John Wayne's "Big Buck" Stetson Cowboy Hat from Republic Pictures
DESCRIPTIONFrom the esteemed Ray Bentley Collection, this original John Wayne Stetson cowboy hat is an extremely neat artifact from cowboy history. Believed to have been worn by the star himself, this hat shows the interior wear we would expect for a working actor on set.
The black felt itself is in beautiful condition and a beautiful example of the famous Stetson brand made especially for John Wayne himself.
History & context below.
DETAILS & MEASUREMENTSMeasures 15" width x 18" length x 10" height
Inside rim measures 22.75" – a 7 1/4 hat size
Beautiful condition to the felted hat, with sweat stains to the interior lining and wear to the gold lettering on the interior leather band
Believed to have been worn by the star himself, we can assume those sweat stains are from The Duke himself
Factory-applied gold lettering on the interior hat band reads “John Wayne” and “Big Buck” with the Republic Pictures and Stetson logos
From the prestigious Ray Bentley Collection
Provenance and authentication included
DESCRIPTIONFrom the esteemed Ray Bentley Collection, this original John Wayne Stetson cowboy hat is an extremely neat artifact from cowboy history. Believed to have been worn by the star himself, this hat shows the interior wear we would expect for a working actor on set.
The black felt itself is in beautiful condition and a beautiful example of the famous Stetson brand made especially for John Wayne himself.
History & context below.
DETAILS & MEASUREMENTSMeasures 15" width x 18" length x 10" height
Inside rim measures 22.75" – a 7 1/4 hat size
Beautiful condition to the felted hat, with sweat stains to the interior lining and wear to the gold lettering on the interior leather band
Believed to have been worn by the star himself, we can assume those sweat stains are from The Duke himself
Factory-applied gold lettering on the interior hat band reads “John Wayne” and “Big Buck” with the Republic Pictures and Stetson logos
From the prestigious Ray Bentley Collection
Provenance and authentication included
DESCRIPTIONFrom the esteemed Ray Bentley Collection, this original John Wayne Stetson cowboy hat is an extremely neat artifact from cowboy history. Believed to have been worn by the star himself, this hat shows the interior wear we would expect for a working actor on set.
The black felt itself is in beautiful condition and a beautiful example of the famous Stetson brand made especially for John Wayne himself.
History & context below.
DETAILS & MEASUREMENTSMeasures 15" width x 18" length x 10" height
Inside rim measures 22.75" – a 7 1/4 hat size
Beautiful condition to the felted hat, with sweat stains to the interior lining and wear to the gold lettering on the interior leather band
Believed to have been worn by the star himself, we can assume those sweat stains are from The Duke himself
Factory-applied gold lettering on the interior hat band reads “John Wayne” and “Big Buck” with the Republic Pictures and Stetson logos
From the prestigious Ray Bentley Collection
Provenance and authentication included
➼ History & Context
American actor and icon John Wayne was one of the most well known actors of all time and practically synonymous with the Old West. Known as “Duke,” he starred in 179 film and tv series over his illustrious career that spanned silent films in the 20s all the way through Hollywood’s Golden Age and into the 1970s, and posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Born May 26, 1907 in Iowa with the name Marion Robert Morrison, the man America loved grew up in Southern California. As a youth, a local fireman gave him the nickname “Little Duke” after his constant airedale canine companion Duke, and as he much preferred that to Marion, the nickname stuck throughout his life. Interestingly, one of his teenage jobs in an ice cream shop was for a man who shod horses for the nearby Hollywood studios.
Starting off in small parts, most of which in Westerns, at Fox after leaving USC – he lost his football scholarship after a fateful bodysurfing accident – Wayne finally reached stardom with 1939’s Stagecoach. He remained a top box office draw for over three decades.
His career was long and storied, and his contribution to American film and the concept of the Old West and Frontier America cannot be understated. As he himself had engraved on a plaque:
"Each of us is a mixture of some good and some not so good qualities. In considering one's fellow man, it's important to remember the good things ... We should refrain from making judgments just because a fella happens to be a dirty, rotten S.O.B."
