Boss of the Plains

by DK Publishing

Other authorsLaurie Carlson (Author)

1998

Status

Available

Collection

E Picture Books

Publication

DK CHILDREN (1998), Edition: First Edition, 32 pages

Description

The story of John Stetson and how he came to create the most popular hat west of the Mississippi.

Media reviews

Kirkus

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1998) Carlson celebrates the crowning (so to speak) achievement of John Batterson Stetson, a Philadelphia hatmaker who went West for his health in the 1850s and invented the emblematic piece of cowboy gear still identified with him, heavy enough to keep off the rain, wide

enough to block the sun, tough enough to stand years of abuse--or, as some said, "you can smell it across a room, but you just can't wear it out." Meade surrounds this lively odyssey with a kaleidoscope of brightly painted collage cowboy scenes, taking her ruddy-bearded artisan from his boyhood home in New Jersey to the gold fields of Pikes Peak, then back East where he found his fortune at last. Carlson closes her account with a biographical note while a cowboy poet's heartfelt tribute appears on the back of the jacket. Steer readers who want to know more about Stetson, or about western fashion in general, to M. Jean Greenlaw's Ranch Dressing (1993).

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The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July/August 1998 (Vol. 51, No. 11)) John Stetson was a consumptive eastern hatmaker when he decided to go West in 1859, joining an expedition to Colorado. He used his hatmaker’s felting skills to make a tent and then a

funny-looking but immensely useful and durable felt hat. When Stetson returned back East, he decided to market that hat, which he called “The Boss of the Plains.” The rest is, as they say, history, since the hat we now know as the Stetson became the cowboy’s reliable friend and an icon of the West. Carlson resists the temptation to be cute, but she’s clearly appreciative of this chapeau chapter of history: her brief description of the felting process is simple and lucid, and her enumeration of the many uses for a Stetson (“It shielded a cowpoke’s eyes from blinding sun and caught the rain before it trickled down his back . . . Or came in handy when the sweetest huckleberries were ready to be picked”) is quietly picturesque. Meade’s mixed-media illustrations use cut paper to give the earth-toned scenes an immediacy and grounded gaiety often missing from images of the past, but her careful employment of colored-pencil shading and watercolor highlights gives the spreads more subtlety, unity, and textural blending than pure collage sometimes displays. As well as being an enjoyable story of an American symbol, this is a compact demonstration of the lesser-sung role of entrepreneurship in westward expansion. A brief followup and bibliography cap things off. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 1998, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1998, Kroupa/DK Ink, 32p, $16.95. Grades 2-4.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member kthomp25

Picturesque, short and too the point, this book tells the story of John Batterson Stetson, one of 12 children, who worked in his father's hatmaker's shop in Orange, New Jersey. After becoming sickly in the damp shop, John decided to try his hand at gold mining in the Colorado Territory. After about

a year and being no richer, he relocated in Philadelphia and opened up a hat shop. Eventually, he decided to create a hat that differed from all the other hatmakers' wares, and created a broad brimmed hat to shield owners from the fierce sun, wind, and rain. He shipped them west and waited to see how they would be received. The rest is history....

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LibraryThing member l_rigsby

Though, at first glance, Mr. Stetson's story may not offer much insight into life today, it is the story of pursing your dreams despite failure. Presenting his story as the story of a hat, offers a unique perspective on the life of an interesting individual.

LibraryThing member ahernandez91

John B. Stetson designed and made hats that weren't common in the West. In particular, The Boss of the Plains, is a unique, but very different hat that people of the west weren't used to seeing. He had worked in his dad's hat shop in New Jersey all of his life so after moving to different parts of

the West, he tried to make money doing all that he knew how to do- making hats. He designed a hat that was wide-brimmed and high-crowned out of rabbit skin. He named it "Boss of the Plains". Stetson mailed one to every clothing store in the West in hopes that he could make profit. People of the West fell in love with this design and orders rolled in faster than he imagined. Boss of the Plains became the most popular hat of the West. This is a great story to read aloud for history lessons. Students could research different styles of hats and where they were most likely to be worn geographically. A history lesson could easily turn into a culture lesson involving research and writing.

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LibraryThing member K_Rodriguez

John Batterson Stetson's story of how his hats became the hottest accessory because of how useful they were. The hats were called Boss of the Plains, and because of their high demand, Stetson expanded his business. A cute story that helps us have a better understanding of the big hats used in the

Wild West.

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LibraryThing member Y-NhiVu

People say that it's the gold, land and government that started America to it's own uniqueness, but never have we heard of a hat! John Stetson came from a family of hat makers, but he realized the weather was taking a toll on his health. He then decided to head west. He tried finding gold, but soon

realized that his hat, the same hat from back home, was not helping him one bit. So, he made and designed his own very hat the helped him in so many ways. After leaving the gold digging business, he started his own hat business. Eventually, he had many people demand for his unique hat. Very soon, his hat became very popular, giving America it's new uniqueness, the Boss of the Plains hat.

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