John Lulham, along with his wife Wendy and son Dave, run the Nick Nack Gallery and they’ve brought around 5000 hats made by Statesman, Barmah, Rigon and Jackeru.

His stock includes hats made from fur-felt or kangaroo leather and some approved by the Cancer Council.

After 20 years of selling hats at the field days, Mr Lulham says a good hat is “one that fits”.

Mr Lulham said he travelled eastern Australia going from field days to the biggest regional agricultural shows.

He said some customers came back year after year, looking for a new hat which fit their children, “and often a new hat for themselves”.

Mr Lulham said Barmah’s kangaroo leather hats were the “Rolls-Royce” of the style – which were even rain shower-proof.

Meanwhile, Statesmen hats started in 1835 in Brisbane, but the brand name was practically unknown despite supplying boarding schools and the Australian Defence Force.

Mr Lulham said while city dwellers had stopped wearing hats they remained an “essential accessory for country people”.

“If you look at the movies and my grandfather, they all had fur-felt hats,” he said.

The Nick Nack Gallery will be located at site E4 during the Australian National Field Days from Thursday.