Dating Your Hat (A Place to Discuss the Age of Your Vintage Hat)

[Hurricane Jack]

not much to tell really, the sweatband is crumbling and imprints faded, View attachment 171300 View attachment 171301 View attachment 171300 View attachment 171301 I just thought the style might be a giveaway

Based on the way the brim & curl is reacting to your thumb pressure I don't think it's necessarily a stiff Western weight felt. Also seems to me the brim would be more beat up if it was stiff Western weight. I'm also not sure that it is a 4X but I couldn't quite bring it out. Between looking at the sweat & this pic, maybe you can.

Depending on it's care history, in the extreme heat of Australia I can see how a 1960's - 1970's sweat could deteriorate quickly. The stitching looks to be in good shape. We don't know if it was sold new in Australia or brought there.

Based on how it may fit you what would you estimate the size to be? Measure inside width & length. If you want to sell it I might have an interest.

 

[alanfgag]

Have it reblocked to your size, have a new sweatband sewn in, and wear it for the next few decades. It looks to be a 4X which is a fairly modern quality designation (I think it appeared in the 1960s or ‘70s), but if you like stiffer western hats you have the makings of a neat one there.

Actually, 4X beaver quality goes back to the 1920s, perhaps earlier. This thread gets bumped from time to time, always worth thumbing through.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

Did you hear back on the bowler offer, deadlyhandsome, or come any closer to a conclusion on the dating? I thought it was an interesting discussion, and a cool hat.

 

[alanfgag]

Hoping for some help narrowing down the age range. I know that Stetson stopped calling their hats “Royal Stetson De Luxe” and changed to “Stetson Royal De Luxe” at some point, but I can’t find the date. Any ideas?

Have we seen any Royal Stetson Deluxe or Royal Deluxe Stetsons with the vitafelt stamp? That might help at least to ‘47 or so. Daniel

Royal Stetson DeLuxe Vita Felt:

 

[alanfgag]

I just made an offer on this hat. It’s far too small for me but I just want to own it for a while. I know it’s old, much older than any of my other hats. Any idea when it was made?

It will be a wall-hanger and a touchstone.

The 1930s estimates are good... the manufacturing label and LOTXXXX numbers might help refine. Sometimes Chestnut St. store hats have a date imprinted on the reverse of the sweatband.

 

[Just Daniel]

Bam. Alan with the homerun.

I think we can speculate that the Royal Deluxe Stetson (in that order) did not appear until the post-Vitafelt era, until the oilskin era at the earliest.

Maybe later this week I'll drag through the Stetson ad threads to see if some data points emerge.

Royal Stetson DeLuxe Vita Felt:

View attachment 171410

View attachment 171411

View attachment 171412

 

[dr greg]

Have it reblocked to your size, have a new sweatband sewn in, and wear it for the next few decades. It looks to be a 4X which is a fairly modern quality designation (I think it appeared in the 1960s or ‘70s), but if you like stiffer western hats you have the makings of a neat one there.


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yeah i could do that but it just doesn't suit me, I'm more a trad town hat person, and given the climate round here, tend to wear fine-weave vintage straws when i find em!

 

[dr greg]

Bam. Alan with the homerun.

I think we can speculate that the Royal Deluxe Stetson (in that order) did not appear until the post-Vitafelt era, until the oilskin era at the earliest.

Maybe later this week I'll drag through the Stetson ad threads to see if some data points emerge.

found this in my travels..https://www.mensamericana.com/single-post/2016/02/16/Tom-Mix-and-The-Ultimate-gotohell-Hat

 

[dr greg]

The 1930s estimates are good... the manufacturing label and LOTXXXX numbers might help refine. Sometimes Chestnut St. store hats have a date imprinted on the reverse of the sweatband.

it reads as XXXX
STETSON, no other info

 

[Tonio]

Hoping for some help narrowing down the age range. I know that Stetson stopped calling their hats “Royal Stetson De Luxe” and changed to “Stetson Royal De Luxe” at some point, but I can’t find the date. Any ideas?

If it helps, I once owned a company store Royal Stetson DeLuxe St. Regis with a Nov 15 1947 stamp.

