How to shape and cut a felt cowboy hat at the historic Emporium Western Store in Bakersfield, Ca.

Рет қаралды 364,553

Күн бұрын

You'd be surprised how many people make the trip to the home of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard to get their cowboy hats shaped. A lot of famous country singers have stopped in when they roll through town to get their hats shaped. Ronda has become quite popular since we started showing her skills shaping cowboy hats. We went in and had her show us how she cuts and shapes felt cowboy hats. You'll also find out what keeps a felt cowboy hat stiff. Hope you're ready for that one. Throw a sub and click the bell icon for more BTUFF content. Billy at BTUFF.

Пікірлер: 341

@BenAndBarrett2023 2 жыл бұрын

I spent a lot of hours in this store back when I was a young bull rider. Big Al use to shape all of my hats and had me try out a couple of new hats that he found and thought would be a good fit for me, he would always have some new pictures to share. I was a young man, just starting out in rodeo, but Big Al always treated me as if I’d already won the world. He would always walk up to the register with me to make sure that I got every store discount possible. Big Al, the big red boot and Western Emporium will always have a big piece of my heart.

@ericksonjustinAK 2 жыл бұрын

She’s so beautifully humble. How can you not root for her.

@jasminhrnjic8827 Жыл бұрын

HELO MISS MYAWBOJ FRENDS BEAUTI FUL DALAS SITI SUPER HAT AJM CAWBOJ SHERIFF DOC HOLLIDAY☆ )>* KOLIKO KOSTA HAT DALIJE 100.$ DOLARS 200 DOLARS 300. DOLARS. NEZNAM ARONO .CIJENE HAT. SUPER HAT BRAWO MY FREND. 10. HAT. AJM JASMIN JOHN HRNJIC HOLLIDAY☆ SHERIFF☆)>* DOC HOLLDAY☆ DOCU U DALAS .😊FRENDS.

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

Keep it up. Sam Silver, grandson of the founder of the American Hat Company established in 1915, Houston, Texas.

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

I creased hats for 20 years in both a retail and factory environment. When Urban Cowboy came out retailers demanded we crease hats for them. They were determined to take the magic out of the hat buying experience. We did what or accounts wanted. I did not make a lick of sense. They wanted to take a hat out of a box and ring it up. Go figure.

@Cowboy3697 3 жыл бұрын

Wow. Keep it coming sir. I love hats and I love American hat company so the stories are awesome so legit with no sarcasm keep the history lessons coming

@Cowboy3697 3 жыл бұрын

I swear I’m not being sarcastic I want that to be crystal clear.

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

@@Cowboy3697 American Hat started in 1915 in steamy Houston, Texas. Sam Silver slept under wagons on then muddy Main Street.

@AlbaDoggy 2 жыл бұрын

@@Silver7481 that's amazing! Would there be a decumentery about that?

@johnwayneeverett6263 2 жыл бұрын

Best there is ...Ronda has always been Popular n most of all caring smiling happy Soul...Love ya Darling. SO HAPPY TO SEE YA SMILING N WORKING WITH YOUR SKILL SET ...WELL DONE.PROUD OF YA. GOD IS GOOD....ALWAYS.. John.

@davidhill2949 2 жыл бұрын

This is fascinating, I never knew that a hat could be shaped again after it gets all floppy, thanks for showing how this is done!

@NicGoldenEddie 2 жыл бұрын

Yep hat’s are awesome. Love Stetson.

@tkinney80 3 жыл бұрын

I know where I need to go now, grew up only 35 miles away. Can't wait to meet Rhonda.

@rondarlemons6429 3 жыл бұрын

Come see me🤠

@pickinscott Жыл бұрын

I was in the process of shaping a new straw hat when I ran across this video. I like to shape my own. I use an old tea kettle with a whistle on it to make the steam. I've done a few beaver hats, as well. Once, I found and old beat up Resistol straw hat at a garage sale; it was in really bad shape, all beat up. I bought it for pennies, brought it home, steamed it up and it was a favorite for years.

@charliejackson922 3 жыл бұрын

I was a roughstock cowboy in my early 20's and I let the bulls shape my hats for me

@shainbegay7899 3 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah 🤙🏼😂

@robgriz72 3 жыл бұрын

Was your head still in it?

@That_Guy_JL 3 жыл бұрын

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@paulrhodes482 3 жыл бұрын

Ronda is such a sweet lady and very helpful! I will be heading her way again soon for a new straw hat.

