Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Kentucky commissioned this cherry outback style hat from Chris for its president, Mr. Fujio Cho, in 2006 upon the occasion of his return to Japan. "Mr. Cho took the hat I made for him and a Louisville Slugger baseball bat to Japan with him," said Chris. "The hat now resides in the Toyota Museum in Nagoya."
Some collectors wish to have their company logo or the insignia of their favorite sports team carved into the front of the hat (especially the baseball cap). This process is done entirely by hand and is labor intensive. The logo is available in both dyed and natural wood.
One is at the White House. One is in the Presidential Library. One is owned by the first President Bush and two are at the ranch in Crawford, Texas. They add up to five and they are all custom wooden cowboy hats made by Chris for President George W. Bush.
"Rude Osolnik was widely admired as one of the finest wood turners in America and his workshops and seminars were in demand around the world. The Queen of England was presented one of his bowls by the U.S. government," a statement from his website reads. "His bowls and signature candlesticks are collector's items and his pieces are in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Atlanta's High Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, The Yale Museum, The Speed Museum, The Kentucky History Museum, The Mayo Clinic, The Connell Gallery and many other fine institutions."