The first hat I ever bought for myself was in 1966 and I was 8 years old. There was an \u201cArmy-Navy\u201d store in downtown Austin, Texas, and I figured they would have one. I had been scrapin\u2019 change around and rat-holin\u2019 every dollar I could get my hands on and had $7. I figured that ought to do it.<\/p>\n
Being just a touch on the independent side, I managed to get it bought. Cost me six of my $7. It was great, straw with a 4-inch brim and a RCA crease in the crown. The hat fit, but I looked like a really skinny standup lamp with a \u201chuge\u201d lampshade on it. But it didn\u2019t matter to me, I was coool!<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve owned hundreds over the years, straw and felt. Most of them store-bought but a couple custom-made. I heard early on that a cowboy decides pretty quick what kind of crease he\u2019s gonna wear and sticks with it through his lifetime. I tried really hard to be one of those guys but just couldn\u2019t make it happen; sometimes I just felt like something different.<\/p>\n
Once I learned how to crease one with steam, the \u201chorse was out of the barn.\u201d I\u2019ve tried just about everything imaginable crease-wise, and at this stage of my life, I\u2019ve gone for \u201csimplicity.\u201d Flat-crowned and flat-brimmed, with a stampede string.<\/p>\n
Sounds kind of familiar, don\u2019t it? All those hats and all of those creases and here we are, back where we started. The \u201ccircle of life\u201d perhaps? Perhaps.<\/p>\n
As David Allen Coe sang, \u201cDrifter, can you make folks feel what you feel inside \u2019cause if you\u2019re big-star bound, let me tell you, it\u2019s a long hard ride.\u201d<\/p>\n