1937 style Open Road---Surprise!

[fedoralover]

I bought this ad along with a number of others a couple of years ago. I looked through them again recently and saw something I never paid any attention to before.
Check out the brown fedora, and then look at the ad. It's called an Open Road. Notice any difference to the hat we think of as an Open Road today?

here's a close up of the print for those who can't read it.

fedoralover

 

[jamespowers]

I bought this ad along with a number of others a couple of years ago. I looked through them again recently and saw something I never paid any attention to before.
Check out the brown fedora, and then look at the ad. It's called an Open Road. Notice any difference to the hat we think of as an Open Road today?

fedoralover

I notice lots of differences. It just goes to show you how names were used and reused for hats. The Gamebird is another one that Dobbs stole from Crofut and Knapp.
Then there are the hats that have a II after the name such as the Whippet II and the Playboy II. No thanks.

Regards,

J

 

[fedoralover]

Your right JP, and that's probably one of things that can make it hard dating a hat unless you have the original ads. This Open Road doesn't look anything like the one we associate with the name today.

fedoralover

 

[Pilgrim]

As Moe Howard would say, "Not so fast!"

First, take a later model Open Road, remove the narrow ribbon and put a 1" dark fedora-style ribbon on it. Let's assume that it's one of the narrow-brimmed models (and some evidently had a 2.5" brim or less, equivalent to my Stratoliner). Next, add the appropriate block and pinch. In the right color, I'd say that ad depicts such a hat.

Personally, I'd be hard-pressed to tell such a hat apart from the "Open Road" pictures in that ad. It may be that later models were an evolution of this one with wider brims and a cattleman's bash, in a successful effort to create a Western Businessman's hat.

 

[Terry Lennox]

apparently Hard Hats never go out of style.