In the 1960s, Scott Legried’s dad was farming in Frost, Minnesota, as well as selling livestock equipment and snowmobiles. He was on the road and would occasionally be given a hat by those with whom he did business.
“He went into the closet to get something one day and there were a bunch of hats on a shelf of different colors. He said, 'that’s kind of pretty — it would be fun to collect some of them,’” says Scott.
Scott’s father began collecting, sorting and boxing hats. Many of the hats had ties to their livelihood — working together as father and son on their family farm, which dates back to 1875.
There were a couple of rules when collecting hats. They had to have a patch on them or an advertisement, they couldn’t be plain, and they couldn’t have any dirty sayings.
Over time, the collection grew, and his father set personal goals for the number and types of hats he wanted to collect. One of those achievements was tied to John Deere dealerships. Scott said, “My Dad wanted to get a John Deere hat that said the state and the name of the implement dealership from every state.”
Once he had all 50 states, he set out to get one from each Canadian province as well. Sadly, Scott’s father passed in 2011, and Scott now is charged with overseeing the thousands of hats. “This is still the world’s largest hat collection. We’re now at over 109,000. I would guess 115,000, if I had to take a guess,” Scott says.
Another unique feature about the hat collection is they did not collect duplicate hats, so each hat is unique. Scott has some hats displayed in his home, along the walls and on shelves in the garage.
There are three semi loads of hats that have been boxed, documented and categorized – they did that when Guinness World Records certified the collection several years ago. Scott’s father loved collecting hats, but there is something a bit ironic about the collection.
“He wasn’t a big hat wearer,” Scott says. “He wore a hat for a couple of weeks in the spring for planting and then a couple of weeks in the fall when we harvested to keep the sun out of his eyes, and that was it. Mostly in the winter he wore a stocking cap, and other than that, he didn’t wear one. That’s kind of funny.”
Scott, on the other hand, does wear hats, but he doesn’t pick from the collection. He says the hat collection is sacred. “I’ll stare at them for a couple of minutes to remind myself of some of the companies that used to be around.” He enjoys the hats but does hope they can find a permanent home someday where more people can see and appreciate them.
“My dad was my best friend, and I’m proud of the goals he attained. It is fun to reminisce about the history of the hats – it brings back so many happy memories,” Scott says.
To put the hat collection in perspective, if Scott wore a different hat every day, it would take at least 315 years to wear them all!
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Farmers are notorious for their hats. Seed, fertilizer, crop protection, equipment companies and others love to entice farmers with a hat. Your AIR editor has to confess that he probably has approximately 400 of the covers in a small by comparison collection. Scott Legried’s collection is over the top compared with any other in the world. It’s amazing! But it just goes to show how many types of hats have been handed out to farmers/ranchers over the years. And, as Scott points out, they now reflect a history of companies that are gone forever. It also proves that some farmers can’t get enough hats. Most have their favorite hat that they wear on a day-to-day basis, but there’s always room for one more. Does your dealership have a hat to offer?
