Champ....extremely small Champ

[Samsa]

I found this on the old 'Bay and bought it, just because I found the size curious. It's a size 6 3/4 Champ. Here are some pictures (sorry about the poor picture quality):

The sweatband has the words "Felted by Master Craftsmen," the Champ logo with the phrase "Feel the Felt," and nothing else. The crown is 4" high and the brim 2 3/4" wide.

Browsing through the archives I've found a few references to hats this small, mostly in the context of childrens hats. Could this have been custom ordered from Champ? I'm inclined to assume so, especially absent any sort of marker indicating the shop it was purchased from.

Also, about 1/4 - 1/2" inside from the brim, there is evidence of stitching (no thread, just the marks). Any ideas as to what that might be from?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Call it a "Champette."

.

 

[MattJH]

I have a 6 5/8 Borsalino that I bought thinking that my wife's head was far smaller than it actually is. She's a 6 7/8 or a 7, I'm not sure. I've seen old hat sizing charts that go a size lower, to a 6 1/2.

 

[Dinerman]

That's one of the oldest champs I think I've seen.
The logo's the same as mine, but the font of "champ" is different.
do we know when they went into business?

As for the stitching- At one point, your hat had a bound brim. Either the stitching dry rotted and fell off, or someone took it off.

 

[Samsa]

That's one of the oldest champs I think I've seen.
The logo's the same as mine, but the font of "champ" is different.
do we know when they went into business?

As for the stitching- At one point, your hat had a bound brim. Either the stitching dry rotted and fell off, or someone took it off.

Bound brim - that's the term I was trying to remember!

As to age, I found another thread on Champ; James Powers had this to say (for those who are too lazy to check the thread):

Champ hats. Hmm... They were not exactly the best hat around but they were a midgrade hat that was priced right for the masses. Champ was originally from Sunbury, PA. They were around for quite a while. I can trace them back to the early 40s with their ads but then it gets sketchy. I am sure someone can give you their start date.
They had celebrities advertising for them like Guy Williams in the 1950s. They were not like Lee and Adams though. They sponsored fights and had radio ads with Walter Winchell. Champ was on its own for a while until the hat companies started consolidating. In the 1960s Resistol acquired Hat Corporation of American and had Champ under its collection of labels. I don't see Champ hats around anymore--at least the felt kind. I guess Hat brands or Hatco still owns the label. I have seen baseball caps with Champ labels but I am not sure if they are made by Hatco. If they are then Champ has been reduced to a baseball cap maker's name.
Champ hats sold for about $7.50 in the 1940s and 50s so it was a fairly inexpensive hat for the time. Adam and Lee were selling for about the same price while Mallory and Stetson were mostly at the $10 buy in point and higher. There was competiton of course so The other companies had to come out with lower priced models but Champ did a pretty good job with what it had to work with.

So my new acquisition is not likely to be older than the 40s, it looks like.