Like many in dangerous professions, cowboys were notoriously superstitious. Stampedes, rustlers, and flash floods were just a few of the perils they faced on a cattle drive. While many cowboys were also quite religious (like rodeo competitors today), it never hurt to hedge your bets — and the more luck you had on your side, the better.
Never set your cowboy hat on a bed, which brings on an argument, bad luck, injury, or even death. The roots of this famous superstition are hotly debated. One theory is that a person’s hat was often placed on top of their coffin, and no one wanted to conjure up that image in their bedroom. Another idea stems from the fact that for centuries, people thought evil spirits lived in your hair. When you take off your hat, they crackle and sometimes spark — and you certainly don’t need those little devils in your bed while you sleep. Today, we know this phenomenon as static electricity, but our ancestors weren’t taking any chances. A more practical explanation is that those same ancestors had head lice. This was especially true for cowboys, who bathed once a month if they were lucky. Keeping your hat off the bed kept your nits from spreading to others. Whatever the case, should you ever find your cowboy hat on a bed, your only recourse is to spit in it, throw it to the ground, and stomp the bad luck out of it.
Hang your cowboy hat if possible, but if not, set it upside-down on its crown. This keeps your good luck from running out, and it might even catch additional good luck that’s floating around. It also helps to air the hat out and maintain the shape of its brim.
If you’d like to add a snake rattle, feather, or another good-luck talisman to your hat, it goes on the left side. This harkens back to the days of swords and rapiers when you didn’t want anything getting in the way of your dominant fighting arm. The left side is also closer to your heart, and many hat ornaments back then were tokens of love from fair maidens.
Don’t wear a new cowboy hat (new boots, new clothing, or new gear of any kind) on a hunting trip or when competing in a rodeo. If you’re a rodeo athlete, you’ll also want to avoid wearing yellow, eating chicken before you compete, and carrying change in your pocket (because that might be all you win). And be sure to shave; Lady Luck is not a fan of stubble.
The etiquette of the cowboy hat is almost as iconic as its silhouette. Remove it as a sign of respect during prayer, church, indoor weddings and funerals, the national anthem, and the Pledge of Allegiance. You should also take off your hat when speaking to an elder of the church or meeting a lady for the first time. Mealtime is a little tricky. In general, you should remove your hat in a restaurant unless you’re eating at a counter, at a fast-food joint, or if there’s no safe place to lay it. Tip your hat anytime you’d like to acknowledge and show courtesy to someone.
Keeping your cowboy hat off the bed might be the most popular custom, but the most important one is this: Never mess with another man’s hat. Don’t touch it, don’t ask to try it on, and for God’s sake — don’t take it off him. Purposely knocking off someone’s cowboy hat is a fighting offense. Women, however, have a little leeway. A man who lets a woman wear his hat indicates that he’s interested in seeing more of her — and if she takes it off him, it means that she’d like to take off some of his other attire, too.
