A hat fit for a future king

[Duper]

The newlyweds Prince William and Kathrine are visiting Canada and will be taking part in a traditional ceremony today to recieve new white cowboy hats from Smithbilt.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/canews-22424922/a-white-hat-for-will-and-kate-25881531.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fcanews-22424922%252Fa-white-hat-for-will-and-kate-25881531.html

 

[tonyb]

That's waaay cool, Duper. Thanks for posting it.

It's curious that the Smithbilt fellow says that a body made of European hare fur is the finest they offer in a white hat. I don't doubt that they make a fine hat from such a body, but I am left to wonder why they don't use a beaver body, or a blend. They're certainly available.

 

[jlee562]

http://www.smithbilthats.com/products/wild-west-white-hat

The white hat on their website is a very reasonable $200.

 

[Atticus Finch]

That's waaay cool, Duper. Thanks for posting it.

It's curious that the Smithbilt fellow says that a body made of European hare fur is the finest they offer in a white hat. I don't doubt that they make a fine hat from such a body, but I am left to wonder why they don't use a beaver body, or a blend. They're certainly available.

They do make a beaver blend. I just went on their site. They make a clone of the Open Road in several colors, including silverbelly. But they are very proud of their hats. The pure beaver version is almost nine hundred bucks. Half beaver blend is six hundred.

AF

 

[tonyb]

They do make a beaver blend. I just went on their site. They make a clone of the Open Road in several colors, including silverbelly. But they are very proud of their hats. The pure beaver version is almost nine hundred bucks. Half beaver blend is six hundred.

AF

Wow. That's a whole lotta scratch for a hat. If they're getting it (and I have no reason to doubt they are, as such prices are not uncommon in the land of custom Westerns), well, good for them.

All-beaver bodies set me back twice what staple (rabbit) bodies do, so the cost difference is significant. But still, we're not talking hundreds of dollars here.

This points to why there are so many more custom hatters specializing in Westerns than in "dress" hats. They're serving an audience that'll drop lotsa dough on boots and buckles and pickup trucks. For that crowd, a grand for a hat, or nearly that much, seems reasonable.

 

[tonyb]

A quick trip to the Smithbilt website indicates that their signature white hat is available in a rabbit body only. To echo jlee562, a couple hundred for a good quality Western is a quite competitive price. Not my cup o' tea, but if it were, I'd consider one.

I see also that they call their Open Road clone the Open Road. Perhaps one of you lawyers out there (Atticus?) might offer an opinion on the kosher-ness of that. Might Hatco's lawyers be sending a cease-and-desist letter? Or might some other hatmaker take it as an invitation to use the Open Road name as well? Isn't there some doctrine about defending one's trademarks, that if you stand back and do nothing while one entity walks all over your property you can't very well decide that you'll sue some other entity for doing the same?

 

[Atticus Finch]

They're serving an audience that'll drop lotsa dough on boots and buckles and pickup trucks. For that crowd, a grand for a hat, or nearly that much, seems reasonable.

Heh, heh. I know what you mean. I recently attended a bankruptcy auction wherein some poor guy's huge custom guitar collection was liquidated. When we pulled into the auction house parking lot, everyone I saw there was fiftyish, white and male and was driving a fifty-thousand dollar pickup truck loaded with farm implements. I knew right then there would be no guitar deals that day. Sure enough, almost every guitar auctioned sold for fifteen to twenty percent above its retail price. And everybody thought they got a “bargain”!

AF

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

Years ago (1993?) my wife worked at the Alabama Racking (Tennessee Walking) Horse Festival in Decatur AL. The little charms and other souvenirs were solid silver, and 14 Kt Gold, not brass or some cheap stuff. The Money in that place was unbelievable. Of course, they had enough money to put a horse in a trailer and feed the silly thing all month too.

Later

 

[jlee562]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/07/international/i162823D94.DTL&tsp=1

Prince William and Kate risked upsetting their Western Canadian hosts by declining to try on the white cowboy hats presented to them by Calgary's mayor.

The royal couple, on their first official overseas tour since their April wedding, landed at Calgary's airport on Thursday where they were scheduled to take part in the city's time-honored tradition of having visiting dignitaries try on white cowboy hats.

But William and Kate opted out. Canadian Broadcasting Corp. commentators said it would be viewed as a snub.

Miguel Head, a spokeman for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, told The Associated Press they are looking forward to wearing the hats later Thursday and Friday and "in no way are they snubbing what is a very honored gift."

Hmmm...

 

[Oldsarge]

Heh! It's like going to a Safari Club Convention. You walk in the door, take a deep breath and smelllllllllll . . . the money!

 

[suitedcboy]

You're a Canadian hat maker and you give a hat to a future king AND IT'S NOT BEAVER!!!
Isn't that an insult?
I thought beavers are the official animal of Canada. If they gave them tree saplings would they give them bamboo saplings? (or whatver small bamboo trees are called).

 

[Dinerman]

Nope.

 

[Iyor]

That's waaay cool, Duper. Thanks for posting it.

It's curious that the Smithbilt fellow says that a body made of European hare fur is the finest they offer in a white hat. I don't doubt that they make a fine hat from such a body, but I am left to wonder why they don't use a beaver body, or a blend. They're certainly available.

That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard that.

 

[WH1]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/07/international/i162823D94.DTL&tsp=1


Hmmm...

Maybe they are holding out for a Stetson like Churchill loved to wear.

 

[adouglasmhor]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/07/international/i162823D94.DTL&tsp=1


Hmmm...

Well they have them on their noggins here and on the news last night.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14073887

 

[adouglasmhor]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14073887

They are wearing the hats in this clip on the BBC

 

[adouglasmhor]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14073887

They are wearing the hats in this clip on the BBC

 

[johnnycanuck]

Being originally from Calgary I noticed they did not try on the hats when they were given to them. I did not think it was a snub myself. They are royalty after all, they can do what they want. What impressed me, not only did they wear the hats for the rest of the time they were in Calgary but they got dressed up like everyone else for the Stampede. My two cents worth.
Johnny

 

[zetwal]

Check out the numbering on this thread. The first post was negative (17). In time it worked it's way back up to zero. Now we are postive again.

 

[zetwal]

I see the post counts have now been normalized. Looks good ...