Dating a Cavanagh Hat

[SteveS]

Hello Everyone,

I just revceived a beautiful brown Cavanagh fedora as a gift and was wondering if someone would know how I can go about dating it. Underneath the leather band on the inside are 4 tags with several different sets of numbers. If anyone knows how to decipher these or can point me in a direction I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[GWD]

worthlesswithoutpics

 

[SteveS]

worthlesswithoutpics

That is funny :eusa_clap

I hope these pics help, if not let me know and I'll see if I can take some better ones tomorrow.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Nice score! A Cavanagh is always a great gift.

The hat is mid- to late-'60s at the earliest, and maybe even into the '70s. A couple of questions for you:

Is there a line of stitching around the edge of the brim? Almost looks like it from here. That would most likely date it to the '70s.

And what numbers/information are on the four tags? That's more tags than usual for a Cavanagh, which is something else that makes me think '70s, after Koracorp took over the line.

Brad

 

[Garrett]

Very nice. You have a hat from the late 60's.

 

[SteveS]

Nice score! A Cavanagh is always a great gift.

And what numbers/information are on the four tags? That's more tags than usual for a Cavanagh, which is something else that makes me think '70s, after Koracorp took over the line.

Is there a line of stitching around the edge of the brim? Almost looks like it from here. That would most likely date it to the '70s.
Brad

There is no stiching around the edge of the brim.

The tags below are on the inside of the hat, the leather band must be folded back to expose them.

Tag 1 - reg W (could be a "V") 54173 5288 51/4 71/4
Tag 2 - 54316 - 59
Tag 3 - 54316 5288

On the underside of the leather band the following information is on another tag

Willis 92781 (next to this number is a number 4 with a circle around it then the size 71/4 and another number 4 with a circle around it)

Thanks

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

A fine hat such as that? I'd take it to a nice Italian restaurant. Don't skimp on the wine.

 

[Brad Bowers]

The tags below are on the inside of the hat, the leather band must be folded back to expose them.

Tag 1 - reg W (could be a "V") 54173 5288 51/4 71/4
Tag 2 - 54316 - 59
Tag 3 - 54316 5288

On the underside of the leather band the following information is on another tag

Willis 92781 (next to this number is a number 4 with a circle around it then the size 71/4 and another number 4 with a circle around it)

Thanks

For a rough guess on Tag 1, 5288 looks like it might be the block style, 5 1/4 looks to be the block height, and 7 1/4 is the size.

Other than that, no idea what the other numbers mean, and none of them seem to refer to any kind of dating system, but that's not unusual. The Willis one puzzles me, unless that the name of this particular style.

Is there anything stamped in gold on the sweatband?

And can you describe the brim edge?

Thanks,

Brad

 

[SteveS]

Is there anything stamped in gold on the sweatband?

And can you describe the brim edge?

Thanks,

Brad

The name Cavanagh is stamped in gold on the sweatband. There is no indication that anything else was stamped on the sweatband. (Meaning that there are no other partial letters or worn letters. In fact the lettering for Cavanagh is in good shape, not worn out at all)

I looked very closely at the brim and there is definitely no stiching. I'll attach a close-up of the brim.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Thanks.

That ghost line around the edge is very prominent, especially for a Cavanagh, so I'm not sure what I'm seeing. That's why I thought it might be stitches. And it's interesting that the sweatband doesn't say "Cavanagh Edge" at the front. Puzzling...

Brad