Collector or Consumer?

[Rmccamey]

[Subtitle: Hats as Collectibles or Hats as Tools]



Are you more of a Collector of hats or more of a Consumer/User of hats?

Do you spend more time and energy in the pursuit of unique or rare hats, even if they are not your size, just to have a hat of a particular color, style or provenance? Do you have more than just an average curiosity about vintage hats; how they were made, what they are made of, where they were sold? Do you use hats as conversation starters? When you search for a hat, do you think more about owning the hat or wearing the hat? If so, you might be a Collector.

Do you spend more time and energy in pursuit of hats that have utility; hats you will actually wear or that will add to your style of dress or fashion or that will be useful in different weather conditions? Do you rarely search for, investigate or purchase a hat not in your size? Do you search for vintage hats based more on the quality of construction and materials used than the history of the hat itself? When searching for a hat, do you think more about wearing the hat or owning the hat? If so, you might be a Consumer.

Are you a Collector or a Consumer? Has your position changed over time?

Both Collectors and Consumers can possess or “own” the same number of hats. My question is not about quantity, per se, although there might be some correlation. I have attempted to make these descriptions at opposite ends of a continuum and, yes, I fully understand that each of us is somewhere along that continuum and not at some fixed, finite point for eternity. I hope to generate a healthy discussion based on where we are along that continuum “most of the time” and perhaps some reasons we tend to fall on one side of the scale or the other.

With best regards.

 

[Bushman]

I'm definitely more in the consumer circle. All my hats are in my size, and get used at some time or another.

 

[belfastboy]

I think I straddle the fence although if pushed I would fall onto the consumer side. I do have a collector mindset or at least I bring a curiosity to my consuming. Before hats it was vintage mountain bikes. Every one I purchased was in my size, I rode them all as I was curious about how the different geometries, the different metallurgy felt on the trail, how the different components felt plus I wanted to learn how to be a bike mechanic. I had a list, a goal of what bikes, brands and styles I wanted and set out to accumulate them all and ended up with about 30 bikes. Once I achieved that I began to dismantle the collection as I had achieved my goal. I am down now to 10 bikes and have 3 for sale right now.

My hat collecting has followed a very similar arc. I have collected all the styles, colours, felts and their makers on my list (except for a Duplex!). I am now, for me, taking the next step into learning the craft of making fur felt hats as I have nothing more to search for or collect. The vintage market after dipping my toe into it did not interest me all that much. Too many missteps, too much competition, too many dodgy sellers dulled my ardor for vintage. The difference is that my hats are so personal to me, much more so than the bikes. This is true especially for the custom hats as I had a hand in the selection and design so that I will be hard pressed to dismantle the collection. On slow rainy days or bored days I will take some hats out of their boxes, brush them and just admire them. In a Marie Kondo sense they do bring me joy.

I may just keep them and when I pass get my wife to send them to Goodwill or somesuch.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

[Subtitle: Hats as Collectibles or Hats as Tools]

View attachment 265691

Are you more of a Collector of hats or more of a Consumer/User of hats?

Do you spend more time and energy in the pursuit of unique or rare hats, even if they are not your size, just to have a hat of a particular color, style or provenance? Do you have more than just an average curiosity about vintage hats; how they were made, what they are made of, where they were sold? Do you use hats as conversation starters? When you search for a hat, do you think more about owning the hat or wearing the hat? If so, you might be a Collector.

Do you spend more time and energy in pursuit of hats that have utility; hats you will actually wear or that will add to your style of dress or fashion or that will be useful in different weather conditions? Do you rarely search for, investigate or purchase a hat not in your size? Do you search for vintage hats based more on the quality of construction and materials used than the history of the hat itself? When searching for a hat, do you think more about wearing the hat or owning the hat? If so, you might be a Consumer.

Are you a Collector or a Consumer? Has your position changed over time?

