Dating Vintage Stetsons by Liner: A Field Guide

[fedoracentric]

The only way to do it is if a bartender posted it, updated it, and didn't let other posts onto it.... but that would sort of defeat the whole purpose of interactivity of this site!

 

[Joao Encarnado]

The only way would be the original poster update the first post with the most updated data.
I've done similar things on other forums and it worked quite well. Other people can post to allow discussion and help to update it.

 

[Mystic]

Exactly why I went the route of starting my own website for posting my research. Even with the Fedora Lounge Guides section, updating can only be done by appending posts to the thread, thus breaking any kind of chronological organization. I received a C&K Derby yesterday that will be used to update my The Fedora Lounge Guide to Dating Dobbs Hats for the 1908-1914 period, but it will have to be tacked on at the very end of the thread. The Fedora Lounge is a fantastic resource full of information, but forum software makes any kind of access and organization very problematic.

Brad

Your Dobbs lounge guide idea with Stetsons would come closest to organizing liners, logos and dates. Where one person adds suggested information without comments being posted by so many others.

Would make for a easier and quicker place to search.

 

[jlee562]

We need a hat wiki....

 

[CRH]

We need a hat wiki....

Yah, and a full time curator.

 

[fedoracentric]

I nominate Brad Bowers. He is humbled to take the job, I'm sure, and we will all give him a hearty handshake of congratulations once he's fairly begun. He's a scholar and a gentleman. A prince among men. The veritable hat professor, even. (Is that enough butter to slick the way to acceptance, Brad? Cuz, you know, free praise is about all we can afford around here!)

 

[Brad Bowers]

I appreciate the gesture, but I've got my hands full with HCA.

Brad

 

[fedoracentric]

But... you are a scholar... and a gentleman... and everything!

 

[T Jones]

We need a hat wiki....

Yes! Excellent idea...Wikihats.

 

[fedoracentric]

Yes! Excellent idea...Wikihats.

As long as you don't call it "Hiki."

I might have a hard time explaining that to my wife.

 

[Mystic]

Yes! Excellent idea...Wikihats.

That is essentially what the Hats section of the Fedora lounge is.....

Information about hats posted by various people.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

That is essentially what the Hats section of the Fedora lounge is.....

Information about hats posted by various people.

Yes but it is a mess. You must search through a lot of posts that complements the information of other posts.
A wikia would work great.

 

[fedoracentric]

Have we ever placed this tag in a time frame? Is it the 1950s?

 

[tommyK]

Thought I'd put this here as it is precisely dated

Stetson Derby/Bowler

Dec. 18 1958

It's a bit of a monkey wrench in that it has stars on the sweatband and the leaf on the liner

 

[fedoracentric]

It's a bit of a monkey wrench in that it has stars on the sweatband and the leaf on the liner
View attachment 17667 View attachment 17668

I disagree that it represents any trouble to the leaf vs stars theory. We see a mixture all the time in the 50s.

But I am curious about one thing.... have we ever seen an imprint of that rounded Stetson logo with a maple leaf in the shield at all?

View attachment 17669

I haven't checked, but it almost seems to me that they used this round logo imprint with the stars in the shield for many years after the maple leaf came in.

Does anyone have a photo of this round logo with a maple leaf instead of stars?

 

[Mystic]

I disagree that it represents any trouble to the leaf vs stars theory. We see a mixture all the time in the 50s.

But I am curious about one thing.... have we ever seen an imprint of that rounded Stetson logo with a maple leaf in the shield at all

I have asked about this before. Don't remember which Stetson I had asked about. But, I think it had stars in shield on liner and maple leafs on sweat.

I'll check a couple of them and see if I still have it.

 

[Terrier]

Hello,

This is my first fedora hat. Do you know what year this Stetson Stratoliner was made? 50's or 40's?

The faint violet hue is somewhat unusual, but I think it will go well along with black or white shirt.

Beaver fur may be warm, but I intend to wear this in the Summer time, to shade me. I think I will also need the warmth to loosen up, to have the courage to "swagger" out with it! In the Winter I need something knitted down over my ears! Perhaps men, back in the days, wore fedora hats even in midwinter?

I guess it needs reshaping at the back top. But on the other hand, I think it pleasantly comes alive when the shape is a bit uneven.

Pretty nice condition, aside from the breaks in the sweatband. Can a hat like this be handed over to a dry cleaner, to remove old spots and faint grime? Or is it only recommended to use the simple cleaning instructions provided at Stetson's homepage?

 

[g.durand]

Terrier--welcome to the Lounge. Congratulations on a very fine first fedora! I would date your hat some time in the mid- to late '50s. The color is very versatile and can be worn with many other colors. You will find many members here who live in colder climates and who wear fedoras in cold conditions. I lived in the Northeastern United States some years ago and wore brimmed hats in temperatures as low as the mid-20s Fahrenheit (-3 to -4 degrees Celsius). As for cleaning, I would suggest avoiding a dry cleaner and finding someone who specializes in cleaning hats. Here is a thread on this forum for a do-it-yourself cleaning. It takes some courage, but it is really not difficult to do.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?43157-STEP-BY-STEP-NAPTHA-BATH

And another:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?8329-The-Stratoliner-Society-VINTAGE/page80

 

[alanfgag]

Welcome to our world, Terrier. Look at the hat posted directly before it in this thread which has a date in 1958 stamped on it. Your Stratoliner should be of similar vintage. If needed, I would search through the threads here on spot cleaning hats and then think seriously about enjoying your first hat as it lays. Buy a more pristine one next time out.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

I have found this thread very interesting. I was looking because I came across an old hat and was curious about the liner and sweat band stamps. It has an unusual stamp inside the sweat band with only the beaver and no eagle. I have seen the similar one in black in the earlier post, but that one is clearly more recent and not exactly the same.

Are there any opinions on age, quality or original type?


Obligatory photo of the liner

Model 5X Stetson

Label of interest on a wide sweat band.

Size tag

Just to show what the hat actually looks like. It has clearly been reshaped a few times.

Thanks,
Fed