100 Year Old Stetson Cowboy Hat

[SHARPETOYS]

He says it a hundred year old hat?? I think the block has just been poped out of it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=209&item=3957359486&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

[Biltmore Bob]

That brings up a question that I have been pondering...

How does one date a hat?

 

[DBLIII]

Ritch Rand has a book out about cowboy hats, it has photos in it showing the Stetson embossed shield (like the 4th photo on this ebay hat). He uses hats from the Gene Autry museum and other sources where the hat's owner was known. That would be the first place I'd look to get a rough idea on what date this particular cowboy hat was made.
I can't remember all the photos in the book, so I can't even guess on this particular hat.

 

[Michaelson]

Sure looks like a Stetson 'Boss of the Plains' to me. Regards. Michaelson

 

[Biltmore Bob]

I've got the Rand Cowboy Hat Book. Kinda interesting, mostly movie Cowboy Hats, picture book. I know what makes vintage vintage but how can a hat be dated without, say...original box or packaging and what not. There is a mess of talk about vintage fedoras and such on this forum. What if all you have is the hat itself?

 

[Wild Root]

I believe that his hat is about 100 years old. I see Top hats and Derby's from the 1860's on ebay some times so, why not this hat? It looks real erly to me. Not bad shape ether. The leather sweat band looks real deep which can be a sign of an earlier hat.

It's not a fedora and the felt looks like it's rather stiff. So, it could be a real early stetson.

Root.

 

[DBLIII]

Now that I'm at home, had a chance to look in that book. Rand shows that Stetson shield in a hat made in the early 1930s, and his hat photos from the late 1890s have the same ribbon as this hat on ebay. I couldn't find any business records for the shop in California that's shown inside the ebay hat, so can't tell from that.
It will be interesting to see whether this hat brings big money. For many years, I have told my wife that my old cowboy hats are really valuable. And, maybe they are in another 50 years.

 

[ITG]

You'd think with the date being known as 100 years ago, you'd think they'd take it to a hatter and get a confirmation on a hat size rather than front to front and side to side measurements. It'll be interesting to watch this auction. I have a book in my classroom called "Boss of the Plains", which tells the story of the hat in a kid friendly way.

 

[jamespowers]

I would say it is a Boss of the Plains but the stetson logo and sweatband look like the Laloo Stetson from the 1920s that my wife has. The Laloo I traced down to an ad from 1922.
I am not sure of the text of the logo though so I could be off a few years. The Laloo is a Stetson Nutria so it could be slightly different. I do not have access to the ad or my hat at the moment but I will check it out when I get home.
So, in short, my guess is that it is about 80 years old in reality---so far anyway.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

Well, 80 years is sure close to 100 years. If it's not 100 years old, that's cool because it's still old and would work well with any true cowboy outfit. I'm sure there will be some living history buffs will be trying to grab this up.


Still, it's a cool Stetson.

Root.

 

[Retro Grouch]

Was Frazer & Co (the name on the sweat band) around 100 years ago?

Tom

 

[jamespowers]

Ok, I got my ads and stuff together last night and maybe they are right about the age but it could be older or newer.
This is the logo that I thought might have been inside the hat ont he sweatband:

upon closer examination, it appears that this is the logo that is actually inside the sweatband:

This logo was used by stetson between 1866 and into the 1920s. So we have quite a stretch of time there that this hat could be placed in. It has no liner so that will give us no further clues.
I could find nothing on the hat shop that sold the hat either---even though it is within 40 miles of me here. I suppose even existing for 80 years might be a stretch for a clothier much less a hatter.
I can add a few pictures of 1922 ads from Stetson that might give you an idea what they had to offer:

Regarding the size, it is perfect for you if you are a 6 7/8. By the measurements the seller is giving it can be no larger than a 7. I am not sure what that may tell us about age but it does tell us the original owner was a small cowboy.
I hope that sheds a little light on the "hundred year old hat." It could be 100 years old. That would place it at 1905.
Whatever the case, it would make a nice additon to someone's collection. I agree wildroot.

Regards to all,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Boss of the Plains

I suppose there are hat experts, like antique experts, who could look at a hat and recognize the style, logos, leather, attachments of lack thereof, even the fur felt and guess the age of a hat within a few years.

The problem with the Boss of the Plains hat is that it has been made, off and on, by Stetson since 1865, was made regularly, according to the histories I have read on the internet and in cowboy hat books, from its creation until 1900. It was first made by modifying the Mexican sombrero, which was the real original "cowboy" hat; it evolved and was the hat model that the Canadian Mounted Police adapted in 1901, also U.S. Park Rangers. It was the hat from which all other Stetsons and other cowboy hat makers evolved.

The original hat, I read, was a big natural colored hat with a 4 inch brim and 4 inch crown. It has straps for hatbands. It was marketed to ranchers and cowboys and cost $10 to $20, which was a lot of money in those days. It became a status symbol for westerners to wear, which is what J.B. Stetson probably intended when he called it "Boss of the Plains."

I believe I read that there was an older Boss of the Plains hat in the Gene Autrey museum. I don't even know if any of those "original" B.O.P. hats still exist, though I would think Stetson would have one. There are photos of cowboys wearing them.

Who knows how old this is? If it were my hat, whether I was selling it on Ebay or not, I would try to get someone to date it. There are lots of Boss of the Plains hats around today; I have one made by a custom hat maker in Las Vegas, and it is a duplicate of the original, but it is quite new. The ebay hat looks really old or really beaten up.

karol

 

[jamespowers]

I thought I would update this thread.
Someone decided that the 100 year old hat was worth $300.

Regards to all,

J

 

[alanfgag]

early vintage Fedora Lounge...

 

[Frunobulax]

early vintage Fedora Lounge...

Thanks Alan. I've been all over this site, but love it when somebody dredges up a blast from the past.

Too bad we can't see the original hat in question.

That brings up a question that I have been pondering...

How does one date a hat?

Ask nicely. Take it to a movie or stage play. Perhaps dinner and a glass of wine...

 

[RJR]

Thanks Alan. I've been all over this site, but love it when somebody dredges up a blast from the past.

Too bad we can't see the original hat in question.



Ask nicely. Take it to a movie or stage play. Perhaps dinner and a glass of wine...