@patallen5095 3 жыл бұрын

Poetry in motion! Beautiful job!!

@christinepierce3989 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your video!!! I need to reshape a hat I bought, now I know how to do it.. just need the confidence to do it. I like the Australian shaped hat, and that's what I'm gonna try. Once again, thanks so much!

@marlena1jb 2 жыл бұрын

Me and my wife went to Bakersfield to go see Rhonda I bought a hat and she shaped it for me. It came out perfect she’s the best. She’s very friendly and very outgoing and she’s willing to help you out and pick a hat for you. We are definitely going to go back to get another one from her. Go see her people her hat shaping skills are awesome.👊🏼🇲🇽🇺🇸💪🏼

@jetcarddude 3 жыл бұрын

Watching a master at work is awesome......Thanks for sharing.

@Alexsmith-hp2mz 3 жыл бұрын

I agree she needs her own signature hat just awesome personality nice interview you should travel the world just interviewing the best hat shapers

@coptertim 3 жыл бұрын

You know you're watching a true artist when they make it look so easy. I know where I'm going for my next hat!

@coptertim 3 жыл бұрын

O well... Check them out when you get home. Did you get a good camp spot? That's a big park.

@talkingrock7011 3 жыл бұрын

I had the privilege of having one of these skilled people close to my home , he had shaped for some well known actors and movies , I never seen him without one of his custom formed hats it’s a skill that my soon become part of the past

@user-hb8be5wb4q 3 жыл бұрын

Great info, great vlog, thanks for sharing with us. Very interesting hats and their molding techniques. Looks like a Kevin Costner hat.

@JTF37 3 жыл бұрын

Ronda, you are incredibly talented! I need to come in and get a few hats.

@douglascox9996 3 жыл бұрын

My dad wore a broad-brimmed campaign hat in the US Army back in the 20s and 30s before WW2 in the US, China, and Philippines. The expedient they used to restiffen and waterproof the wool felt was to “paint” it with sugar water. The “paint” was re-applied after every drenching from rain.

@richardcostello360 Жыл бұрын

Jeez in Australia we just beeswax our slouch hats..... it waterproof better and doesn't suddenly become a wasp magnet

@douglascox9996 Жыл бұрын

@@richardcostello360 US Army was/is too often more concerned with parade ground appearance than field expediency. Someone may have thought that sugar-painted campaign hats looked better on parade. I remember seeing sugar-painted tires on combat and field vehicles at Stateside military installations in the 1960s, with the vehicle bodies painted glossy OD because they looked better in the motor pool.

@richardcostello360 Жыл бұрын

@@douglascox9996 Australia hasn't used the slouch hat in the field since the 60's......but because we've got bases in high heat/high humidity areas we tend to remember that putting "parade ground" effort into a hat that's got a high likelihood of being rained on is a bad idea 😂 Still wear 100% polyester parade uniforms though 😩

@brunningwolf Жыл бұрын

I always come back to this talented woman she is the best greetings from the Oglala Sioux nation

@DanMaker 3 жыл бұрын

I think the beetle snot is also known as shellac. It's also used in time release medicine and as a wood finish among hundreds of other uses.

@liquidmidnight1 3 жыл бұрын

From the shell of the lac beetles. It takes many thousands of the little buggers.

@rondarlemons6429 3 жыл бұрын

Yes thank you for watching and thank you for your comment have a great day

@allit.164 21 күн бұрын

@@liquidmidnight1I know it's been 3 years according to the time stamp but in case anyone else is wandering these comments--it is from the words shell and lac because it's a secretion from female lac bugs but it's not their shells, it's just harvested and processed as little shards. Because it's gathered from the trees these bugs are living, traveling, and secreting on there are insects incidentally harvested with it but you might be thinking of their relatives in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, the three different cochineal scale insects (cochineal, Armenian cochineal, and Polish cochineal) who are directly processed for red dyes.

@matthewwinters1297 3 жыл бұрын

What a sweetheart! Thanks for sharing.

@waynecastleman1363 2 жыл бұрын

She's a skilled hat lady , the best I've seen anywhere !

@joeyriddle 2 жыл бұрын

This is so interesting! I would love to learn all the different names of the shapes and styles! What a lovely lady🤗

@djustilien Жыл бұрын

So awesome. Im starting to learn to shape hats now. I'm enjoying it alot.

