Back in history when beaver hats were in fashion that designation indicated the number of pelts it took to make the hat.

As time passed, in the 1940's the designation remained but the value had changed.

In a John B. Stetson hat for instance, each X indicated a $10.00 value.

Thus a 5X beaver had cost $50.00

John B. and one of my Uncles were good friends, John B. named his premier hat of the time " The Big Buck" in honor of my uncle and gave him 5 of the 10X beaver hats to give to the male family members. This was in the 1940's. My Dad wore that hat for many years and then passed it down to me. I wore it in the 1960's until a barbed wire I was stretching in a fence broke and caught the hat brim in front of my face and tore it apart.

That was one good hat.

Times have changed and even though some makers still use the X as a quality rating, it has no relationship to the old values.

Kind of a statement of the times I guess.

The hat seen in the picture up in the corner is a Resistol 5X beaver hat. My folks gave it to me when I graduated from high school in 1961. I finally retired that hat in 2001. Can't complain about the value there.