I think so.
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Churchill Beaver 100 Vicuna
- Thread starter alanfgag
- Start date
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- 15,083
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- Buffalo, NY
Perhaps an indicator of a small, hand crafted production run.
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- 15,276
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- Somewhere south of crazy
Spectacular Alan. Congrats on that find!
- Messages
- 15,083
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
Perry, thanks!
Joshbru3
I'll Lock Up
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- 4,409
- Location
- Chicago, IL
Now, that's one piece of felt that I MUST feel one day. The felt looks so dense, soft and beautiful all at the same time. Everything about that hat just screams high end. Beautiful find, Alan!!
suitedcboy
One Too Many
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- 1,348
- Location
- Fort Worth Texas or thereabouts
"the position of the latch buttons causes the latches to smack your hands when you pop them open. I wonder if they should have been swapped side to side?"
Your valet would have had his hands smacked when opening the hatbox in order to present you with the hat for your wear on that day. THis is Neiman Marcus, not Macy's we're talking about here.
That is an exceptional hat. Congrats on that find.
Your valet would have had his hands smacked when opening the hatbox in order to present you with the hat for your wear on that day. THis is Neiman Marcus, not Macy's we're talking about here.
That is an exceptional hat. Congrats on that find.
carouselvic
I'll Lock Up
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- 4,984
- Location
- Kansas
OR style
The original owner was born around 1914 and died Feb. 1985. A very fine piece of felt. Allan's critique of Churchill's felt is spot on. The latches on this box are different than on Allan's. I knocked the alpine crease out and dry formed a teardrop for the photo.
The original owner was born around 1914 and died Feb. 1985. A very fine piece of felt. Allan's critique of Churchill's felt is spot on. The latches on this box are different than on Allan's. I knocked the alpine crease out and dry formed a teardrop for the photo.
Benzadmiral
Call Me a Cab
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- 2,815
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- The Swamp
A spectacular hat, Alan. My olive Churchill thin ribbon has the same sort of liner.
I wonder if Nieman-Marcus was the only seller of Churchill hats until the mid-80s, though. My one Churchill is stamped with the name of a New Orleans haberdasher that joined with another in the late '70s, so it must be from earlier than that; and we had and have no N-M store. Perhaps it was a case of Porter's, the local store, buying the hats from N-M and stamping the sweatband with its own logo.
Mine has nice felt, and seems like it was a quality hat even from a period as late as, say, 1978.
I wonder if Nieman-Marcus was the only seller of Churchill hats until the mid-80s, though. My one Churchill is stamped with the name of a New Orleans haberdasher that joined with another in the late '70s, so it must be from earlier than that; and we had and have no N-M store. Perhaps it was a case of Porter's, the local store, buying the hats from N-M and stamping the sweatband with its own logo.
Mine has nice felt, and seems like it was a quality hat even from a period as late as, say, 1978.
- Messages
- 15,083
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
Excellent Vic. I'm glad this one measured up. Interesting that the latches are different but still thumb busters, it seems.
Following up on the price issue, I can confirm that at least one of the Churchill Ltd. Beaver 100 Vicuna blend hats sold for $100.00. I recently pulled one quite similar to Alan's out of the 'Bay, and it is marked $100.00 under the brim. Great price at $169 with the leather hat box, but unfortunately, the brim on mine is quite stiff. The hat band is also narrower than Alan's, at about 1/8 of an inch. John
Following up on the latch issue, mine are marked "Presto USA" (good old quality hardware I've seen on vintage briefcases, etc.) and are reversed from Alan's, so I don't have to smash my fingers. The case is lined in a light violet satin and is not quilted on the bottom, and the brim rest is black plastic rather than brown. The case is otherwise quite similar to Alan's. My hat is creased in the western ranch/open road style and the crown is fairly soft, but as noted, the brim is quite stiff, and "pops" like a modern lacquer-drenched hat when I snap it down. The color is a true light silver belly shade, and the tag under the sweatband indicates that the style is "Spindletop," size 7 3/8, price $100.00, color "Natural," lot "C536," and brim 2 3/4. Please don't ask for pix unless you want to post them for me - I don't have a Flickr account anymore. John
Churchill 100 Beaver Vicuna Blend
Here we go. Auction photos can be found on the 'bay for my Churchill 100 beaver/vicuna hat. Item # 171028425475 (ended). The box cleaned up nicely with a top quality leather cleaner. I sanded some rust from the hardware, and oiled the clasps & hinges. I noted in looking at the auction photos and Alan's photos that the band of my hat is black, which may suggest a more recent vintage than Alan's? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-C...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 My $169 purchase price recollection was off, I see, but probably that's about what it was with shipping. John
Here we go. Auction photos can be found on the 'bay for my Churchill 100 beaver/vicuna hat. Item # 171028425475 (ended). The box cleaned up nicely with a top quality leather cleaner. I sanded some rust from the hardware, and oiled the clasps & hinges. I noted in looking at the auction photos and Alan's photos that the band of my hat is black, which may suggest a more recent vintage than Alan's? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-C...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 My $169 purchase price recollection was off, I see, but probably that's about what it was with shipping. John
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Nice snag. You don't need Flickr if you have 15 posts. You can post directly to the Lounge with the new feature activated....