@sherrywyllie2163 3 жыл бұрын

I worked at a western store in Stockton CA 30 years ago and learned this. The owner (Dorothy) was so good at it. She was a great lady.

@LodiSanta 3 жыл бұрын

I’m in Stockton too! Where you recommend I go for a nice straw? I teach for SUSD!

@sherrywyllie2163 3 жыл бұрын

@@LodiSanta the store I worked for was called Broken Arrow on Copperopolis Rd just east of Alpine Rd. When Dorothy died her daughter took it over but not sure if it's still open. If not then try Robinsons in Lodi out off of Hyw 12 east. Its same parking lot as Mexican restaurant on south side of the road.

@timallbritton3716 3 жыл бұрын

Wow! Finally, a reason to actually go to California!

@NicGoldenEddie 2 жыл бұрын

You are awesome Ronda, since the first videos I saw I wanted to come over and get a hat. Greets from Germany. ❤️❤️👍

@masterchief586 Жыл бұрын

Great artist she truly is.

@fishngolfnguns3689 3 жыл бұрын

Loved this! Love hats!

@lowes891646 2 жыл бұрын

Boy howdy! That hat looks amazing!!! Great work, Ronda! I've been through Bakersfield/ Oildale many times. I sure miss old Buck. He was born in Sherman, TX, about 65 miles north of Big D, my home town. Great video! I had to Subscribe!

@ginamarcaccio5088 Жыл бұрын

We had Nudies Western Wear on Lankershim in No Hollywood, CA. Best store ever for cowboy/girl clothes. Nudie would give us nurses “Nudie Bucks” who cared for him to use at his store. He catered to the Hollywood crowd.

@phillipwilliams4966 3 жыл бұрын

She just did a hat for me . Did a great job; I got just what I wanted.

@megagatvol Жыл бұрын

Just awesome to see how it’s done…watching from the U.K..

@Bodeesafa 3 жыл бұрын

Cool post. I’m gonna go get one from her shortly. I live close by and needed a new connection

@tommartin1223 3 жыл бұрын

I'm only 70 miles away. I need to take a drive

@valcantu934 3 жыл бұрын

Got my hat shaped by her! Love the Emporium and its staff.

@kee7678 3 жыл бұрын

That's cool. How much roughly? I"m headed there to get one.

@fastglock45 2 жыл бұрын

@@kee7678 just wondering if you ever got a reply on cost and if you made it there? Im heading there from NJ in march

@kee7678 2 жыл бұрын

@@fastglock45 Hey man...no I didn't actually get a price yet from anybody and haven't headed up there yet. If you find out, please let me know too!

@homesickandwestbound4321 9 ай бұрын

Rad! I was in here while she was shaping some hats this weekend!

@nativetexan9776 3 жыл бұрын

I always crease my own hats using a tea kettle for steam. That way, if I don't like it, I have only myself to blame.

@roadmonkeytj 3 жыл бұрын

I've done just that. I usually have to reshape my brim a couple times a year because the elements like to change it. Also do my own gapping

@wendyaminzadeh7846 3 жыл бұрын

Cool guys

@Dstrbrdgrnd 2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely! I have my tea kettle and have reshaped my hats myself👍🤠

@BeverleyKane Ай бұрын

Thanks for the hint. My horse stepped on my vaquero style straw (palm leaf?) hat and the crown is dented in so it wobbles on my head. Can't just punch it out. Will try the teakettle trick.

@simplemanduke7128 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome video. I'm going there!!

@jenniferwhite7242 Жыл бұрын

Beautiful work

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

My grandfather started the American Hat Company in Houston, 1915. Still love hats. His name was Sam Silver. My name too.

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

@MysteriousOklahoma Hi. I continued it and did not. My dad, Sam Silver's son, wanted to control everything. I mean everything. Micro-manager. My way or the highway. He cut me loose one Saturday morning. Things happen for the best. He was going to run the show and that means every inch of it. Great memories. I just did not meet his specifications.

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

@MysteriousOklahoma Hey. The hat company was located in Houston. It’s hot, steamy and too busy for my tastes. I went to college in New Mexico which is high and dry and beautiful. I figured out how to retreat to my old stomping grounds of NM. I got myself fired and moved back to God’s country. Life is

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

@MysteriousOklahoma I am living large in New Mexico. Houston sucks. It’s good I got fired. I would have missed life’s adventure. Houston is the arm pit of the universe. Glad things happened the way they did. I knew a lot about hats. Now I know a lot about enjoying life.🪕

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

@MysteriousOklahoma Give me mountains. Think one would fit in my casket?

