Since 1990
Three Generations of Hat Making in Montana
For more than three decades, the Morris family has built hats by hand in Bozeman. Each generation has brought different skills to the shop, while the work remains rooted in the same things: good materials, proper fit, careful finishing, and hats meant to be worn.
Before the Hats
The Same Instinct,
a Different Craft
Before Rocky Mountain Hat Company, John Morris Sr. and his son, John Jr., were already building things together.
In Bozeman, they established Rocky Mountain Recurves, building custom takedown recurve bows from carefully selected woods. John Sr.—a theoretical physicist by training and a lifelong problem solver—designed and built much of the tooling, equipment, and jigs they used to make them. The bows were built to be both beautiful and functional, and father and son spent plenty of time putting their work to use in the field.
In the late 1980s, hat making began as another hands-on pursuit. A few hats made for friends quickly became something more, and in 1990 Rocky Mountain Hat Company became the family business.
The product changed. The instinct did not: understand the work, build the tools, and make something meant to be used.
Our History
Built Over Generations
The company has changed over the years, but each generation has added something to the same working shop.
Rocky Mountain Recurves
John Morris Sr. and John Jr. build custom takedown recurve bows in Bozeman, combining careful handwork with equipment and tooling designed in their own shop.
The First Hats
Hat making begins as another hands-on pursuit. A few hats made for friends quickly grow into something more.
Rocky Mountain Hat Company
The hat business becomes the family’s primary craft. John Sr. and John Jr. begin building the shop, its equipment, and the methods that would define Rocky Mountain Hat Company.
Father & Son
John Sr. and John Jr. work side by side for more than two decades, refining fit, shaping, finishing, and the machinery behind the work while building thousands of hats for customers near and far.
Carrying It Forward
After John Sr. passes away, John Jr. continues the craft they developed together and remains the link between the shop’s history and the generation that follows.
The Third Generation
Alisa Morris brings a natural talent for the fine finishing work of a hat, particularly ribbon, bows, and the small details that give a finished piece its character. She moves in and out of the shop while raising the fourth generation of the family.
Stephan Morris, John’s son, came to the shop from a background in manufacturing and engineering. Much like his grandfather, he is drawn to machinery and problem solving—repairing and improving old equipment, helping modernize the company, and learning the traditional craft from John at the bench.
The fourth generation is still young, but they are already growing up around the shop.
Three Generations, Different Hands
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John Morris Sr.
John Sr. approached hat making the way he approached nearly everything: understand the problem, build the tools, and make it work better. A theoretical physicist by training and a lifelong hunter, horseman, engineer, and maker, he brought an unusual combination of technical thinking and hand skill to the shop.
Many of the tools, fixtures, and methods developed during his years at Rocky Mountain grew from that instinct to solve problems rather than simply accept them.
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John Morris Jr.
John spent nearly three decades working alongside his father, learning the craft while helping build the shop they shared. Over the years he sought out vintage hat-making machinery, refined the company’s approach to fit and shaping, and built thousands of hats one at a time.
Today he remains the link between more than three decades of accumulated experience and the next generation learning the work beside him.
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Alisa Morris
Alisa joined the shop in 2023 and quickly found a natural strength in the fine finishing work that gives a hat its final character. Her ribbon and bow work in particular brings a careful eye and refined hand to the last stages of the process.
She moves in and out of the shop while raising the fourth generation of the Morris family—children already growing up around the benches, blocks, and machinery of the family business.
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Stephan Morris
Stephan grew up around the shop, surrounded by hat blocks, old machinery, and the rhythm of hats being made by hand. After building a career in manufacturing and engineering, he found himself drawn back not only to the equipment and problem solving, but to the art of hat making itself.
Much like his grandfather, he enjoys repairing and improving old equipment while learning the craft directly from John—helping the shop move forward without losing the traditional methods that make the hats what they are.
A Shop Built Over Generations
Some of the machines in our shop are around a century old. Others were designed, modified, or rebuilt here to solve specific problems in the hat-making process.
Over the years, John sought out vintage hat-making equipment while John Sr. built tools and improvements of his own. Much of that equipment is still in daily use, now maintained and refined by the generations that followed.
This isn’t a museum. It’s a working hat shop.
More Than Three Decades at work
Hats Made One at a Time
Over more than three decades, Rocky Mountain Hat Company has built over 15,000 custom hats for people across Montana and far beyond. Different materials, different shapes, different reasons for wearing them—but every one has passed through the same working shop.