Borsalino... How Old?

[Rick Blaine]

Hi all

Just picked this up... a score, I hope for 30 clams...however,it has yet to arrive, so we'll see. I was hoping someone might venture a guess as to the vintage (or lack of) based on the liner..

and here is an overall

Thanks gents!

Rick

 

[Razzman]

My compliments of the nice looking lid! :eusa_clap

 

[DanielJones]

Great looking lid.:eusa_clap Check for the tag attached to the felt of the inside of the hat, there should be some ID numbers there. Visigoth may be able to help you with the age identification from there.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Visigoth]

The sizing: is it old style (4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2) or new (7, 7 1/8, 7 1/4 etc.)? The leather band says 5 1/2, which seems to indicate old. It has a sewn-in liner: another sign that it's older. Outwardly it looks quite similar, except for the Open-Road-style ribbon, to a 1930 Borsalino I have. The liner is different. It seems to say "Qualita Superiore" on the liner, which is nice: these are inevitably good hats (a notch above the regular Borsalino); my 1930 hat is also a Superiore, with a bound brim.

Definitely worth thirty bucks, if it's in good shape. Probably worth five or ten times that.

 

[Visigoth]

Ah: check this thread --

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=3314

Towards the bottom, there's a picture of a very similar liner, thought to be thirties...

 

[WEEGEE]

Borsalino Seattle

Seattle shop still around http://seattle.citysearch.com/profile/10767286/


tHe BoSaLiNo HaS bEeN dRiNkInG

 

[DanielJones]

Good show Visigoth. Some good possibilities there.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[tonyb]

Seattle shop still around http://seattle.citysearch.com/profile/10767286/

Indeed they still are, as they have been since 1934, I think. They carry a wide selection of the sort of stuff that doesn't impress the typical Fedora Lounger, but, you know, who does these days, other than the custom hatters? Obviously, they carry what they can sell. You can buy a new Stetson or a Borsalino or a Biltmore there, as well as some stuff that maybe doesn't carry a brand name at all. And yes, I've seen wool felts and paper straws there, too. Can't really fault 'em for that; they gotta pay the bills somehow.
The place has a ton of Golden Era atmosphere, though, and it's authentic atmosphere. Thank goodness nobody ever got it in his head to "modernize" the joint.

 

[tonyb]

And oh, Mr. Blaine: You can't go wrong at that price. Give us the rundown when it arrives, OK?

 

[WEEGEE]

tonyb...thanks not been to that shop

tonyb,


Have two hats from Uzt both Borsalino 50's and 60's.

Thank you on the current observation of the shop never been but will visit

to soak up some hat whispers from the past.


regards and more,

WeeGee

 

[tonyb]

Yeah, WEEGEE, if you ever get out this way, lemme know and we'll drop in on Byrnie Utz. It's worth the time, and I still send some business their way, although nowhere near as much as I used to, back when I thought $250 for a new Borsalino was a reasonable value. (But, in comparison to something more than half that much for a new Stetson, it doesn't seem so bad. Now if I expect to pay that much for a hat, I'll just add lunch money to it and get another new custom from Art.) Still, it's good to see they've kept it going all these years. Paul, the fellow who runs the place, is obviously a "hat guy." You can't help but sense he takes some pride and satisfaction in keeping that somewhat anachronistic store in business. Out here, where they tend to tear down structures before they're paid for, Byrnie Utz's very existence is a testament to perseverance and a bit of good luck. Really, there's so little left of the downtown Seattle retail core I knew back when we first moved out here, in 1968. Yet Byrnie Utz survives.