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[glider]

Well it doesn't say Stetson anywhere, guess it's fur felt. It has a very nice hand. I'll post some pictures when I have time, shorter brim than I like usually but overall it's just a really nice hat .

 

[glider]

And thanks for the answers, appreciate it .

 

[TheGuitarFairy]

Incoming.
Wondering age of this Resistol?
Not sure if I've seen an unlined Resistol before.

 

[Steve1857]

Looks like it has had some kind of liner over the tip as well as some other hats stacked on top of it. However, never mind all that: what a wonderful colour, Mike. Congrats.

Incoming.
Wondering age of this Resistol?
Not sure if I've seen an unlined Resistol before.
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[Blare]

Incoming.
Wondering age of this Resistol?
Not sure if I've seen an unlined Resistol before.
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Wow

 

[Frunobulax]

Incoming.
Wondering age of this Resistol?
Not sure if I've seen an unlined Resistol before.
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Great looking hat. I have a Resistol I refurbed with just a tip sticker, not stamped like yours. I just had to put in a new sweatband.

Anything behind the sweatband ( if you can get to it)?

 

[TheGuitarFairy]

Thank you, Fruno
Hat's not in my hands yet ; ) Care to venture a guess as to age? 50s?

 

[Frunobulax]

Thank you, Fruno
Hat's not in my hands yet ; ) Care to venture a guess as to age? 50s?

I'll pass. IT doesn't have any of the tell-tale signs we look for in a Resistol, (such as "Byer-Rolnick"). The stylized "O" likely puts it pre-1960, though.

I can't make out what's writtren above the bucking bronco, though. Can anybody else?

 

[BobHufford]

Incoming.
Wondering age of this Resistol?
Not sure if I've seen an unlined Resistol before.

I can't put any date to it other than pre-1967, but that is one cool looking hat! Congrats Mike.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This hat got me thinking. Mark @M Hatman researched Beaver Brand and put its genesis in 1980 (the company existed before this, but under a different name(s)). This 100% beaver hat was a $25 hat. The inflation calculator says that $25 in 1980 is equivalent to $83 today. You sure can’t get a 100% beaver western hat today for $83. Has the cost of hat gone up several times the rate of inflation? Less price pressure due to less competition? Raw materials cost more? Increased labor costs?

Even if the 1980 date is off, inflation alone doesn’t seem to explain the costs of today’s hats compared to the costs decades ago.

 

[belfastboy]

This hat got me thinking. Mark @M Hatman researched Beaver Brand and put its genesis in 1980 (the company existed before this, but under a different name(s)). This 100% beaver hat was a $25 hat. The inflation calculator says that $25 in 1980 is equivalent to $83 today. You sure can’t get a 100% beaver western hat today for $83. Has the cost of hat gone up several times the rate of inflation? Less price pressure due to less competition? Raw materials cost more? Increased labor costs?


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Even if the 1980 date is off, inflation alone doesn’t seem to explain the costs of today’s hats compared to the costs decades ago.

The base cost for my materials to make a hat runs from $80 to $100, rabbit to beaver. But that is buying felt in small quantity, vintage ribbon, best quality sweats. Surely a mass produced hat company is buying a lot better than I or other custom hatters. So the base material cost for these mass producers on a pure beaver hat, generic ribbon, middle of the road sweats??? What maybe $60 or less?

 

[Frunobulax]

The base cost for my materials to make a hat runs from $80 to $100, rabbit to beaver. But that is buying felt in small quantity, vintage ribbon, best quality sweats. Surely a mass produced hat company is buying a lot better than I or other custom hatters. So the base material cost for these mass producers on a pure beaver hat, generic ribbon, middle of the road sweats??? What maybe $60 or less?

Plus: labor costs (including fringe), site costs (rent, property taxes, maintenance of property and equipment), marketing, regulatory compliance, and various other things a table top or even custom hatter may not have to deal with.

But, yeah, materials alone doesn't account for it. I wonder what the cost per unfinished hood is for a large company that felts their own blanks like Stetson or Akubra.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Thanks, Robert. I have the related question about custom hat costs. It seems that the work (blocking, pouncing, ironing, sewing, etc.) is the same regardless of the type of felt. The materials (thread, leather sweatband, liner, ribbon) are all the same and the only difference is in the cost of the felt. However, it’s almost an industry wide practice of western hatters to price beaver blend hats twice that of rabbit/hare and the price doubles again if you want 100% beaver. I expect to pay more, but why is the same $250 hat in rabbit an $850 hat in beaver? The profit margins on the beaver hats are huge compared to rabbit…the costs of the hat bodies accounts for a tiny portion of the added expense.

