Anyone heard of Bergen Hatters of Jersey City? This is an interesting lid...

[HatsEnough]

Bergen Hatters of Jersey City.

An interesting lid.

Anyone heard of this company or seen a hat like this?

You can tell I am straying from fedoras. First that great stove pipe topper and now this odd duck. I'm losing my mind.

(By the way, I feel it's a women's hat. But I am not sure)

 

[Dinerman]

They pop up from time to time. Here's one I picked up at an antique store in Pennsylvania in '07.

Good construction and trimming- fur felt, though a bit powdery to make it that super bright white.

 

[Dinerman]

Some more of the same style by Bergen, from different eras, in different colors. The ribbons are on the mens side, they're constructed like mens hats, and sized like mens hats, so I'm going to say they're mens. They seem to be regional to NJ makers. Some kind of fraternal organization maybe? Uniform item for someone? I have no idea.

Same style - "custom made" by the W. Alboum Hat Company of Irvington, NJ.

 

[HatsEnough]

Interesting, guys. I never thought about them being fraternal! That yellow one is wild. Also, I like the idea of denting it in like the white one above.

 

[bowlerman]

looks exactly like a hat i've been trying to find for 3 years or more-- now if only they were made in muted colors. really cool, guys. i've seen similar hats called "coachman" hats, and I even think Dobbs released something of the like for a short time recently. Should have jumped on it while it was available, I suppose.

 

[Oldsarge]

When I first looked at it I wondered "What in the world . . . ?" But a coachman's hat? Yessssssss . . . Of course, you now need to go out and buy a coach and four to show it off properly.

 

[flat-top]

Jersey was a pretty swingin' back then, and I bet they would've sported some wild hats.

http://www.amazon.com/Swing-City-Ne...r_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307761160&sr=1-2#_

 

[HatsEnough]

Of course, you now need to go out and buy a coach and four to show it off properly.

I think the hat is cheaper.

 

[hatophile]

I would agree, they look like a low crown topper a coachmen would wear. Could also be for dressage horse showing, they wear small toppers, but usually black or gray, not those wild colors.

 

[hatophile]

Man, you sure have the bug HatsEnough, I think we should call you Hatsenough-Not.

 

[HatsEnough]

Man, you sure have the bug HatsEnough, I think we should call you Hatsenough-Not.

I am about to pull the trigger on a U.S. Army pith helmet from the 1890s, too.

I need help.

 

[hatophile]

I need help.

Dude, you're in the wrong place for that. We are enablers here.

 

[Oldsarge]

I am about to pull the trigger on a U.S. Army pith helmet from the 1890s, too.

I need help.

Never could see that flat-topped design, myself. Now the British Cavalry model with the extended brim over the neck--that's the one! I have a modern version . . . even wore it on safari!

 

[HatsEnough]

Never could see that flat-topped design, myself.

Here's the one I am looking at. It is the 1898 U.S. Army helmet from the Span Am War.

 

[Lefty]

If you haven't seen it, as it's not in the Hats section, check out the Giant Pith Helmet Thread of Doom.


I checked. The thread contains no giant helmets of any sort or any significantly sized pith.

 

[HatsEnough]

It pithes me off that I don't have a hat to add to that thread.... yet.

 

[Oldsarge]

Hey, not bad! I didn't know the U.S. Army ever had a pith helmet shaped like that. Well done, sir.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I'm not sure what it is. Nothing for Bergen comes up in the usual search places. I don't think it's a coachman's hat, though. Coachman's hats are usually quite a bit different, much furrier, though they can be a bit shorter than the typical top hat.

Here's a Cavanagh catalog picture from 1931, along with an actual Cavanagh example from the same time period. It could use a good brushing.

Brad

 

[HatsEnough]

Man. That thing is furry enough to be the head of some sports mascot!!

 

[danofarlington]

When I first looked at it I wondered "What in the world . . . ?" But a coachman's hat? Yessssssss . . . Of course, you now need to go out and buy a coach and four to show it off properly.

Better yet, hire some guys to do it and give them those hats.