- Messages
- 15,083
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
Nice find... I agree that it appears more recent but perhaps this also had a short model life span similar to the Stetson 100. Look forward to seeing more pictures as you have time to share them.
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Gentlemen, I am finally posting photos of my Churchill Beaver 100 with Vicuna Fur, and case.
Frankly, I think that Alan has the better hat, but I am confident that with some professional care, the lacquer in the brim can be thinned with alcohol, and the waviness seen in the crown can be steamed out. The latter, I believe, was the result of my having sprayed the hat a bit with water from a mist spray bottle and a (gentle) commercial de-odorizer to try to defunkify a _very_ strong musty smell that permeated my entire office when I opened the case.
The case itself also needed a little TLC, as previously noted but it really came out looking great. It alone is well worth my cash investment.
The odor is still a bit of an issue, but I have purchased a bamboo charcoal product that is said to work wonders, and I have high hopes. I will report back later.
So here it is:
Frankly, I think that Alan has the better hat, but I am confident that with some professional care, the lacquer in the brim can be thinned with alcohol, and the waviness seen in the crown can be steamed out. The latter, I believe, was the result of my having sprayed the hat a bit with water from a mist spray bottle and a (gentle) commercial de-odorizer to try to defunkify a _very_ strong musty smell that permeated my entire office when I opened the case.
The case itself also needed a little TLC, as previously noted but it really came out looking great. It alone is well worth my cash investment.
The odor is still a bit of an issue, but I have purchased a bamboo charcoal product that is said to work wonders, and I have high hopes. I will report back later.
So here it is:
Incidentally, I also prefer carouselvic's hat to my own, at least in its' present condition, and did not mean to exclude him or his own great purchase.
My hat does have a very nice high quality and dense felt with a very nice "hand," but I honestly think I actually prefer my 1940's - 50's Stetson Nutria and Stetson Nutria Quality working cowboy hats with the soft floppy brims and almost bulletproof felt over this high-falootin beaver/vicuna blend. I doubt that I'll ever part with it though ;-)
One more thing - I read in my vicuna research about a South American vicuna preservation group that was working on a vicuna felt hat project a few years ago and had made a prototype. I lost the link, but I did find this at the "hatshapers" web site:
There is also an article on how they made an alpaca fur felt hat. Although alpaca are _not_ actually the same animal as vicuna and their fur is inferior by comparison, I am tempted to buy a capeline/hood and take a stab at blocking a lightweight fedora. Based on my fairly limited experience with blocking and re-blocking vintage felt hats, I believe better results could probably be achieved with a wet felting & blocking process and a good wooden block & flange.
John
My hat does have a very nice high quality and dense felt with a very nice "hand," but I honestly think I actually prefer my 1940's - 50's Stetson Nutria and Stetson Nutria Quality working cowboy hats with the soft floppy brims and almost bulletproof felt over this high-falootin beaver/vicuna blend. I doubt that I'll ever part with it though ;-)
One more thing - I read in my vicuna research about a South American vicuna preservation group that was working on a vicuna felt hat project a few years ago and had made a prototype. I lost the link, but I did find this at the "hatshapers" web site:
There is also an article on how they made an alpaca fur felt hat. Although alpaca are _not_ actually the same animal as vicuna and their fur is inferior by comparison, I am tempted to buy a capeline/hood and take a stab at blocking a lightweight fedora. Based on my fairly limited experience with blocking and re-blocking vintage felt hats, I believe better results could probably be achieved with a wet felting & blocking process and a good wooden block & flange.
John
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Return Of The Golden Fleece?
Found it: http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazin...rchives/2002/Return-of-the-Golden-Fleece.aspx
"Zenon Wharton, newly appointed SNV manager, presents the assembled members with a prototype for an exciting new product: a locally created, paper-thin, deliciously soft vicuña felt hat made from overly short fleeces unusable for weaving. His plan, to launch a new line of SNV labels to return the profits directly to the communities, brings a wave of optimism and hope."
Found it: http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazin...rchives/2002/Return-of-the-Golden-Fleece.aspx
"Zenon Wharton, newly appointed SNV manager, presents the assembled members with a prototype for an exciting new product: a locally created, paper-thin, deliciously soft vicuña felt hat made from overly short fleeces unusable for weaving. His plan, to launch a new line of SNV labels to return the profits directly to the communities, brings a wave of optimism and hope."
winter_joe
A-List Customer
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What's the circumference on it there Mr. galt?
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