Customer Reviews

Boss of the Plains

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think this was a very interesting way to tell people how the cowboy hat was invented. The artwork was what first attracted me to this book, and the illustrations were wonderful. I am 10 years old, and I think this book would be great for children of all ages.

This is a story of John Batterson Stetson and how he invented the hat "Boss Of The Plains" or more commonly known as the "ten-gallon hat". As a boy, John Stetson dreamed of going west. When at last he went, he became an important part of the Great American Frontier Adventure. Others struck gold or blazed trails through unknown territory, but John Stetson made his mark with a hat. The beautiful pictures in this book could have told the story themselves and it will get kids interested in an important part of history.

I bought this book for my little cousin as we are related distantly to John Batterson Stetson and thought he would get a kick out of reading about someone connected to him. He loved it! The pictures are colorful, the information interesting! Thank you for carrying the book!

Pair this up with "Bad News for Outlaws" by Vaunda Michaux Nelson - that book tells about lawmen in the old west (specifically, Bass Reeves) and this book tells about their hats. It's a story of the inventiveness and skill of a hatmaker. John B. Stetson brought the right hat to market, at the right time, and became an American icon.

Another tie in is with the early reader "Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express" -- they mentioned him buying a hat that cost a month's wages.

This book is awesome! I liked it because it gave me an idea about how hats are made. I also learned about the first person to make cowboy hats -- John Stetson. Did you know that you could buy a Boss of the Plains hat TODAY? Online? For about $300? The pictures in this book are colorful. You can see how he made the hats, and you can see what the West looked like during the Gold Rush in Colorado. I think this book is very good for children who are interested in the West. I am in 2nd grade and homeschooled. I recommend it for 2nd graders and up to 5th graders, too.

I think the boss of the plains is a good book.First,he made hats for people.Then he went to look for gold in Colorodo.He made himself a hat.A man on a horse offered to buy it for 5 dollars.He decided to make hats again.All of a sudden people were buying the hats.I liked this story because it had cowboys and lots of hats.

This story The Boss of the PLAINS.Is about the west peoplen that always

ware hats.The father and his childern own their own hea compeny.The chidern make the hats.While the father sells the hats.The hats were different sizes,colors,and shapes.I think that they were smart to ware their hats in the type of bad wheather that they were having.

Boss of the Plains: The Hat that won the West

Illustrated biography of the man who invented the hat. Son of a hatter who went West for his health. After making felt for a tent, designed and built the prototype for the first mass-produced cowboy hat.

The story of J.B. Stetson is the story of the birth of the Cowboy Hat. Growing up the son of a hatter he heard stories of the West. He went West for his health and had great adventures. Traveling with some friends he made felt for a tent, out of fur. About a month later he saw that his short brimmed derby hat, offered near no protection from the sun, wind, rain and snow. So he built himself a wide brimmed, tall crowned, thick felt hat, unlike anything else.

Eventually a trail-boss bought the hat right off of his head for a quarter ounce of gold. When Stetson returned to Philadelphia he really could not sell many hats. But in his mind he could see the horseman wearing his high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat as he rode away. It must have been a sight.

John decided to market a hat in the West using an unique marketing method. He called his hat the "Boss of the Plains." He made them all the same: light tan felt, with a wide brim, a high crown and a plain band. He sent free samples to every hat store in the West.

He used advanced payments from the West to turn out hats as fast as he could. A Boss of the plains hat could cost a cowboy's whole month's wages. But it met the needs of the west like no other hat can. It protected against the sun and the rain. It was used to fan the flames of campfires. Carried feed and water to horses, and used to wave cows into the corral.

Stetson's were expensive hats, they would impress the lady's at a dance, or be used to gather berries. It was the perfect decoy when a cowboy was in trouble, or soft padding for his head when he slept.

John B. Stetson made his mark on the West with what later would be known as the "Cowboy Hat!"

I liked this book and so do my classmates. The illustrations look like they have been done by a master artist! I recommend this book to any kid because the story talks about history of long ago.

This book includes how pioneers survived and how they moved from place to place. Also they show what it's like to live in the Wild West. They use colorful language and descriptive words so you can actually feel what's going on.

This is a story of John Batterson Stetson and how he invented the hat "Boss Of The Plains" or more commonly known as the "ten-gallon hat". As a boy, John Stetson dreamed of going west. When at last he went, he became an important part of the Great American Frontier Adventure. Others struck gold or blazed trails through unknown territory, but John Stetson made his mark with a hat. The beautiful pictures in this book could have told the story themselves and it will get kids interested in an important part of history.