I have heard many stories about how the ten gallon hat got its name from. Many of them sound like they really could have been it, but others are a little bit more of a stretch though. Below are some of the more common theories about how the ten gallon hat was born.

The first story has to do with a Stetson hat’s fibers being weaved so tight that it was able to hold water as a shift bucket. In fact, this was used in a painting called “The Last Drop From His Stetson” by Lon Megargee. It shows a cowboy letting his horse drink from his hate.

The major problem with this theory is that a Stetson hat cannot hold water for that long. It is fabric, so it is going to drip out. The other major negative point is that a Stetson hat can barely hold one gallon of water let alone ten.

Some think that this theory is given some sort of basis because of the 1889 USS Maine battleship that sunk. Fourteen years later when they pulled it out, they found a Stetson hat that looked new once it was renovated. Some think this some how gives substance to the theory, or the beginnings of the theory of where the ten gallon hat came from.

The last theory that most find the most credible is that the English misunderstood a Spanish word to mean gallon, when the Spanish were really referring to a narrow braided trimming around the crown of the hat.

So, it didn’t originally have anything to do with a holding capacity but instead with the hatband of the Mexican sombrero.

So, this term that came about around 1925 really didn’t have anything to do with holding water, it was all about a miscommunication of a Spanish word. Many believe this is a better, more substantial theory, of have the ten gallon hat was first named.