Shudde’s Historic Customers & History

The Shudde family moved to Houston in 1901 from Carmine, Texas. Al Shudde founded the store as a teenager in 1907 as the Shudde Southern Hat Company on Trinity Avenue in downtown Houston. Eventually, Al’s brothers, Ben, Walter, John, and Herbert, joined the business. In 1914, the brothers built a factory building next door to the original Shudde homestead on Trinity. The business was passed to Al’s son, Weldon, and Weldon’s son, Neal, who runs the business today as Shudde Bros. Hatters, at Brookwood. Shudde Bros. Hatters and the adjacent factory operated in Houston for 100 years to the day. On June 30, 2007, Shudde Bros. Hatters was donated to Brookwood and relocated to Brookshire, Texas, to become a hattery with a mission benefitting the adults with disabilities at Brookwood. They have been very blessed to have many good customers over the years.

John Wayne was a customer during Neal's father Weldon’s time. Pictured is a mosaic of their favorite photos of Mr. Wayne.

Sam Houston was a customer of the store, posthumously. In 1936, Shudde Brothers was asked to restore Mr. Houston's hat for display in his home in Huntsville, Texas, which was converted to a museum for the Texas Centennial.
Other famous customers include, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tom Mix, Ernest Tubb, and Dr. “Red” Duke.

All proceeds from Shudde Bros. Hatters help provide for the disabled adults at the Brookwood Community located here in Brookshire, TX at  1502 FM 1489.