Team Spirit is at the Core of a Year-Old, Growing Family Business
“We used to buy from our supplier. Now, we are the supplier, supplying leather to other makers in the western trade industry.”
— Brent Hancock
Sometimes, what is small, nearly invisible and seemingly insignificant, is what holds things all together.
Such is the case with the humble sweatband, that important but little regarded band of leather or other fabric sewn inside the base of a hat’s crown. Various kinds of hats and caps, be they Stetsons, fedoras or other stylish chapeaus, depend upon the support provided by this simple but ingenious item.
One person quite well versed in sweatband lore is leather worker Tucker Hancock. After all, the manufacture of sweatbands makes up a sizeable portion of the work done at Fern Thatcher Co., of Gallatin, Missouri, a leather supply and manufacturing business that he and his parents, Brent and Tina Hancock, purchased together in July 2021.
“A sweatband provides stability and comfort for the customer who wears the hat,” Tucker explained.
