http://www.stetson.com.

Normally I'd agree, but I think I'd like to confine my linking to h2g2 entries; other links might be considered inappropriate commercial stuff, and stetson.com is unabashedly a commercial site.

I've added Ashley's points and am looking forward to whatever Gosho comes up with.

It used to be that you couldn't link to *any* commercial websites, but the rules have been relaxed slightly:

F77636?thread=220096&post=2540276#p2540276
"Sites that are purely commercial (if the only information a site offers is regarding purchasing their product) will still be removed."

As far as I can tell, the Stetson website doesn't break that rule, although it does have a lot of tedious Flash animation


Scout

All right, would stetsonhats.com be a more appropriate site? A lot less Flash animation there.

It might if my browser didn't keep returning a 'www.stetsonhats.com could not be found. Please check the name and try again' message


Scout

Sorry, I got it wrong. Try stetsonhat.com.

Here's what I've found out so far about cowboy hat etiquette in Texas:

You normally wear a black Stetson during winter and a straw or white Stetson in the summer months. There seems to be disagreement about when the white/black hat season begins and ends, but summer is pretty much white straw season, spring and autumn white felt, and winter black felt.

At night-time you can wear a black felt hat 12 months out of the year. You can also wear white (silver) felt 12 months out of the year. Wearing a straw hat at night is like wearing running shoes to a formal occasion, although I'm sure I recall seeing people walking into The Broken Spoke - the most famous dancehall in Austin, one of the most famous in Texas, and a bastion of country music - wearing white straw hats.

I'm also finding disagreement about when to take off your hat and when to keep it on. Mostly it appears that a cowboy hat should be removed indoors unless you're in a public space (include lifts, shops, banks, post offices), although it's ok to keep it on whilst on the floor of Texas dancehall (unless your partner is taller and she would keep knocking it). It should be removed in the presence of ladies, and at mealtimes unless there's no safe place to put it.

When removed, the hat should be held in such a way that only the outside can be seen.

One thing which there is no disagreement about though is that you should *NEVER, EVER* touch a cowboy hat without first asking permission of its owner, and if he says no, then don't pursue it further.

I'll let you know if I come up with anything else.


Scout

This is a good entry. I don't live anywhere near a place where anybody even wears that type of hat, so this was very informative for me. Overall, I'd have to say that I couldn't find anything I'd have you change.

Well done!

I've added some of the tips, giving Gosho the credit for research.

I appreciate the credit, but as a Scout I'm only doing my job by helping along with the entry - there's no need to add my name, nice though the thought is Also, putting my name on it bars me from being able to recommend it according to the Scouts code of conduct

Incidentally, the guidelines I posted are more general than just for Austin - they're more Texas in general


Scout

All right, I've taken out the Gosho credit and changed the line a bit. How's it look?

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