@conorcooley9275 3 жыл бұрын

Cool to see this comment considering I work at American Hat Company now!

@titogonzalezpimping 6 ай бұрын

Just got a Stetson 100x diffently gonna make some time to have her shape it for me heard so much good things about her and this store

@thesixshooter6506 8 ай бұрын

Very cool. You are so talented and the hat looks amazing! Very informative too... I'm new at wearing cowboy hats and this video really helped. Good stuff!

@Akkordeondirigent 2 жыл бұрын

James Stewart, "Winchester 73" in the background! That´s nice! And I love the color of that hat you are working on. Wanted that for my new stetson but did not find it in the shape I prefer (crown pinched front and wide low brim). Now I know I could reshape it. To late!

@anonimoboy 2 жыл бұрын

respect for this lady

@jayostrem6214 3 жыл бұрын

Love the videos, keep up the good work!

@btuff 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you like them!

@haveaknifeday 2 жыл бұрын

That was a pleasure to watch

@BlackBriar0204 2 жыл бұрын

A true artist

@clint3287 2 жыл бұрын

You are awesome!

@nosjourneyman 2 жыл бұрын

lovely lady who absolutely loves what she is doing

@rubendevereaux6086 2 жыл бұрын

She is absolutely awesome! If you want to go and see an awesome hat shaper, go to El Paso Texas the star western wear on I-10. The guy there is an absolute genius when it comes to hand shaping cleaning, anything that has to do with a cowboy hat, he is awesome at it.

@toddcooper5781 5 ай бұрын

Love y’all’s Videos and plan on coming from Cleburne, Texas to see y’all some day… I’m wanting a Silverbelly 7 3/8 either Resistol or RodeoKing

@frankthywissen8138 3 жыл бұрын

COOL!!!.........And a nice Lady!!!

@tylerchapman1872 Жыл бұрын

thank you guys to help me understand

@3814james Жыл бұрын

I just reshaped a very wrinkeled Steven's cowboy hat I bought at a yard sale for $ 5.00 it now looks Great thanks to your video

@bryanb1111 3 жыл бұрын

She has a great laugh😃

@rondarlemons6429 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks🤠

@vaughanellis7866 3 жыл бұрын

The hats are stiffened with shellac which comes from the Shellac Beetle.

@cliffordmattern2454 3 жыл бұрын

Lol. I got more hats than hair on my head. She did a perfect job. Excellent talent 👏. That color i have always been partial to. Great great job rhonda.

@rondarlemons6429 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you🤠

@Silver7481 3 жыл бұрын

Hey. Tell Andres Trevino hello for me. He was a great member of the old American Hat. I miss hats.

@Max-dx7rd 3 жыл бұрын

After watching your videos at Emporium I definitely want to get a hat shaped there!

@btuff 3 жыл бұрын

It's pretty cool to get a hat shaped at the same place Buck Owens and Merle Haggard did.

@tonysilva1681 8 ай бұрын

She’s fix one of my hats after I got caught in the rain, one day awesome lady did a great job

@jeanmorin3247 2 жыл бұрын

It would have been fun and useful if you had shown this page on the wall with the various classic shapes so that we can play with them. Also, are some kinds of faces or heads better served by some particular shapes? Thank you. Very interesting for someone who comes from quite far!

@kimcase9 2 жыл бұрын

She's Great!! lovely girl!!

@OffGridFromTheGroundUp 3 жыл бұрын

Felt for Labor Day until Memorial Day, straw for Memorial day until Labor Day.

@thehoneybadger8089 3 жыл бұрын

Unless you're in southern Arizona🙃🌵

@vladimirlopez7840 3 жыл бұрын

Or Florida

@donrumsey3816 3 жыл бұрын

or texas!

@roadmonkeytj 3 жыл бұрын

Black 10x all year long have a Sunday hat and a everyday hat

@OffGridFromTheGroundUp 3 жыл бұрын

@@roadmonkeytj you guys are responding to this like I made this rule up... this rule was in existence long before I was around... unless of course you live in the jungle or desert...why on earth would you be looking at felt hats if you live in the jungle or Deseret, in the first place?