Both Collectors and Consumers can possess or “own” the same number of hats. My question is not about quantity, per se, although there might be some correlation. I have attempted to make these descriptions at opposite ends of a continuum and, yes, I fully understand that each of us is somewhere along that continuum and not at some fixed, finite point for eternity. I hope to generate a healthy discussion based on where we are along that continuum “most of the time” and perhaps some reasons we tend to fall on one side of the scale or the other.

With best regards.

I like this thread, Randy.
I’m a consumer. The only hats I have not in my size are for sale or trade. I only care about the minutiae of vintage hats as it helps me find specimens that have the attributes I prefer. I wouldn’t care if the hat was from 1930 or 1990 as long as the quality and characteristics were the same.

Hats and the search for the next “perfect” hat brings me pleasure. I like the hunt and I like wearing them. However, to me they will always just be mere “things.” They don’t have souls and they aren’t sentient. Obtaining an age or scarcity doesn’t change the fact that it’s just stuff and therefore not worthy of any great significance to me. I suppose it stems from my upbringing where I was taught that where my treasures were there my heart would be also. I appreciate that others feel differently, but I can’t say that I understand it. Old felt, leather, grosgrain, and satin put together by a craftsman just don’t seem worthy of a lot of emotional investment. Subsequently, there isn’t a hat in my collection that I wouldn’t sell for the right price.

Now I have more hats than I “need,” so my collecting isn’t just for the wont of something to wear. However I would never keep two identical hats as once the niche is filled why would I want another?

I’m curious to see how others feel and think.

 

[belfastboy]

Another aspect for me is the memory and attendant emotion the object evokes. One other of my 'collections' is about 200 or so miniature animals. It is my personal 'glass menagerie'. They have been collected over the past 50 years in my world travels. It is a way of having a keepsake from the places I have visited. I have them displayed in a glass curio cabinet and I often stop by and spend a few minutes to look. I can remember where each have been purchased and seeing them evokes the memory of that place, that time.

This is also true for my hats. When I view them or when I wear them I remember the 'get', the time and place in my life it was purchased, I remember the interaction with the maker, the back and forth on the design and in viewing the hat I can return to that place in my past. Plus I just like to buy shit!

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I’m a Collectsumer of Consullectorables
B

 

[Zombie_61]

I'm definitely in the "consumer" camp. Hats (or other clothing items), foods, tools, furniture, whatever--if it doesn't serve a specific purpose in my life, I have no use for it. When I was much younger I would probably have said "collector" because I had a tendency to want to "complete the set". These days I couldn't care less about that.

 

[steur]

I'd be kidding myself if I'd say I was a consumer of hats. No way there would ever be a need to have this many hats and not be a collector. That being said I do collect hats that I could wear, even if it was only in theory. There are very few hats in my collection that are not my size that I keep (and then usually because I can't sell them anyway). I do buy hats that are not my size if I think they are any good, but almost always to trade or resell. The subtle and not so subtle differences between hats I think is fascinating and make it difficult for me not to buy a hat even if I know I have sometimes several hats already just like it. That doesn't mean I can't let go of a hat: I've traded or sold many hats that were fantastic, but I had to let go because they didn't fit me well enough.

 

[Rmccamey]

Don't be shy, tell us how you really feel

I just like to buy shit!

 

[belfastboy]

Don't be shy, tell us how you really feel

My wife tells me I am one helluva good shopper.....and that is one of my few good attributes.

 

[mayserwegener]

I collect hats in my size range but I have some smaller size hats that are strictly collector pieces. I have a very large number of hats but try to wear most of them. A few times I went for months in the WHAYWT thread without repeating a hat. I also like researching the Hat Industries specifically Germany. Austria, Czech and Italy.

 

[Rmccamey]

I didn't have much doubt that you were a collector and for all of us on TFL, we owe you a big thanks. I and many others always enjoy reading the history of your many hats and your insights into the world of hat making "way back when".

