Any Hebrew speakers in the Lounge?

[Edward]

Bought a hat on eBay last week. A wide brimmed, high crown Borsalino in black, lovely hat. It came with a plastic hardshell hat case. Seller also in England, but either the case or most likely case and hat together originated in NY given the branding. It's a style of hat that would be comonly seen worn by many men in the Orthodox Jewish community. Alas, I have no Hebrew, so wondering what the Hebrew script on the case translates as. The bits at the bottom obviously relate to the phone numbers, but the big one at the top? Original buyer's name? Borsalino? Hat shop name?

Grateful if anyone can help here. Would be nice to know as I'll put this case to good use, and would be nice to know the answer when inevitably I'm asked.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Do a quick internet (image) search for "hebrew letters" and it will come up with tons of guides. You'll have to match letters one-by-one. I'm sure there are transliteration issues, like with all languages, but you'll learn most of what you want to learn.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Hebrew fascinates me. Is it true that the Written text has no vowels and that the vowels must be inferred? Is it true that it was almost a “dead language” until the state of Israel made a conscious decision to try to revive it? I love linguistics.

 

[Frunobulax]

I got it! It says:

"Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine."

 

[Frunobulax]

Do a quick internet (image) search for "hebrew letters" and it will come up with tons of guides. You'll have to match letters one-by-one. I'm sure there are transliteration issues, like with all languages, but you'll learn most of what you want to learn.

The thing is, Hebrew seems to be more about sounds than letters, so a direct translation a la our alphabet can be difficult.

(v/o/u)-g-y-l-m-r?-(v/o/u)-(b/v) is what I get.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Grateful if anyone can help here. Would be nice to know as I'll put this case to good use, and would be nice to know the answer when inevitably I'm asked.

''Jewish Hat; or Juden Hut.''

 

[Havotnicus]

Bought a hat on eBay last week. A wide brimmed, high crown Borsalino in black, lovely hat. It came with a plastic hardshell hat case. Seller also in England, but either the case or most likely case and hat together originated in NY given the branding. It's a style of hat that would be comonly seen worn by many men in the Orthodox Jewish community. Alas, I have no Hebrew, so wondering what the Hebrew script on the case translates as. The bits at the bottom obviously relate to the phone numbers, but the big one at the top? Original buyer's name? Borsalino? Hat shop name?

Grateful if anyone can help here. Would be nice to know as I'll put this case to good use, and would be nice to know the answer when inevitably I'm asked.

You can use Google Translate with images. The large text says (wait for it!) Borsalino (or a near approximation of it) and the smaller stuff is the addresses of their shops in Israel.

 

[Edward]

''Jewish Hat; or Juden Hut.''

It's clearly a model as would appeal to the Orthodox commmunity.

You can use Google Translate with images. The large text says (wait for it!) Borsalino (or a near approximation of it) and the smaller stuff is the addresses of their shops in Israel.

Ah! Thank-you! I thought it *might* be something like that - great to have it confirmed. The hat hat that came in this box was bought from an eBay seller in England. Outside North London so I don't know if they are in the Orthodox community or not, but it's very much the style of hat I've seen Orthodox men wear. Big, black fedora, very much like an Akubra federation, but with a bound edge brim and a wind trolley. Must get some photos up once it gets cool enough again to wear felt (back ot infernal heatwave again - it's 23Celsius in London today. :'-(

 

[GHT]

It's clearly a model as would appeal to the Orthodox commmunity.
Ah! Thank-you! I thought it *might* be something like that - great to have it confirmed. The hat hat that came in this box was bought from an eBay seller in England. Outside North London so I don't know if they are in the Orthodox community or not, but it's very much the style of hat I've seen Orthodox men wear. Big, black fedora, very much like an Akubra federation, but with a bound edge brim and a wind trolley. Must get some photos up once it gets cool enough again to wear felt (back ot infernal heatwave again - it's 23Celsius in London today. :'-(

Got yourself a gem there Edward, the head covering preferred by Orthodox Jewish boys and men especially is a stylish black Borsalino. It has a hoiche (high crown in Yiddish), a noticeably wide brim and a $325 price tag. That’s due in part to its unique construction. This is not a mass-produced hat.

“It’s a very complex process and it takes about eight weeks to make one hat,” said Steven Goldstein, owner of Bencraft Hatters in Brooklyn, New York. https://bencrafthats.com/ “What separates the Borsalino from just about all the other companies is that they start out from the beginning and produce their own felt bodies and they can control the quality and the stiffness from the start.”

Bencraft is the largest retailer of Borsalino in the world. Goldstein said he sells “quite a few thousand” each year, many of which are gifted to a boy after he is called to the Torah.

You might get that translation if you know anyone in and around Stamford Hill, be interesting to know.

 

[Edward]

Got yourself a gem there Edward, the head covering preferred by Orthodox Jewish boys and men especially is a stylish black Borsalino. It has a hoiche (high crown in Yiddish), a noticeably wide brim and a $325 price tag. That’s due in part to its unique construction. This is not a mass-produced hat.

“It’s a very complex process and it takes about eight weeks to make one hat,” said Steven Goldstein, owner of Bencraft Hatters in Brooklyn, New York. https://bencrafthats.com/ “What separates the Borsalino from just about all the other companies is that they start out from the beginning and produce their own felt bodies and they can control the quality and the stiffness from the start.”

Bencraft is the largest retailer of Borsalino in the world. Goldstein said he sells “quite a few thousand” each year, many of which are gifted to a boy after he is called to the Torah.

You might get that translation if you know anyone in and around Stamford Hill, be interesting to know.

It's really a very nice piece indeed. I hadn't realised the new price was quite that high - though I can imagine for those Orthodox gentlemen who will wear a hat like that daily for years on end it makes a lot of sense to invest in something really good. It'll be interesting to see if that aspect of it gets picked up round here. In a dark grey Akubra Federation and long, West German (1960s, probably) overcoat about fifteen years ago or so I was once given mild anti-Semitic abuse and called a "Nazi" on the same afternoon. Different people, obvs. Always interesting how different people's mindlessness comes out in different ways.


Wasn't sure I could justify a third (oh.... actually fourth, a have a longhair-style 30s one somewhere....) black fedora, but this just looked so nice, and coming with the case made it an even better deal. I've looked at similar hat boxes recently with a view to travelling with them (better shape, takes up less room in the suitcase), and they're a good thirty to forty quid on their own.

 

[alanfgag]

Well done with Google translate - who needs a NYC Hebrew School education!

A side note - B'nei Brak is a city near Tel Aviv and a center of the Haredi community in Israel. The Israeli TV show Shtisel gives an interesting look at this ultra-orthodox community and is very well done. We enjoyed it.