@musicmatty67 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant 👍🇺🇸

@kurtinklern3262 3 жыл бұрын

"Beetle Snot" is a cute term, I suppose, however it is really SHELLAC, and yes, indeed, it occurs in nature from beetles. There is even shellac on apples to make them shinier.

@sledgehammer9739 3 жыл бұрын

At the beginning that hat looks like the one the Undertaker wears.

@richardmoll5618 3 жыл бұрын

Or the amish

@waltersickinger1499 3 жыл бұрын

Beetle snot is actually shellac......

@davidmoody7450 3 жыл бұрын

@@hayden8491 well there goes the felt hat industry once peta finds out....lol

@jameswitt2981 3 жыл бұрын

Grew up in K.V., live in Texas now... fun to watch these videos of businesses in Bakers-Patch... continue to grow and prosper . Old Dude..

@michaelrenaud8196 3 жыл бұрын

AWESOME HAT 🤠👍🇺🇸 💯🦅 AMERICAN MAID

@dallastoto3189 2 жыл бұрын

Man .. very kool

@whitetrashandhellbound6905 3 жыл бұрын

Lady, I NEED you to do me a hat. Amazing Talent 🤟🙏

@TieToter 2 ай бұрын

Great video. Really nice lady.

@bobhostetler8548 3 жыл бұрын

I learned shaping my own at sixteen years old with a tea kettle.

@nicolopez4963 3 жыл бұрын

Me too.

@mab0852 3 жыл бұрын

Me also, but a wallpaper steamer is greatness if you have one.

@docbrown6550 3 жыл бұрын

My favorite hat is the Black hat James Garner wore in Support your Local Sherriff.

@maryblaylock6545 3 жыл бұрын

Mine too!

@kee7678 3 жыл бұрын

yeah mine too

@user-bi5if1ip6t 3 жыл бұрын

Nice nice nice 👍🏻

@liquidmidnight1 3 жыл бұрын

You rock !!

@rondarlemons6429 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much appreciate it

@xrascal1 3 жыл бұрын

Who is this woman… She’s great!

@michaelschulze6545 3 жыл бұрын

local AND entertaining for the world

@daphnedevi Жыл бұрын

Not much more charming than a very skilled *and* humble person.

@henrycagle7827 3 жыл бұрын

Old hands never die

@ronp8899 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the great information and demonstration. Do you know what type of hats the buffalo soldiers wore? I'm interested in purchasing one. Some of the photos I've seen had the front of the brim folded back. Thanks once again.

@bmws1krr340 3 жыл бұрын

Best time I wasted ever. Love youtube.

@btuff 3 жыл бұрын

you drive a BMW and you think this is the biggest time you've wasted? lol

@bmws1krr340 3 жыл бұрын

@@btuff well when I'm on my BMW is a waste of 8.5 seconds at a time

@bmws1krr340 3 жыл бұрын

But I thought it was cool how hats are made

@TalonID 2 жыл бұрын

I was told by the late Tommy Corrigan (Crash Corrigan's son) that he added powdered sugar to the steamer water to make hats extra stiff. Tom's hats were always spot on for decades.

@lanceroark6386 2 жыл бұрын

I can still hear the jingle from the 80’s.

@gibsondrummer 3 жыл бұрын

She’s got the touch

@dhp4073 2 жыл бұрын

Just got a beautiful white Larry mahan 6x. Regular cattleman crown with oval brim point.

@michaeljtoney3544 Жыл бұрын

slick hat

@FabryRock 3 жыл бұрын

Cool

@scotthamp384 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not a fan of the cattlemen crease. I love the teardrop and like the wide brick By the way, last year, I was looking for a new felt hat, and the lady who owns my local western wear store had told me that she'd sold Rodeo King brand hats for a while, but then had to quit once she'd sold out because a customer had bought one in black. He wore it after he'd bought it and walked outside. It'd started to rain, and he went back in to the hat section and had the dye running down half of his face. So, the only two brands she primarily orders are Serratelli and Resistol

@TeensierPython 10 ай бұрын

Dang, I was just in the area and didn't know this place existed and I need my hat shaped. Bummer.

@michaelgarrigan3706 2 жыл бұрын

Rhonda, how do I go about getting the charcoal hat you shaped in this video...I love it...

@toddwaldo2147 2 жыл бұрын

Hey I have a question I bought an old hat that has lots of little brands on it though over on the brim in the crown but it's kind of floppy and there's no liner in it anymore if how would I send it to you and and what would be approximate cost of doing it