I collect hats in my size range but I have some smaller size hats that are strictly collector pieces. I have a very large number of hats but try to wear most of them. A few times I went for months in the WHAYWT thread without repeating a hat. I also like researching the Hat Industries specifically Germany. Austria, Czech and Italy.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I’m a Collectsumer of Consullectorables
B

And apparently a politician. Have you been helping with prep for tonight’s debate?

 

[Florida_Marlin]

I’m a consumer. I have lots of hats, but I wear them all, just not all at once. Each hat gets worn. It may sit on the shelf for quite some time, but eventually gets worn. Of course I have my favorite regulars, which change from time to time. Do I have more hats than I need? After all, you can only wear one at a time. Yes indeed, I have more hats than I need. I suppose I could get by with just one good hat. But...I have more than one pair of socks too, and I only wear one pair at a time. I’m definitely not a sock collector. Sitting out on my back porch grilling, wearing a Resistol “Beaver 30”.

 

[belfastboy]

I collect hats in my size range but I have some smaller size hats that are strictly collector pieces. I have a very large number of hats but try to wear most of them. A few times I went for months in the WHAYWT thread without repeating a hat. I also like researching the Hat Industries specifically Germany. Austria, Czech and Italy.

And I appreciate the work that you do, invaluable and enjoyable to read.

 

[Silver-Wolf]

I'm pretty basic, I only buy what I wear and use and I most likely have too much of that lol.

 

[mayserwegener]

I didn't have much doubt that you were a collector and for all of us on TFL, we owe you a big thanks. I and many others always enjoy reading the history of your many hats and your insights into the world of hat making "way back when".

Randy, Thank you! I will try to keep it coming.

 

[mayserwegener]

And I appreciate the work that you do, invaluable and enjoyable to read.

Thanks! I appreciate all the great contributors here (past and present). I am a big fan of pretty much everything Hat related.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

I buy the hats I like to wear them. Sometimes the magic ends after a spin, other times the interest continues and they become part of the stable hats. I do not chase chimeras or sacred grall and not even vintage, what I like or arouse my interest becomes a eligible hat. I am fortunate to have been born in the country that produced hats in unusual quantities and also in the one where the hats quickly went down. I really like to get to little-known hats or hats with some unusual characteristics and in the past years I have bought some not my size, hoping to please some other enthusiast, sometimes I have succeeded, others not, so I stopped, except in special cases . Often my hats are worn only once during the season and this amuses me, because every now and then I discover hats that I did not remember. Over the past year I have slowed down my search for various reasons, the main one being that I have a hard time finding interesting hats. I also have to say a couple of words about FL. Since I have been actively involved, about seven years, many parameters of discussion have changed and often for the worse. This led me to retire as a mere spectator, I watch, I read and often I laugh. Everything ends in a smile, also because it is often not worth intervening, so I almost completely stopped writing about Italian and French hats. A tip to some forum mates: stop thinking you have a holy grail on your head, it has probably been produced in hundreds, if not thousands of specimens and be happy

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks! I appreciate all the great contributors here (past and present). I am a big fan of pretty much everything Hat related.

Two thumbs up on that appreciation, Steve. I've learned so much from you and others here.

My collection of hats began quite a few years back when I misplaced a hat that I wore pretty much every day. It was a modern hat and I replaced it easily... but it dawned on me that perhaps I should buy a couple more as a back-up against loss or damage. The winding road quickly became a fascination, bordering on compulsion at times. I bought exclusively hats that I could wear but I did drift up or down a size for interesting hats encountered on the road and special auction finds. These I've admired, documented and sold or traded with hat friends here.

Many aspects interest me... the craft, fashion and history of an industry that is virtually extinct along with the retail stores that distributed the wares. And though I'm at an age where no one is paying much attention, I do enjoy thinking about what I will wear in the morning and which hat might fit the day. I've made many posts in the WHAYWT threads - a totally self-indulgent photography project but one that speaks to me as a creative. Some day I will find a way to present the tens of thousands of hat photos into a story of some sort. Years ago I reserved the url sevenandoneeighth.com. Unfortunately I was a little late and seven.com was already taken.

cheers,
Alan