AMAZING Vintage Photos of Fedoras

[RBH]

.. if anyone has any theories why he presented the hats' sweatbands and creases that way.
dean

My theory.... to showcase the Quality and Style of his hats.

 

[deanglen]

Okay. Good. Did you notice how WIDE those sweatbands are?

dean

 

[RBH]

... Did you notice how WIDE those sweatbands are?
dean

I would think the width of the sweat would have more to do with the comfort or the fit of the hat.

 

[deanglen]

I would think the width of the sweat would have more to do with the comfort or the fit of the hat.

Really? Tell me more about that.

dean

 

[Bruneau]

It may just be my eyes playing tricks on me but... I swear, I saw my Grandfather's reflection in one of those windows.

Bruneau

 

[RBH]

Really? Tell me more about that.

dean

I would think the wider sweat would 'cradle' the shape of the head which would mean a better fit which would then mean better comfort.
Kind of like the sweats on the Fedrations, most peoples Federations fit a little big, but after wearing awhile the sweat then fits your head. The Federations dont have wide sweats but I think that was what the wide sweats were for back in the day.
We dont have the wide sweats now for the same reason we dont have as tall a crown,
less felt + less leather {sweat} = less cost to the maker.

 

[carldelo]

Great photos

I would think the wider sweat would 'cradle' the shape of the head which would mean a better fit which would then mean better comfort.
Kind of like the sweats on the Fedrations, most peoples Federations fit a little big, but after wearing awhile the sweat then fits your head. The Federations dont have wide sweats but I think that was what the wide sweats were for back in the day.
We dont have the wide sweats now for the same reason we dont have as tall a crown,
less felt + less leather {sweat} = less cost to the maker.

I just found this thread because of the new sticky 'links to important hat threads'. This is a great idea, by the way, as I now have several older threads to read on a massively, miserably rainy day in NYC.

From an engineering perspective, I would say the wider sweat band is about comfort. If you need a certain minimum force to keep a hat comfortably on your head (e.g. on a windy day) that force is communicated between the hat and your head by the sweat band. What you feel on your head, however, is not the magnitude of the force but the pressure exerted by the sweat band on your skin. Pressure is force per unit area, so a wide sweat band will provide the same retaining force at 'low pressure' compared to a thin band, i.e. it distributes the force over a larger area. By this reasoning, a hat with a lot of area to be grabbed by the wind should have a nice wide sweat band to keep it on your head without feeling like you're wearing a rubber band.

I also agree with RBH that a wider band will conform better, therefore feel better, and that a thinner band is cheaper. Maybe the bands are turned out in the photos first of all to show how wide (and flexible?) they are as a mark of quality, but also so the viewer can read the brand and style of the hat itself in the window. Just a thought.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Okay. Good. Did you notice how WIDE those sweatbands are? dean

Wide sweatbands (2" as opposed to 1 5/8") are still available. They just don't seem to show up in production hats.

http://www.hatsupply.com/mens_supplies.htm

 

[carter]

Vintage Display Windows

With so many newer members of the Lounge and their interest in vintage hats, it seemed to me that they might like to see the images on page 1 of this thread. Amazing images of wonderful hats. Enjoy.

BUMP

 

[Belegnole]

Thanks for the bump Carter. I saw a few other vintage displays somewhere lately but this takes the cake.

 

[carter]

It certainly is an eye opener.

...Take a look at the incredible variety of hats. There are a surprisingly large number of fedoras for such an early date. Note the many, many types of “messy” dents and bashes. Some very light colors, and a lot of expensive velours. Great golf/driving caps. You’ll even see a few porkpies and a straw hat with a colorful paisley puggaree band. Who would have thought it?...

Mark's comments are spot on. There are so many different hat styles, and so many creases that we no longer see, shown in these displays. I want a few extra open-crowned hats just to try out all the different ways to crease and dent a fedora. These pictures cause me wonder what tools might have been used to make some of the dents we see in the hats displayed. This is terrific stuff from the early 20th century.

 

[rgraham]

Thanks for bumping this up. I'd never seen them before

I liked the cane in the bash look.

 

[johnnyphi]

Felt for Felt's Sake?

Many of the crowns shown in these photos are SUPER TALL. If Texans wore "10-Gallon" hats, then these were 7.5-Gallon hats.

Some of the center dents appear to be folded under and outward... towards the side pinches. These open crowns must be 7" - 8" high.

Not that there is anything wrong with a monster crown... I'm just sayin'.

Also, I don't recommend storing your hats upside-down, on the floor, unless you have fur-felt to burn.

 

[Fatdutchman]

The Mod squad

Hey, moderators, make this thread a "sticky", so that we can all easily find it again.

 

[carldelo]

Many of the crowns shown in these photos are SUPER TALL. If Texans wore "10-Gallon" hats, then these were 7.5-Gallon hats.

Some of the center dents appear to be folded under and outward... towards the side pinches. These open crowns must be 7" - 8" high.

Not that there is anything wrong with a monster crown... I'm just sayin'.

Also, I don't recommend storing your hats upside-down, on the floor, unless you have fur-felt to burn.

It looks like Lurch (Ted Cassidy) from the Addams Family did these bashes - does anybody else remember him taking the hats from visitors to the Addams house? I can't find a picture of if, but it is truly funny when he squashes and pulls the hats off the heads of unsuspecting visitors...

 

[ET]

great pics thanks for sharing

 

[zetwal]

Wow! these photos are really interesting on many levels. I'd love to see a sequel series with simlar photos for subsequent decades. Thanks!

 

[randooch]

Adding my voice to the chorus, thanks so much for the post! Maybe a store like that will once again exist, especially if we loungers continue to cast seeds of interest throughout the universe.

 

[Jabos]

I thought I'd bump this wonderful thread after finding this 1925 pic online:

[/IMG]

I also found this cool pic in Getty Images:
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/80902371/Hulton-Archive?axd=DetailPaging.Generic|1&axs=0|78603151%2c80902371|0

 

[jpbales]

for a $1.50 a hat I wish I could go back and buy the whole display!