John Batterson Stetson (May 5, 1830 - February 18, 1906) was a U.S. hat manufacturer; the stetson hat was named for him. Born in Orange, New Jersey, Stetson learned hatmaking and traveled to the West in the 1860s to improve his health. He returned to Philadelphia and began manufacturing hats there suited to the needs of the Western cowboy. These hats, known as Stetsons, soon became the popular headgear of the West. The John B. Stetson Company, formed in 1865, became, … Wikipedia
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