Mississippi John Hurt
Hats
“It’s A Magic Hat !” from the story about Stack O’Lee
Mississippi
John Hurt was known for the hats he wore and for the mentions of hats in his
songs; particularly in his version of Stack O’Lee:
"What I care about you little
babies, your darlin' lovin' wife?
You done stole my Stetson hat, I'm bound to take your life"
That bad man, cruel Stack O' Lee”
According
to John’s telling of the Stack O’Lee story, Stack believed that his hat was magic,
and that he could not be harmed if he wore it.
Perhaps
that’s why Mississippi John Hurt always wore a hat, and he was so well known
for wearing one that Folksinger Tom Paxton mentioned John’s hat in his tribute
song to him: “Did you hear John Hurt?”
“On a straight-back chair, with his
felt hat on,
He tickled our fancies With his Avalon.......”
The image
we all have of John is of him playing his guitar, wearing his hat, and smiling
as he rocked to the beautiful music he created.
The
Mississippi John Hurt Blues Foundation is proud to offer hats that we know
“Daddy John” would have approved and worn himself. Our Webmaster Frank Delaney lives out West in
Spokane, Washington, and being a wearer of blues hats himself for many years,
he just happened to know one of the few Hatters left in America.
Dave Wolf, owner of Wolf’s Hattery and Mercantile,
is a haberdasher selling men’s furnishings like hats, wool caps,
belts, etc. and is an actual “Hatter.” Using tools that were antiques 50
years ago, he practices the all but lost art of cleaning, blocking and, yes,
even making hats. He fell into this bygone trade working at a store which
sold Western wear which went out of business, and Wolf bought the hat
department which included all of the ancient wood crown and flange blocks
dating back to the 1800’s.
Wolf looked
at pictures of hats worn by Mississippi John Hurt and chose a Made in the USA
Hat that matches the style of John’s. Dave attaches and bows the custom
embroidered hatband with John’s actual signature on the hats for us, and ships
them to our customers.
So when you
wear your Mississippi John Hurt hat – remember – it’s a magic hat !