A Montecristi 'Magnum Opus', My First Vintage Hat

[delectans]

I would like to share with you my very first vintage hat, bought by my wife Lydia at an estate sale in our town for $20 some time ago, and before I joined the Fedora Lounge.

As luck would have it, the hat belonged to the father of a physician acquaintance of mine, who himself was also a physician and a connoisseur of many fine things. The family stated that he was a meticulous man who took impeccable care of his things, and treasured this hat.

It has been in an old Stetson hat box for as long as the family could recall, but there is no Stetson logo anywhere on the hat to indicate that it was actually handled by Stetson.


Crown: 4".
Ribbon: 1-7/8".
Brim: 2-3/4".
Sweatband: 2".

 

[delectans]

 

[Tomasso]

$20!!!:eusa_doh:

 

[delectans]

Indeed, Tomasso. Lydia always knew I liked hats, and bought the hat without any knowledge of what it was, or to whom it belonged. When the family learned that it was bought for me they told me that they could not be happier, as they knew that I would be as good a steward as their father was.

 

[alanfgag]

That's a beautiful panama... way too fine to be a commercial offering by Stetson, I think. What a great find!

 

[Lefty]

+1. That is a lovely hat. I don't think I've ever seen a Stetson nearly so fine, and I'd expect Stetson labels all over it.

Are there any tags behind the sweat?

 

[T Rick]

Beautiful hat, simply beautiful. Sounds like it found the perfect home for it's second life.

 

[danofarlington]

That's a beautiful panama... way too fine to be a commercial offering by Stetson, I think. What a great find!

Stetson made some great Panama hats way back when. I have one of them. Such hats must have been common in those days--probably the supply of top-quality weaves was greater than now.

 

[delectans]

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen!

Alan: Lydia frequents estate and garage sales in our town, and has found some pretty amazing things over the years, but this hat is probably her greatest find!


Lefty: I initially believed the hat to be a Stetson sold hat based upon the family's history, and the type of sweatband in the hat. Curiously, there are no hatter/clothier stamps on the sweatband, only the rather generic 'Air Flow Genuine Panama ' embossed logo. No references for a Stetson 'AirFlow ' Panama anywhere on the web that I could find.

The only markings behind the sweatband are some pencil scribbles referring to the crown: "Tapered Tel", and no tags that I recall. I will double check this evening when I get home for any other information under the hood.


T Rick: Thanks again. I will endeavor to care for it as well as its first owner did!


Dan: Were all of your fine Stetson Panamas identified on the sweat or elsewhere as such?

 

[T Rick]

This recent eBay sale may be of interest to you. Stetson Genuine Panama, Seller believed it to be from the 30's or 40's. Thought of bidding, but was unsure of the fit and it went beyond my max bid in the final minute.

 

[Lefty]

As far as I can remember, one of the nicest Stetson panamas I've seen belongs to feltfan - and there's no doubt that it's a Stetson. I'd forgotten just how finely it's woven, but this is very rare for Stetson, and this hat isn't the typical Medalist panama we see everyday on ebay.

 

[HatsEnough]

This recent eBay sale may be of interest to you. Stetson Genuine Panama, Seller believed it to be from the 30's or 40's. Thought of bidding, but was unsure of the fit and it went beyond my max bid in the final minute.

I have a hard time thinking that Stetson Panama is from the 30s or 40s. Seems more like a 50s piece to me. But, I have to admit that I know zip about straws.

 

[T Rick]

I have a hard time thinking that Stetson Panama is from the 30s or 40s. Seems more like a 50s piece to me. But, I have to admit that I know zip about straws.

Could well be, I have no idea. The Seller says he thinks the listed store closed in the 50's. I posted it merely as an illustration of a vintage, branded Stetson.

 

[billyspew]

That's a great panama.

Had a dig around for you but the only thing I could find was from 1946 - The Milwaukee Journal

We've seen Paragon before and they do seem to only mark the crown... Paragon hat co.

 

[Razzman]

What a beautiful Panama! A wonderful find! A treasure to say the least!

 

[feltfan]

As far as I can remember, one of the nicest Stetson panamas I've seen belongs to feltfan - and there's no doubt that it's a Stetson. I'd forgotten just how finely it's woven, but this is very rare for Stetson, and this hat isn't the typical Medalist panama we see everyday on ebay.

Oh, I'm so glad you found that. I was just gearing up to post new pictures of that hat because
every time I try to find that thread, I can't.

The only problem I have with that hat is that I'm kinda scared to wear it.

Every time I see it, I just marvel that it's a full 7 5/8. Among other things.

BTW, I have a Supernatural panama from the forties (I'd guess) with a similar pug to the
one on the hat featured in this thread. But no where near as nice a weave. Might give a
clue as to origin, though.

 

[delectans]

T Rick: Thanks, I saw that nice Stetson Panama, and I believe that a lounger picked it up.


Lefty: That is a great old Stetson optimo. I looked around under the hood tonight and there are no tags or labels, just the pencil markings 'Taper Tel '. These pencil marks, dark and in boldly printed letters, are distinctly different from those in the crown, which are more faint, cursive, and very similar to those found on Gene's incredible Panama. The larger pencil writing in the crown of my hat appears to be a signature, which I cannot decipher, and there are several smaller notations near the center of the crown, also seen on Gene's hat.


billyspew: Thanks for your sleuthing. The Paragon hats look very interesting, but I imagine there were other companies which also did not stamp their sweats consistently, especially on their straws.


Razzman: Many thanks for your very kind words!


feltfan: You have one heck of an old Panama! The epitome of the style, and very, very fine.

 

[feltfan]

One thing I don't understand about Panamas: the ones Sharpetoys and HPG have appear to be fine almost like linen.
The ones delectans (handles only, please!) and I have are solid, visibly much thicker reed. The heavier hats like the ones
delectans and I have are often coated with something (corn meal?) where you'd never think of it for the fine reed hats
HPG and Sharpie have. All of these hats were luxury Panamas. Were the two materials marketed differently?
One vastly more expensive than the other? I haven't seen any indication of this, but surely it's true.

Is that finer style made anymore?

 

[Trombone]

where in the heck would there be an estate sale in our neck of the north woods!

 

[cookie]

One thing I don't understand about Panamas: the ones Sharpetoys and HPG have appear to be fine almost like linen.
The ones delectans (handles only, please!) and I have are solid, visibly much thicker reed. The heavier hats like the ones
delectans and I have are often coated with something (corn meal?) where you'd never think of it for the fine reed hats
HPG and Sharpie have. All of these hats were luxury Panamas. Were the two materials marketed differently?
One vastly more expensive than the other? I haven't seen any indication of this, but surely it's true.

Is that finer style made anymore?

The Sharpetoys one was up there like the FDR job = super finissimo. What is the WPSI on this = 1500+?