I guess if those hatters are several months behind in orders there isn’t any pressure to lower their prices, but then why even offer rabbit/hare? I’ve always been curious and it’s not really a question you can ask the big name hatters.

Gannon, Northwest, Wolfbrae, and some others buck the trend and that’s why they get my business.

 

[Frunobulax]

Thanks, Robert. I have the related question about custom hat costs. It seems that the work (blocking, pouncing, ironing, sewing, etc.) is the same regardless of the type of felt. The materials (thread, leather sweatband, liner, ribbon) are all the same and the only difference is in the cost of the felt. However, it’s almost an industry wide practice of western hatters to price beaver blend hats twice that of rabbit/hare and the price doubles again if you want 100% beaver. I expect to pay more, but why is the same $250 hat in rabbit an $850 hat in beaver? The profit margins on the beaver hats are huge compared to rabbit…the costs of the hat bodies accounts for a tiny portion of the added expense.

I guess if those hatters are several months behind in orders there isn’t any pressure to lower their prices, but then why even offer rabbit/hare? I’ve always been curious and it’s not really a question you can ask the big name hatters.

Gannon, Northwest, Wolfbrae, and some others buck the trend and that’s why they get my business.

I've seen jewelry marked up 100% - 1,000%. Nothing surprises me.

 

[belfastboy]

Plus: labor costs (including fringe), site costs (rent, property taxes, maintenance of property and equipment), marketing, regulatory compliance, and various other things a table top or even custom hatter may not have to deal with.

But, yeah, materials alone doesn't account for it. I wonder what the cost per unfinished hood is for a large company that felts their own blanks like Stetson or Akubra.

Yes, other than my hard material costs (and the one time capital costs) I have none of the other attendant costs. Well, I guess a bit of electricity. But if Winchester is selling its beaver felts for $70 how much would Stratton pay for same? To me it is a wonder that Akubra can sell their hats for such a low price.....and Stetson ask so much for theirs

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I've seen jewelry marked up 100% - 1,000%. Nothing surprises me.

When I see a 60% off sale sign in a jewelry store window I always wonder why everyone doesn’t get pissed knowing what a screw job their normal prices are. Even at their sale prices they are rip-offs. There’s a local store that guarantees that their jewelry will appraise for twice what they sell it for…what good is such an appraisal? Nope, I’m sticking with hats.

 

[Frunobulax]

Yes, other than my hard material costs (and the one time capital costs) I have none of the other attendant costs. Well, I guess a bit of electricity. But if Winchester is selling its beaver felts for $70 how much would Stratton pay for same? To me it is a wonder that Akubra can sell their hats for such a low price.....and Stetson ask so much for theirs

I guess it's just the brand. Kinda like Louis Vuitton handbags. Or Ray-Ban sunglasses.

When I see a 60% off sale sign in a jewelry store window I always wonder why everyone doesn’t get pissed knowing what a screw job their normal prices are. Even at their sale prices they are rip-offs. There’s a local store that guarantees that their jewelry will appraise for twice what they sell it for…what good is such an appraisal? Nope, I’m sticking with hats.

I was nominally involved in retail jewelry sales many moons ago, and was really taken aback.

 

[belfastboy]

I guess it's just the brand. Kinda like Louis Vuitton handbags. Or Ray-Ban sunglasses.



I was nominally involved in retail jewelry sales many moons ago, and was really taken aback.

I have a friend that goes to Hong Kong and can get you a Louis Vuiddon handbag quite cheap as well as Hugo Boos Tshirts.

 

[Zombie_61]

I guess it's just the brand. Kinda like Louis Vuitton handbags. Or Ray-Ban sunglasses...

Spot on. Way back when we were still dating my wife and I took a class in basic auto repair and maintenance. The instructor was a former auto mechanic for various General Motors dealerships (and all of the brand names under their umbrella of ownership) and he told us flat out that if two customers drove in on the same day with the same maintenance request that the customer with the Cadillac was going to pay five to ten times more than the customer with the Chevy even though the maintenance procedures were essentially identical. Why? The name badge on each vehicle. Cadillac was still a big deal back in the late-70s/early-80s, and if you could afford one the retail/service logic was that you could afford to pay more to maintain it. So, yep, quite often you're/we're paying more for the name.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have a friend that goes to Hong Kong and can get you a Louis Vuiddon handbag quite cheap as well as Hugo Boos Tshirts.

Even cheaper in Tijuana.