American Hat Company CEO Keith Mundee shares how a chance encounter led to the creation of two official hats for President Donald Trump, the legacy of craftsmanship behind them, and the deeper meaning their hats hold for cowboys and Western culture.
American Hat Company has been synonymous with quality, craftsmanship, and the cowboy way of life. From working ranch hands to rodeo champions, their hats have adorned those who embody the spirit of the West. In this exclusive interview, CEO Keith Mundee recounts how the company was commissioned to craft two official hats for President Donald Trump, the story behind their design, and the enduring legacy of founder Keith Maddox, whose “positive times” philosophy continues to shape the company’s mission.
Cowboys & Indians: American Hat Company was contacted after the 2016 election to create a hat for President Donald Trump. How did all that begin?
Keith Mundee, CEO, President of American Hat Company: It started with the Texas Ag Commissioner, Sid Miller, who wears one of our hats, and he did some speeches for Trump at some rallies. Trump told Sid, “I love that hat. I’ve got to find out how to get me one.” Eric Trump called Sid, and then Sid had him call us. We sent [the hat] directly to Eric, who then got it to Trump. And then [on the other] one, Sid said, “Let's make him another hat and let’s make it as a gift from myself and the citizens of the State of Texas.” Then the inauguration committee wanted to make it the official hat of the inauguration. So now we’ve had two official presidential hats.
C&I: When you guys got that initial call back in 2016, what was the thought process behind the style? Obviously, the quality was going to be there as an American Hat Company hat, but how did you guys go about deciding what it should look like?
Mundee: We made the very best hat that we have in our line, so it’s a 1000X hat, which means that it’s all beaver belly hair with mink blended into it. And then it has a 14-karat gold buckle set. It’s got an American flag on the hat band in the back. Then, on the second one, Montana Silversmiths contacted us and said they would like to make a feather for it. It’s a 14-karat gold feather with “The Golden Age of America” inscribed on it. Then we had all of our employees sign a letter saying it was an honor to make [Trump] a hat, and we wish him the very best. We try not to get too political. When I sell you hat, I don’t ask what your [political affiliation] is — we just try to be neutral on that part of it. But we were honored to make this hat.
C&I: From what I've heard, there a lot of talented and experienced people building these hats. They’re works of art in a way. Was it any different knowing that this one was going to the inauguration? Did the workers talk at all about that and was there excitement in the building?
Mundee: Yes, very much. We have a group picture of anyone who worked on this hat. Everybody wanted to touch it. And then we’ve had literally hundreds of people come to the factory to see the hat and take a picture with it. The only thing I drew the line on was you can’t try it on presidential hat.
C&I: You brought up an interesting point that it doesn't matter what party you’re in — if you want a hat, we’ll make you a hat. Since you guys have been doing it so long and at such a high level, do you often feel like it’s a way to cut through a lot of the BS that’s out there in the world to connect people?
Mundee: Keith Maddox co-owned American Hat Company with his wife, Susan. Keith ran the factory, and Susan oversaw The Best Hat Store in Fort Worth. Keith had a very interesting cattle brand — an “+X.” When Keith died in 2019, we put a patch with his brand on the back of the hats that stands for “positive times” in his memory.
C&I: Did you have any idea of the impact that that was going to have?
Mundee: We have people send a self-addressed stamped envelope if they buy a hat at a store and don’t get a patch on it, so we send three patches. I just got the mail this morning and these are the requests for hat patches for today [lifting a large bundle of envelopes]. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from that with people saying that message really sustained them through these uncertain times. I even got a letter from a guy who said his wife had breast cancer; they were going to treatments every day, and our daily positive thoughts posts on social media lifted his spirit. Keith Maddox said his brand stood for “positive times” and we just kept that going. It was a combination of COVID and all the other things that were going on there that it just was the perfect thing at the perfect moment. So now, you kind of see it everywhere.
C&I: It sounds like “positive times” value system that Keith Maddox originated and you carry on can now be found across the spectrum from rodeo athletes to movie stars and television actors. How important has that become to the business in terms of feeling compelled to continue the work because it is having such a wide-reaching effect on people?
Mundee: We’ve been asked many times, “Do you want to sell some T-shirts?” Or do we want to do this, or whatever? Susan Maddox has made a bold decision that we are not going to monetize that thing. It stands for Keith’s legacy. It’s in his memory, and she says his memory’s not for sale, but we want to keep that alive. That is his and her legacy going forward. She lives by the same philosophy, that same mantra. So, it is about him and keeping that legacy alive and honoring what he did. I sit here as the beneficiary of Keith and Susan Maddox taking a huge risk — betting it all — their home, their retirement savings, everything they had on American Hat Company. Had it failed, Susan would be not where she’s at today. But Keith would tell you, “If you never quit, they can’t beat you.” And he would also say, “I knew it was going to work — I just didn’t know it’d take that long.” He had a saying that I ended up having actually tattooed on the inside of my forearm that says “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.” The fruit is out on the limb just a little bit, so if you’re going to hang onto the trunk, you’re going to die right there in your comfort zone. You have to take some calculated risk because the fruit is out on the limb a little bit. And we just really use that “positive times” logo has become the North Star for the company. Anything that we do, we try to siphon it or weigh it through “positive times” and go, is that the right thing? Sometimes, the right thing is the hard thing, but we would rather do the right hard thing than the easy wrong thing.
C&I: In a lot of ways your hat products reflect the attitudes and values of everyone that works there. It's a straightforward product. You know what you're getting. It's always quality, and it’s immediately recognizable. I imagine there’s pressure from outside sources to try this or that change, put wild colors on it, what have you, or expand the products. Why has it been so important for you guys to just do what you do well?
Mundee: We’re not going to leave our core customer — the Working Ranch Cowboys Association. That’s the real guy, the day worker, the guy that’s working on a ranch. Our goal is to make hats for him. And then there is the rodeo cowboy in the arena and the PBR. They get on a bull and risk their life, but they get on an airplane every weekend and fly to a different bull riding, so they're not riding 50 miles of fence in a 40-mile-an-hour wind. Then the next group is all the reiners and trainers and horse-show people — they're cowboys just as well. It’s just a different kind of level, but they’re out there working with horses every day. And then there is anybody who loves the Western lifestyle.
If, when you lay your head on the pillow at night, you dream of big, wide-open spaces and bright blue skies and white puffy clouds, man in your heart and your head, you might be a cowboy. You have to understand the responsibility that comes with wearing a hat. You can't act like a fool. You’ve got to follow the hat etiquette and do all the things and just make sure that you know that you’re representing a lot of famous people that have gone before you and you are representing an icon. And that it’s the great iconic American cowboy guy, [whose] handshake means something, and if he tells he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it. All those things are represented by the cowboy hat, so we don’t want you to undermine that.
I tell people all the time, “Listen, if in the decision-making of buying a hat, if price is number one and quality is number three or number four, you probably don’t want our hat. When the sun’s wanting to beat on the back of my neck or the rain’s wanting to run down the back of my jacket, my hat will protect me, but my hat’s also going to go with me on the day I walk my daughter down the aisle or the day I meet my grandkids for the first time. All my hats have grandkids’ names and birthdays in them on the inside along with my name. The hat is going to hang on the wall silently in remembrance of me after my journey here on Earth is gone. The hat means something to me. It’s more than a piece of apparel. It’s a symbol. I’m not selling hats as much as I’m selling the national anthem, the opening prayer, respect for our military and for first responders.
PHOTOGRAPHY: All images courtesy of American Hat Company.
