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[TheOldFashioned]

Welcome to The Lounge!

Regarding Chastain's, I found a couple references in a newspaper from the late 1940s from Camden, Arkansas (have to pay to view).

Here's a picture from Sand Spings, Oklahoma dated 1955:

Here's another from Springfield, Missouri from the early 1950s (store marquee on the left):


Looks like it was a mid-century regional department store chain, quite common in the US before M&A and national/global behemoths. Timeline also fits well with @Bamaboots assessment of your hat.

 

[BobHufford]

^^^^^ The Springfield one is new to me (and I've been here since 1960). Maybe it was gone by the time Mom had me out and about. We did shop downtown more than on Commercial Street.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

^^^^^ The Springfield one is new to me (and I've been here since 1960). Maybe it was gone by the time Mom had me out and about. We did shop downtown more than on Commercial Street.

Here's a couple more shots from a different angle taken during a parade:


I'll do some more digging and see if I can I bracket some dates of this specific location.

 

[BobHufford]

^^^^^ Thanks @TheOldFashioned ! I think that switched over to a CR Anthony store and the building burned in the 1980s. That old fire station next door is a wedding venue now.

 

[Cornshucker77]

View attachment 173240 View attachment 173242 View attachment 173243 View attachment 173244 View attachment 173245 View attachment 173246 View attachment 173247 View attachment 173248 View attachment 173249 hi this is my first post, thanks for having me!
I’m from England so don’t know too much about American hats but I just bought this old stetson.
Can anyone date it and help me out with its model/type please? It appears to be an open road. (Although it has no model stamped on the leather) but has a 3” brim, it’s not silverbelly colour but a light tan.
It also has stamp of Chastain S department store (I can’t find them online either)
Any info at all on this hat would be much appreciated.
Cheers, Eddy

Welcome aboard Eddy. Love that hat.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

^^^^^ Thanks @TheOldFashioned ! I think that switched over to a CR Anthony store and the building burned in the 1980s. That old fire station next door is a wedding venue now.

Sad to hear it burnt down, but it does fit the description for the present day:


I found a little info on the historical fire station but didn't want to chase down that rabbit hole. With a lack of address I'm running into a bit of difficulty trying to find property records. There's also only a limited amount of free info available through the county and library sites. I can find some basic info on the tea and spice shop next door, but only goes back about five years. This one might take some work.

 

[jlee562]

Nice hat! The sweatbands of that era were not the best quality that Stetson ever used, as I'm sure you can see. But those are very nice proportions and the hat has a beautiful used patina. The Nutria quality felt should have lots of life left in it. Although a sweatband replacement will diminish the "collectable" value of the hat, that's definitely a hat worth saving and you'll still know it's a genuine Stetson.

 

[Eddy2dice]

Here's a couple more shots from a different angle taken during a parade:
View attachment 173268 View attachment 173267

I'll do some more digging and see if I can I bracket some dates of this specific location.

Thank you that’s amazing, I love the pic of the three young guys checking out the chick in the parade!

 

[jonesy86]

Just saw this on The Bay:

[emoji93]Western Stetson Cowboy Hat Bands, Suede Leather, Adjustable Buckle, 1/2" Wide https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/202624442356


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[humanshoes]

Just saw this on The Bay:

[emoji93]Western Stetson Cowboy Hat Bands, Suede Leather, Adjustable Buckle, 1/2" Wide https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/202624442356


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Nice. These look pretty cool also.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Western-Co...itm=202538157524&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

 

[Ed321]

I just bought the Stetson Bogie beaver fedora. It was phantom grey (a light grey). Within a few hours, it took on a slight green tint. Just sitting there on my shelf. At first I thought it was my imagination, but I had taken a picture of it out of the box, and another picture after the 'green' began to show, and sure enough, even in the pictures, the difference is there. Does beaver fur change like that? Or is there at least some explanation for it? Thank you.

 

[The Jackal]

Is it the entire thing that has the green tint or just sections?

I've not heard of fur changing color like that, although I have a hat that I bought because it was olive green, only to find it was only olive green in one specific type of light, otherwise it was chocolate brown.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I just bought the Stetson Bogie beaver fedora. It was phantom grey (a light grey). Within a few hours, it took on a slight green tint. Just sitting there on my shelf. At first I thought it was my imagination, but I had taken a picture of it out of the box, and another picture after the 'green' began to show, and sure enough, even in the pictures, the difference is there. Does beaver fur change like that? Or is there at least some explanation for it? Thank you.

First: have you ever followed The Dead? Have you ever called Dr. Tim Leary a prophet? Have you ever hung out in The Haight tasting sounds and hearing colors? If no then please continue:

Fur felt can certainly appear differently in various light conditions. It also can appear to change color as the surroundings change. Aside from that, it might fade over years, but not over hours.




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[jonesy86]

I want to get a fashion western. I'm going to go with Gannon to make the hat but he does a lot more dress hat with ribbons and doesn't have any leather, bandanas or "hat belts" on hand. Do any of you have any online resources of accessories for hats I could easily buy and throw on?

I really like some of this Guatemalan bead work.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HandmadeM...name&listing_id=693033422&section_id=25684213

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I really like some of this Guatemalan bead work.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HandmadeM...name&listing_id=693033422&section_id=25684213

I do like those. Thanks!


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[Ed321]

Thank you both for your help (and a good laugh). It must be ... the lighting (he said as he re-played In Search of the Lost Chord).

 

[JessieJames]

Out of curiosity, were flat brim (3") not part of the trend "back in the day"? Can't say I've ever seen any up to now that were flat brim raw edge westerns. Or can a snap brim be ironed down to become a straight brim (but then I assume you can never go back)

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Out of curiosity, were flat brim (3") not part of the trend "back in the day"? Can't say I've ever seen any up to now that were flat brim raw edge westerns. Or can a snap brim be ironed down to become a straight brim (but then I assume you can never go back)

Hats with 3” brims were very popular and quite common. Some were flat and some weren’t. Then, as in now, owners changed the shape of the brim and crown to suit their own tastes. Check out the western threads and you’ll see a lot of them. If you iron a brim flat you’ll need to send it to a hatter with the proper flange to get a flange back, but with steam and/or water you can do a lot of other shaping yourself.


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[JessieJames]

Hats with 3” brims were very popular and quite common. Some were flat and some weren’t. Then, as in now, owners changed the shape of the brim and crown to suit their own tastes. Check out the western threads and you’ll see a lot of them. If you iron a brim flat you’ll need to send it to a hatter with the proper flange to get a flange back, but with steam and/or water you can do a lot of other shaping yourself.


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Would it be easy to just iron myself flat? Thinking of browsing ebay to find some vintage Westerns with the brim length I want and then reshaping it to a flat brim (although I'm not sure if that would work well because the thinner dress hats are thinner and it may not be a nice strong flat brim and the ebay information these posters put up is so so limited)

 

[BobHufford]

@JessieJames ... sometimes you just gotta flatten them out.