 

[alanfgag]

it reads as XXXX
STETSON, no other info

Sorry, talking about another hat. Your 4X is a more recent edition.

 

[dr greg]

Based on the way the brim & curl is reacting to your thumb pressure I don't think it's necessarily a stiff Western weight felt. Also seems to me the brim would be more beat up if it was stiff Western weight. I'm also not sure that it is a 4X but I couldn't quite bring it out. Between looking at the sweat & this pic, maybe you can.

View attachment 171333

Depending on it's care history, in the extreme heat of Australia I can see how a 1960's - 1970's sweat could deteriorate quickly. The stitching looks to be in good shape. We don't know if it was sold new in Australia or brought there.

Based on how it may fit you what would you estimate the size to be? Measure inside width & length. If you want to sell it I might have an interest.

 

[dr greg]

Hi
I reckon 55-56 at best, also the brim is a lot firmer than the crown..

 

[Just Daniel]

Perfect! So ‘47 goes to the Royal Stetson DeLuxe!

‘52 to the Royal DeLuxe Stetson.

Royal Stetson St Regis appear to be pre-47, which works with their Vitafelt stamps.

Awesome.

If it helps, I once owned a company store Royal Stetson DeLuxe St. Regis with a Nov 15 1947 stamp.

View attachment 171420 View attachment 171419

 

[Rmccamey]

Has anyone ever made rhyme or reason or any logic at all to Stetson's use of actual date stamps? Most hats have nothing and then you run across old one's like this with a nice date stamped in block letters. I have a Stratoliner stampted DEC 18 1957

If it helps, I once owned a company store Royal Stetson DeLuxe St. Regis with a Nov 15 1947 stamp.

View attachment 171420 View attachment 171419

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Actually, 4X beaver quality goes back to the 1920s, perhaps earlier. This thread gets bumped from time to time, always worth thumbing through.

Thanks, Alan. I’m constantly humbled when discussing vintage hats. There’s a big difference from what was and what I’m aware of. I sometimes overstep my knowledge even when I know I should know better. I’ve never seen a 4X that wasn’t from the 1960s or later so I’ll go back to the old catalogs. I’ve read the entire Think Tank in the past, but reading and retaining isn’t the same thing.

I can make out “4X Beaver” on the sweat of this unfortunate hat, and the debossing looks to conform to more recent Stetsons. That stripe on the sweat is also something you associate with newer hats.


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[deadlyhandsome]

Hi
I reckon 55-56 at best, also the brim is a lot firmer than the crown..

I can see a vague image on the sweatband that matches this debossing:

The stripe on the sweatband is also something I associate with newer hats, but I’m not sure when I first appeared. Your hat still looks to be more recent than the 1950s.


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[BobHufford]

Your hat still looks to be more recent than the 1950s.

I think he was answering Jack's size inquiry.

Here is a much older 4X that I let slip by recently.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I think he was answering Jack's size inquiry.

Here is a much older 4X that I let slip by recently.

Beautiful old hat, sorry you missed out.

It gets confusing when the member posting doesn’t use the quote function or otherwise identify to whom they are responding to. Maybe I just get confused easily; I work for the government you know.


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[alanfgag]

Thanks, Alan. I’m constantly humbled when discussing vintage hats. There’s a big difference from what was and what I’m aware of. I sometimes overstep my knowledge even when I know I should know better. I’ve never seen a 4X that wasn’t from the 1960s or later so I’ll go back to the old catalogs. I’ve read the entire Think Tank in the past, but reading and retaining isn’t the same thing.

I can make out “4X Beaver” on the sweat of this unfortunate hat, and the debossing looks to conform to more recent Stetsons. That stripe on the sweat is also something you associate with newer hats.

I think he was answering Jack's size inquiry.

Here is a much older 4X that I let slip by recently.

We are all in school together, trying to learn history from a handful of old bones. The 4x clear beaver posted above and the other day is the first (I think) early hat of this quality that I have seen. This one might be earlier than 1920. Early beaver Stetsons are rare as hens teeth.