Dating Vintage Stetsons by Liner: A Field Guide

[moehawk]

Oh yeah...I guess the dimensions of the hat might help if anyone were toi guess at the model.

It has a 4 inch brim, 5 1/2 inches at the high point of the crown and the center dent is 2 inches deep.
As far as the color goes, last night I began sanding it to try to minimize some caterpillar tracks on the surface, and noticed the felt was losing the mustard-y yellow tinge and closer to a baby deer-like color underneath. And, judging by the amount of wheezing and hacking I was doing while sanding I'm guessing that the fur blend is mostly cat. Seriously though, it feels at least as nice as either of my 3X beaver Resistols so I'm hoping it is at least part beaver.

Well, back to sanding...ack! wheeze!

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

The hat looks a lot like one that I have, but mine had all of the lettering inside. The sweat band looks original rather than a replacement to me. I would suggest that you re-examine the sweat band more closely for vestiges of lettering which may be mostly worn away. A closer view of the size tag might also help with date.

Fed

 

[moehawk]

Hey Fed

I looked at the sweatband with a powerful magnifier and there is nothing on it other than a handwritten 3 with an 8 below it on the back side of the sweat. I'm guessing that refers to the size 7 3/8? Other than that, it is plain brown leather with gold stripe. Looks a lot like the ones pictures on the Hats By Leko hat making supply site.

Here's the size tag:
Front


Back


I found another site with various dating methods for Stetsons and it appears that this liner art is called "The Last Drop" and in it's screen printed color form dates from late 70's to early 90's. Maybe that union tag can provide more info.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

Yes, that is the last drop.

Mine is 5X Beaver of Canadian make.

As to the sweat band, here is my old Stetson's band:



I am watching the gold lettering disappear from the sweat as I wear the hat.

Fed

 

[moontheloon]

waking up an old thread to ask a question ...

anyone ever seen a size tag like this in a vintage Stetson?

I have not

the only ones I have seen are the red/orange ones and the older white with black font

and they almost always say John B Stetson Company Philadelphia USA

this looks shady to me.... and looks to be what I've seen described as a Biskup hats tag

anyone ?

 

[alanfgag]

Other variants do appear. I do not know the significance. Here is one:

 

[moontheloon]

Other variants do appear. I do not know the significance. Here is one:

I've seen that one

usually in much older 1900s and '20s or '30s hats

but never the green on white

 

[alanfgag]

Perhaps share more photos of the hat (or link if they are posted already)... might shed more light.

 

[carouselvic]

Where's one in blue and white on a 50's OR style western

 

[moontheloon]

Where's one in blue and white on a 50's OR style western

interesting

thank you very much

 

[moehawk]

Hey everyone!

I found this Open Road at the flea market today, was wondering if anyone could help narrow down the age. Unfortunatly, no stickers on the inside with reorder numbers or anything convenient like that.

Last image is some translucent material under the sweat with some scrawling on it...can't make it out. Thanks for any input!

 

[rclark]

I believe that liner to be late 1960s but could be slightly newer than that.

 

[gtdean48]

Try the "dating by size tag" thread = http://www.thefedoralounge.com/show...ns-by-size-tag&p=981409&viewfull=1#post981409

 

[Slacker Drummer]

Last image is some translucent material under the sweat with some scrawling on it...can't make it out. Thanks for any input!

You're looking at the back of it:

6
7
/
8

 

[moehawk]

Thanks, gtdean. Looks like 60's-70's style tag. TY as well, Slacker Drummer, a different perspective is always a help. Anyone know when Stetson stopped using the sweat barrier behind the sweatband? Also, there is a union label on back of size tag if that can be a factor in determining decade. TY again.

 

[TheDane]

moehawk: A good search engine is quite hard to program, and only very few fora implements one, that works satisfying. Instead I always use a site-specific search via Google. Try a search text like: "union label tags site:thefedoralounge.com" - without the quotes. That will most often supply you with a more useful result

 

[fabiovenhorst]

I won this one on ebay, still waiting for it, but I pick this photos by the seller... how old?

 

[carouselvic]

late 50's-early 60's

 

[moehawk]

Well, once I knew that I wasn't about to use a Golden Age relic as a ten dollar hat body to play with, a more exact date really isn't all that important. As is seems to be late 60's to early 70's, I just thought it would be neat if there was an easy way to see if it was made in '68 like me.☺Kinda like my peacoat, which I found was a '66 by the one-year-only tag used on thar model. Doesn't look like it's that easy for an OR.

 

[guitarmasta12]

My second stetson not including my late 40s mallorys. Hehe. This one is 3x beaver felt. My lightest one too. What would be the way to clean this darling? And I think it early to mid 50s.

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