Stetson helped popularize the “ten gallon” hat, but that doesn’t help me understand why these cowboy hats are considered ten gallon.  There are two common explanations.  The first, which is likely false, is that it refers to the hat’s ability to hold water (however, a real “ten gallon” hat only holds about three quarts).  The most widely accepted theory is that it is a language mix-up.  Cowboy hats came to Texas by way of Mexico.  In Spanish, galón means “braid.”  Some vaqueros wore as many as ten braids on their hats.  Do you realize how stupid everyone would look if the cowboy hats held 10 gallons of water?  Well, not everybody…most people don’t wear cowboy hats.  But if we did it, it would be like walking around with water-cooler jugs on our heads.  

Maybe a lot of people know this, but I didn’t.  In baseball, if a fielder intentionally catches or even touches an in-play baseball with his hat, all runners and the batter advance 3 free bases.  I didn’t know this because I grew up in Kansas City with the MLB bottom-feeders, the Royals.  I thought every runner would advance 3 bases every time anyway.