Blue and what?

[Wild Root]

I just swapped an early 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino (That was a few sizes to small) for a blue Dobbs Cross Country. It is a nice gray blue color with a purple band! Sweat band is in good condition and it has an O.P.A. tag witch indicates that it was made between the war years of 1942-1945. It has a raw edge, no lining; brand name stamped on felt of inside the crown and has no stains! But, has a small little hole on the front of the crown. :cry:

A very soft and light weight hat that will be fun to fix up!

Photos will come soon!

Root.

 

[jamespowers]

I look forward to the photos. Does it have the "Head Spring" system at the back of the hat band?

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

Does it have the "Head Spring" system

I'm not sure what that is. Educate me JP.

 

[jamespowers]

The Head Sping system is one used by Dobbs that is simliar to the corrugation found at the front of Borsalinos. In the Dobbs, it is located at the back of the hat while in the Borsalino it is located at the front. This system is supposed to keep your head cooler on hot days by providing ventilation within the hat.
If you have this the leather at the back of the sweatband will be corrugated. Behind that there is a piece of foam or some such thing that keeps the hat band from fitting tight to the felt. I really like it because not only does it improve the ventilation; it improves the fit as well. I hope you have it in that hat.
Dobbs, Borsalinos and Stetson Whippets are my concentration of study. My wife decided to concentrate on Borsalinos so her field of study would not be so large but I can only keep it down to three and I keep failing at that. If it looks good and fits good, I usually buy it. I even buy some just because they are different.
Does your hat band say anything else on it? I am bettign that they were pretty low on materials during that period so the hat is very basic and probably very soft and floppy (the stiffner was in short supply due to war rationing and the supply of shellac flakes being disrupted from South America. It is quite a find. I am jealous no matter what it has. Think of all it survive through. If only hats could talk. LOL I suppose those "gangster hats" would have a lot of holes in them from their owners trying to keep them quite though. LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

Oh yeah! That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s right. I knew about the Borsalino thing, but didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t know about the Dobbs thing. Well, I looked and it doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t have it. Since it was made at that time like you said they were very short on materials to make any thing. So, it is just as basic as you could get. The felt is floppy! I just steamed it to get the wrinkles out and get it ready for it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s photo shoot. I hope to post some photos some time tomorrow.

The inside of the leather sweat band reads:

J.S. WILLIAMS CO. MODESTO CALIF. Dobbs Cross Country.

I just cleaned it by using my vacuum?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hose attachment tool to clean the felt of all the dust on it. This hat was sitting in my friend?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s closet for a few years. It wasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t his size so I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t think he ever wore it. He just buys what ever vintage thing that comes into sight.

Photos will be up tomorrow for sure!

Root.

 

[Wild Root]

Tah dah! I give you... THE DOBBS CROSS COUNTRY!

Isn't she lovely! Ah, such a rare war time hat as well. I'll have more photo soon of the inside and such.

Regards.

 

[STHill]

That's a good looking hat, Root. Does the picture accurately show the shade of blue? I recently picked up a Stetson Playboy that looks similar. It's blue with a purplish ribbon. The blue is darker than yours looks in the pic. The Playboy is seriously blue--almost a "U.S. Cavalry" blue. I think I'm going to send it to Art for reblocking and cleaning. I'll post a pic when I get it back.

 

[jamespowers]

It is indeed a good looking hat. The edge looks like a Mode edge though not a raw one. It could be fooling me though because I cannot see underneath to make sure it is not underwelted but it sure looks like a Mode edge. That just makes it that much nicer though. I would have traded a small Borsalino for it.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Wild Root]

Thank you guys! I like it. You know, it's funny about that edge, I looked at it and it looked like a mode edge, but looking closer, it's a raw edge that has been pressed to look like a mode edge! See, since it was made during the war, they weren't allowed to use the extra felt to make a mode edge or any other styled edge. This is a true war time hat and it shows what they did and with what they had to fool the eye!

I'm going to post more photos soon

Root.

 

[jamespowers]

Then we have a new type of edge--Pressed Edge or Formed Edge. Looks good to me either way.

 

[Wild Root]

Cool!LOL Pressed edge. You know, when I got it, I just kep feeling it to see if was folded over, it just wasn't. So, there you have it. A new edge!

The color you see in the photo is very close to the color of the hat! It is just a little darker, and a little gray. But, a swell hat nevertheless.

Later,

Root.

 

[jamespowers]

Now this is just strange. A lot of hats my wife bought for herself came in today. Guess what was in the group? You guessed it a Dobbs Cross country!
I understand everything you mentioned earlier now. Hers is a little different from yours though. It truly has a raw edge. No finished edge here. The ribbon is also different. It is 1/2 inch and at the bottom of the ribbon is a sort of chain design all the way around. It makes for a very cool looking ribbon.
Inside the hat it is also sans liner. The name is sort of inked onto the felt in pink/orange and white colors. It says Dobbs Fifth Avenue New York in a designed shield with the Dobbs logo and says Cross Country under that. Very interesting.
I also understand what you mean about floppy as well.

Regards to all,

J