Calgary White Hat

The Calgary White Hat is a white felt cowboy hat which is the symbol of both the Calgary Stampede annual rodeo and the city of Calgary. Created by Morris Shumiatcher, owner of Smithbilt Hat Company, it was worn for the first time at the 1946 Stampede. In the early 1950s, Mayor of Calgary Donald Hugh Mackay began presenting the white hat to visiting dignitaries, a tradition that the mayor's office continues to this day. Thousands of tourists and groups also participate in "white hatting ceremonies" conducted by Tourism Calgary and by volunteer greeters at the Calgary International Airport. In 1983, the Calgary White Hat was incorporated into the design of the flag of Calgary.

The Calgary White Hat was created by Morris Shumiatcher (1892–1958), a Russian-Jewish immigrant who came to Alberta with his father in 1909. His mother and ten other siblings joined them in Calgary in 1911. In 1919, Shumiatcher bought Calgary Hat Works, a hat cleaning and blocking firm, and turned it into Smithbilt Hat Company, which would manufacture and sell hats as well. The company operated retail stores in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.

Smithbilt initially produced fedoras, top hats, and bowler hats. In the 1940s, the board of the Calgary Stampede decided to encourage the wearing of cowboy hats at the annual rodeo and Shumiatcher sought to meet the demand. Though light pastel hats for men were then in vogue, Shumiatcher opted to manufacture a pure white cowboy hat. He imported the white felt from Russia through his Jewish contacts there who were tailors and hat makers, and produced 18 white hats in 1946. William Herron, a local rancher and oilman who often won the best costume prize in the Calgary Stampede parade, purchased four of them for him and his family, and the rest sold out in a day. In 1947, Shumiatcher produced 240 white hats for the Stampede, which also sold out.

...
Wikipedia