American Hat Makers truly has some of the greatest supporters in the world. We’re always hearing awesome stories about the places our hats go. Today, I wanted to share the story of Bobby Boucher, and I’m not talking about the waterboy! Bobby and his wife Paula are members of Golden Gate H.O.G. That’s Harley Owners Group for those wondering. On 4th of July in 2011, Bobby got himself one of our now limited edition top hat designs. To say that this hat became his best friend and travel companion would be an understatement. He logged over 300,000 miles wearing this top hat to all corners of the globe. I’m talking Sturgis Bike Rally, the majority of the U.S states, and a bike tour of Australia. He even got married in it!

If he was on foot, he always had his top hat on, but as for riding, Bobby always hung his hat from the cup holder on his bike for easy travel. Not too long ago, Bobby was out for a ride on the Bay Bridge in California taking his new bike for its inaugural ride. This bike had a different cup holder attached to it, but never-the-less Bobby tried to hang his hat from it while they were on the road. Unbeknownst to Bobby, this new cup holder couldn’t grip the hat tight enough to keep it secure. As the group was crossing the massive bridge, Bobby’s iconic top hat flew off into oncoming traffic. Other members of the group tried to convince Bobby to chock it up as a loss and move on, but Bobby wasn’t having it. Determined to get his hat back, Bobby and the group turned around at the other end of the bridge, and went back across. Luckily, they were able to find Bobby’s beloved hat, but unfortunately the Bay Area’s trucks and cars found it first.

Now we’ve seen some well worn hats, but let me tell you, this hat was BEAT UP. It hardly even looked like a hat! Bobby knew he needed to make a pit stop by our factory to show us the damage and to share this awesome story. We’re lucky enough to have a team of the world’s finest leather artisans here at American Hat Makers, and we were able to resurrect Bobby’s precious hat and make it look like new. Here’s to another 300,000 miles!