Country Lifestyles
The Hat Lady – Got a dirty hat? See Mrs. Stanley Rater
By Judy Wade
“We Love Dirty Hats” is the motto of Huskey Hats at 1225 E. Scott in Wichita Falls. Mrs. Stanley Rater can take your dirty old felt hat and return it within three to six weeks looking brand new, complete with new liner, sweat band, ribbon hat band, and creased just the way you like it.
“It is a long, multi-step process and lots of hard work all done by hand,” Rater said. It begins with stripping the liner, sweat band and hat band followed by a thorough thirty-minute bath in naptha in a huge 1941 hat-washing machine to remove the oil and grease followed by a hand scrubbing in tide to get rid of the dirt.
Afterward, the hat is dried overnight before many other steps are taken to get it resized, including applying a sizing to help the hat keep its shape, applying a thin oil to black hats to enhance the color, buffing to make it smooth and re-creasing.
One of those steps is a “smear” applied to the cleaned hat to cover worn places and spots still visible. “No one else has the formula for the smear. We are the only ones who use it. It can be used on white, silverbelly and tan hats,” she continued.
Eddie Huskey, once the hat man at the Cow Lot, was encouraged and backed by Gayle Bourland to open a hat cleaning shop. At that time, dirty hats were sent to Houston to be cleaned, taking about six months. Huskey opened his shop in the location where it remains today and invented the “smear” that has been handed down to Rater.
In January 1974 Johnny “Preach” Rater and wife Stanley were approached about becoming partners with the next owner. They agreed and Preach continued to work at a glass factory during the day and learned to clean hats at night. “Preach knew machinery and learned to clean the hats. I knew nothing,” she laughed.
To read more pick up a copy of the June 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1-2 cups vegetable oil
½ cup diced white onion
2 tsp minced garlic
½ TBSP chili powder
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp ground cumin
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ to a full can of Rotel tomatoes and green chilis
8 (burrito-sized) flour tortillas, warmed
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Toppings: salsa, sour cream, guacamole, queso
Directions:
Brown hamburger meat and onions in a large skillet until onions are slightly softened. Add in garlic chili powder, oregano and cumin. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in Rotel. Cook and stir another five minutes. Set aside.
Warm tortillas in the microwave. On each tortilla, place about ½ cup of meat mixture. Do not overfill. Top with shredded cheese. Fold sides over the meat and cheese, then fold bottom over the sides and roll up. Place all folded chimichangas, seam side down, on a large plate and repeat with remaining tortillas.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Dal Houston
I am terribly saddened by all the argumentative discourse that seems to be going on in today’s world. It seems as though it is no longer enough just to disagree on certain issues. We are expected to classify someone as an enemy if they do not always agree with us on all issues, lest we be considered weak.
To make things even worse, because those who disagree with you are now considered enemies, the sentiment seems to be that it is only fair and proper to destroy them, because they are the enemy, again with the fear of ridicule for being weak if we do not fight.
With all that said, and seemingly unrelated, I am a big John Wayne fan. From watching him dive into his role as a cowboy, to marveling at his time portraying a soldier or appreciating his acting gig as a sailor, there is seldom a week that goes by without me watching at least one
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Martha Crump
That old adage, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.,” may have some basis in truth when applied to minor situations. However, when what you don’t know is presented in the form of a “Trojan Horse” and is what amounts to an incredible attempt to fleece American property rights, it becomes a different story altogether.
To put this unbelievable tale together, we need to step back to Joe Biden’s 2021 Executive Order which pledged commitment to help restore balance on public lands and waters, to create jobs, and to provide a path to align the management of America’s public lands and waters with our nation’s climate, conservation, and clean energy goals.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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