Steve McQueen's Resistol Cowboy Hat
DESCRIPTIONA true feather in any collector's hat, pun intended, Steve McQueen was the "King of Cool" and so is his Resistol cowboy hat. McQueen was well known for his love of cowboy hats, and was presented with this custom hat in Las Vegas.
From the esteemed Ray Bentley Collection, not only is this hat in pristine condition, but a beautiful specimen of the famous Resistol brand made especially for the daredevil race driver and Hollywood star Steve McQueen – to which gold lettering on the interior hat band attests.
See history & context below.
DETAILS & MEASUREMENTSMeasures 14.25" length x 11.5" width, with a 4.75" crown
Inside rim measures 21.8-22” – about a 7 hat size
Hat itself in pristine condition in original, period Resistol box
Hat box has age-related wear to the exterior and some light water damage to the lid, which thankfully did not get to the interior
From the renowned Ray Bentley Collection
Factory-applied gold lettering on the interior hat band has the "Resistol Self-Conforming" logo, "Made by Resistol Especially for Steve McQueen," "XXXXX Beaver Hand Creased County Sheriff," and "Rex Bell Las Vegas-Reno Nevada"
Provenance authentication included
DESCRIPTIONA true feather in any collector's hat, pun intended, Steve McQueen was the "King of Cool" and so is his Resistol cowboy hat. McQueen was well known for his love of cowboy hats, and was presented with this custom hat in Las Vegas.
From the esteemed Ray Bentley Collection, not only is this hat in pristine condition, but a beautiful specimen of the famous Resistol brand made especially for the daredevil race driver and Hollywood star Steve McQueen – to which gold lettering on the interior hat band attests.
See history & context below.
DETAILS & MEASUREMENTSMeasures 14.25" length x 11.5" width, with a 4.75" crown
Inside rim measures 21.8-22” – about a 7 hat size
Hat itself in pristine condition in original, period Resistol box
Hat box has age-related wear to the exterior and some light water damage to the lid, which thankfully did not get to the interior
From the renowned Ray Bentley Collection
Factory-applied gold lettering on the interior hat band has the "Resistol Self-Conforming" logo, "Made by Resistol Especially for Steve McQueen," "XXXXX Beaver Hand Creased County Sheriff," and "Rex Bell Las Vegas-Reno Nevada"
Provenance authentication included
DESCRIPTIONA true feather in any collector's hat, pun intended, Steve McQueen was the "King of Cool" and so is his Resistol cowboy hat. McQueen was well known for his love of cowboy hats, and was presented with this custom hat in Las Vegas.
From the esteemed Ray Bentley Collection, not only is this hat in pristine condition, but a beautiful specimen of the famous Resistol brand made especially for the daredevil race driver and Hollywood star Steve McQueen – to which gold lettering on the interior hat band attests.
See history & context below.
DETAILS & MEASUREMENTSMeasures 14.25" length x 11.5" width, with a 4.75" crown
Inside rim measures 21.8-22” – about a 7 hat size
Hat itself in pristine condition in original, period Resistol box
Hat box has age-related wear to the exterior and some light water damage to the lid, which thankfully did not get to the interior
From the renowned Ray Bentley Collection
Factory-applied gold lettering on the interior hat band has the "Resistol Self-Conforming" logo, "Made by Resistol Especially for Steve McQueen," "XXXXX Beaver Hand Creased County Sheriff," and "Rex Bell Las Vegas-Reno Nevada"
Provenance authentication included
➼ History & Context
Everyone knows the name Steve McQueen. Nicknamed the “King of Cool,” he was an iconic figure of Hollywood films as both an actor and director, and he personified the Old West to many through his roles playing cowboys and bounty hunters in both film and tv.
Born in 1930, McQueen had a rough early life through the Great Depression, bouncing back and forth between his mother and various abusive step-fathers and his great uncle Claude’s farm. Partially deaf from an earlier ear infection and dyslexic, at multiple points while in LA with his mother, and as young as 9, McQueen ended up on the streets and in gangs to survive, until he was arrested, declared “incorrigible,” and sent to the “California Junior Boys Republic” reformatory until he was 16. He developed a strong bond with the place, and continued to visit and aid the boys there throughout his career. After bouncing around with various jobs including work at a brothel, circus, and as a lumberjack, McQueen joined the Marines at 17 and rose to distinction after a bit of a tumultuous start.
After leaving the Marines, McQueen studied acting with the GI Bill in New York City and had a few roles on Broadway before moving to LA to pursue Hollywood. With a breakout role on television’s Tales of Wells Fargo as the Old West outlaw and gunslinger Bill Longley, known for his temper, unpredictability, and speed on the draw. McQueen was a hit, and subsequently played bounty hunter Josh Randall, as well as later twin brothers, in the western show Trackdown before landing his own series in 1958: Wanted: Dead or Alive.
In Wanted, Steve McQueen brought the bounty hunter Josh Randall of Trackdown beginnings to life, rounding out his character as the lead of his own show. He became an ace at the “art of the fast draw” maneuver, and had a signature sawed-off Winchester – nicknamed the “Mare’s leg” – rather than the typical six-shooter. Along with shooting Steve McQueen to stardom, Wanted’s mysterious and detached bounty hunter lead was an early precursor to the anti-heroes we know and love today.
From there, McQueen worked on films with Sinatra, played the second lead in the star-studded 1960 The Magnificent Seven – in which rumors abounded that his physical flourishes stole scenes and that his costar Brynner refused to draw his gun at the same time for fear of being out-drawn – and then was top-billed on the 1963 classic The Great Escape. McQueen’s career continued to be studded with westerns throughout, and even at the end, his last two films, both in 1980, were an old western adventure called Tom Horn and a modern-day bounty hunter film, Junior Bonner, mirroring the roles that gave him his start.
Throughout his film and TV career, Steve McQueen also raced cars and motorcycles, sometimes under the name Harvey Mushman, and developed strong friendships with others on the circuit who then worked in stunts on his films. Though he did most of his own stunts, McQueen famously gave credit for a particularly jaw-dropping motorcycling jump to his friend and stunt double while in a TV interview.
McQueen competed throughout his life, coming third in the British Touring Car Championship in 1961, was part of the first-ever official US 4-rider entry into the Silver Vase category of the International Six Days Trial, and was photographed on a dirt-bike for the 1971 cover of Sports Illustrated – the same year he patented his own design for a motor sports bucket seat. Ever the enthusiast, at one point McQueen owned over 100 classic motorbikes and another 100 vintage cars.
Steve McQueen was an all-around adventurous spirit, inextricably linked in our collective memories with cowboys, rogues, and daredevil performances.
➼ Resistol Hats
Resistol hats, named as such as they could “resist-all” weather, were created by the newly established Byer-Rolnick company in 1927. The young hatmaker Harry Rolnick so impressed one of his newly-arrived customers, millionaire E.R. Byer, that they joined together to form the new company in Dallas, Texas.
Fun facts: 10-gallon hats hold about 3 quarts of water, and Steve McQueen is referenced in the 1973 song "Star Star" by The Rolling Stones
