AMAZING Vintage Photos of Fedoras

[jpbales]

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

I liked the cane in the bash look.

maybe that's the origin of the center dent- a good knock in the noggin

 

[Hangman]

These store window photos are incredible, thank you for sharing them.

 

[150719541]

Great Post ¡¡¡

Thanks for share, It reminds me the era when I was a little boy when some day my Dad was buying a Chamois porky pie in only 25 bucks, maybe 1961 and claimed that was so expensive. what a time ¡¡¡¡
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Mr Vim]

And I am almost certain that these are department store windows we are looking at... *sigh* we'll probably never see department store windows with such a sellection of hats ever again.

Unless one of us puts together a department store, that is.

 

[hatflick1]

Vintage Japanese Fedoras

I watched an old documentary series on the Military Channel. World At War. It focused on pre-war Japan.
Clearly, the Japanese men were wearing fedoras. Anybody know if these were Japanese made?
Has anyone seen one or maybe own one?
Wish I had pix.

 

[daizawaguy]

The top end one`s were imported, but there were many companies making Fedoras locally - I think I have posted on this in the past, but forget the names - a search may reveal a few names of companies. The felt makers later branched out and made felt for things like car insulation and pen tips - a ver ingenious way to survive and diversify!

 

[hatflick1]

Thanks for the information. Would you have any pix of these Japanese made hats?
And on the topic, it is interesting to note how many films about China back in the
'30's and '40's show Chinese men wearing fedoras. Perhaps these were coming in
from England or France.

 

[cookie]

I just discovered this thread and I have a size 55 superb vintage Japanese I bought on Aussie eBay. Does not fit me but I will put pics up up anyways. Beautifully made.

 

[David Conwill]

I used to have a neat Shantung labeled "Made in Occupied Japan". It was pretty beat up, and sadly I think it was thrown away.

I had never considered Japanese attitudes toward western dress in the pre-war era. Fairly neutral, it seems?

 

[hatflick1]

Made In Occupied Japan makes anything valuable. Too bad you can't find the fedora. A true collectible.

 

[ManofKent]

I don't know what the Japanese hat industry is like today - the only current Made in Japan Fedoras I've come across are John Lofgren & Co (yes an American by birth) which are decent but pricey wool felt numbers.

I'd love to see some photos of vintage Japanese hats.

 

[KingAndrew]

I think Japanese between the Meiji Restoration in the 1870s and the Pacific War saw Western-style dress as a sign of modernity. When US warships entered Tokyo Bay and forced the island nation to open up to foreign trade, the Japanese elite decided that the only way to avoid becoming a colony was to join the industrialized Western powers as an equal. This was why they adopted a hybrid British/German style of Imperial government, industrialized so quickly, and why they pursued their own Imperial policies in Korea, China, Southeast Asia, and finally the Pacific. They believed that Japan needed its own colonies to avoid becoming one itself. Of course, Imperialism ended up having rather tragic results for all the countries involved, Western, Asian, or otherwise.
But Western clothing was a sign of education and being up-to-date, although from what I have read, Japanese clothing was also respected as a sign of patriotism. So I would say Western clothing was seen as a positive overall, probably moreso for men than women (since it was a very male-dominated society).

 

[barrowjh]

Colorized Black & Whites

I was sent some colorized old photos recently, and a few of them are of interest to us.

A country store in Gordonton, NC, from July 1939:


Oklahoma family in the 1939 dust bowl:


Oswald, 1963 of course, and we have been told that all of the fur felt hats worn by the Dallas detectives at that time were standard-issue Resistol San Antonios (or that was my impression, anyway):

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Nice ones!

 

[Brother cavefish]

i would just like to go back in time to get some new hats and other things

 

[hatophile]

Wow it's 51 years now since Kennedy's assassination.

 

[bowlerman]

JB, those are fantastic. I had seen the first one before, but not the others. I'm totally into that hat the man of the Oklahoma family is wearing!

 

[barrowjh]

bowlerman, I am surprised by that open-crown, but he wears it well, it looks good, it works.

 

[splintercellsz]

 

[Blackthorn]

I'm sure this has been posted before, but it's super cool and I only just now found it on the Net: