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Calgary White Hat
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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.
If you see somebody in a white cowboy hat in Toronto, you know immediately they're from 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 himself and his family members, and the rest sold out in a day. In 1947, Shumiatcher produced 240 white hats for the Stampede, which also sold out.
In 1948, 250 Calgary Stampeders fans wore their Smithbilt white hats to the 36th Grey Cup championship in Toronto. Many gave their hats to Torontonians whom they befriended; one gave a hat to the mayor. The 1948 Grey Cup event caused the Calgary White Hat to be regarded as a symbol of the city's hospitality.
In 1950, newly elected mayor of Calgary Donald Hugh Mackay, who had been part of the 1948 Grey Cup excursion, initiated the practice of presenting a Smithbilt white hat to every visiting dignitary. City Council aldermen increasingly grew uncomfortable with the practice, which they viewed as a show: Alderman P.N.R. Morrison protested that "The white hats undermine efforts to establish Calgary as an oil and industrial centre", and Alderman Grant MacEwan said, "The presentations have been carried to a foolish extreme". In 1958, the City Council voted to limit the number of mayoral hat-giving ceremonies to 15 per year. Mackay responded by launching a White Hat Fund with the help of local businessmen; the white hatting ceremony was eventually taken over by Tourism Calgary.
The mayor's white hatting ceremony is considered the equivalent of bestowing the keys to the city. The mayor's office conducts 15 to 25 white hatting ceremonies per year; among its recipients have been Queen Elizabeth II and William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; world leaders Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush; the Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II, and Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean; and entertainers Bob Dylan, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, David Lee Roth, Luciano Pavarotti, Oprah Winfrey, and Mickey Mouse.
In 1969, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, tolerated the white hatting faux pas of new mayor Rod Sykes when Sykes, who had not received the message that the Duke already possessed two Calgary White Hats from previous visits, welcomed the arriving royal with a white hat. Philip muttered, "Not another one". Then he remarked, "You must give out dozens of these things. ... I can always use it for carrying water around ... or to put flowers in when I get home".
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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.
If you see somebody in a white cowboy hat in Toronto, you know immediately they're from 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 himself and his family members, and the rest sold out in a day. In 1947, Shumiatcher produced 240 white hats for the Stampede, which also sold out.
In 1948, 250 Calgary Stampeders fans wore their Smithbilt white hats to the 36th Grey Cup championship in Toronto. Many gave their hats to Torontonians whom they befriended; one gave a hat to the mayor. The 1948 Grey Cup event caused the Calgary White Hat to be regarded as a symbol of the city's hospitality.
In 1950, newly elected mayor of Calgary Donald Hugh Mackay, who had been part of the 1948 Grey Cup excursion, initiated the practice of presenting a Smithbilt white hat to every visiting dignitary. City Council aldermen increasingly grew uncomfortable with the practice, which they viewed as a show: Alderman P.N.R. Morrison protested that "The white hats undermine efforts to establish Calgary as an oil and industrial centre", and Alderman Grant MacEwan said, "The presentations have been carried to a foolish extreme". In 1958, the City Council voted to limit the number of mayoral hat-giving ceremonies to 15 per year. Mackay responded by launching a White Hat Fund with the help of local businessmen; the white hatting ceremony was eventually taken over by Tourism Calgary.
The mayor's white hatting ceremony is considered the equivalent of bestowing the keys to the city. The mayor's office conducts 15 to 25 white hatting ceremonies per year; among its recipients have been Queen Elizabeth II and William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; world leaders Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush; the Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II, and Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean; and entertainers Bob Dylan, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, David Lee Roth, Luciano Pavarotti, Oprah Winfrey, and Mickey Mouse.
In 1969, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, tolerated the white hatting faux pas of new mayor Rod Sykes when Sykes, who had not received the message that the Duke already possessed two Calgary White Hats from previous visits, welcomed the arriving royal with a white hat. Philip muttered, "Not another one". Then he remarked, "You must give out dozens of these things. ... I can always use it for carrying water around ... or to put flowers in when I get home".
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