Detailed Photos of Open-Crown Adam Fedora

[johnnyphi]

Interesting...

The only possibly relevant trademarks I find for "Aqua Shed" date to 1962 and 1963, registered to Springs Cotton Mills. This treatment is mentioned for "DURABLE WATER REPELLENT FINISH-MILDEW, SOIL AND PERSPIRATION RESISTANT AS APPLIED TO COTTON PIECE GOODS."

Though it's mentioned for cotton, it makes sense that it might have been applied to leather. It also makes sense that the Aqua Shed referred to on the hat is a registered trademark of a company other than Adam Hats.

If the Aqua Shed I found is the same, then this hat dates no earlier than 1962, and more likely 1963 or 1964. Later than that, and you'd start seeing black sweatbands. But this is still only speculation and nothing definitive.

It still seems like an earlier hat than 1962, though.

Wish I could have been of more help!

Brad

Very interesting information. Also, I checked the hat box again, and the printed information is more valuable than the hand-written description. In the photo of the hat box, you can see the area with printed text, just below the hand-written description.

Here's what it says:

S. Mainliner 58
Sterling 7 1/2

I think "Mainliner" must be the style, and the owner probably wrote Stratoliner above it because it is the same basic style. Sterling would be the color, and 7 1/2 would be the size. Soo... Here's the question. What does the 58 mean? Would that be the year or a reference to the size in centimeters? I measured it at 58.5 cm, but I don't know why they would have gotten the size wrong. From what you guys have told us, 1958 would be a reasonable year for this hat, but it doesn't fit exactly with the trademark information listed above. Interesting little puzzle!

 

[jamespowers]

I've been able to find no record of Adam hats (ads, newspaper references etc.) from after the middle 1950s.

bk

1957 Adam:

1959 Adam

These are probably the latest ads I have because I just don't collect hat ads from 1960 on. However, I have had several stingy brim Adam hats over the years. They were made well into the 1960s as far as I can tell--that is for sure.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Brad Bowers]

58 probably refers to either Adam's block number or their style/model number. A 7 1/2 is a 60 cm hat, so it's not a size measurement. There may be a outside chance that it's a year, but probably not. Most hat manufacturers didn't worry about dating their products, as there really wasn't any need for it. Apparently it never occurred to them that crazy collectors decades in the future might want that information!lol

Judging from jamespowers' ads, your Adam looks nothing like those things, but since the Stratoliner, sorry, Mainliner, was such a popular style, they might not have stopped making them, just as you can still find new Stetson Open Roads today.

Brad

 

[Justdog]

Thimble

...is possible.

When one imagines a hat sitting year in and out in a hot attic in DC, where the temperatures could easily get north of 120, its not hard to believe the hats shrunk a bit.

I recently rediscovered one of my old hats that spent at least the last 10 years in un-airconditioned attics and it sits like a thimble on my head.

Very funny
Also true that the Adams shrink at least one size over time. 2 New /vintage ones I have do not have wrinkled sweatbands but the whole circumference has shrank 1/4 to 1/8 and stiffened one full size. The 3/8 is now 1/4 and nearly perfect. Only vintage hat of proper size that fits true is the one worn , it appears, everyday.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Very funny
Also true that the Adams shrink at least one size over time. 2 New /vintage ones I have do not have wrinkled sweatbands but the whole circumference has shrank 1/4 to 1/8 and stiffened one full size. The 3/8 is now 1/4 and nearly perfect. Only vintage hat of proper size that fits true is the one worn , it appears, everyday.

That certainly is true in many (maybe even most) cases. However, once in a while, we find a sixty year old hat that looks to have "never" been worn, has the size label, and is still true to size. I've found enough of them to keep the collecting bug alive.

 

[johnnyphi]

But, there was shrinkage!!!

Thanks for checking out this old thread... Since this was originally posted, I have been able to inventory the entire collection, and I can confirm my original hypothesis that I've bought a ton of Adam hats, and all of them are "deadstock", unworn, new/old, etc.

While I haven't measured all of them, I can tell you that relatively few of the hats have obvious wrinkling of the sweatband, which would indicate heavy shrinkage.

Others may have shrunk over time, but the shrinkage seems to be closer to one size.

The particular hat shown in this thread was tagged as a 7 1/2, but I measured closer to a 7 3/8. I can tell you that the FL member who purchased the hat was very pleased with his purchase.

So, the important factor in this process will be accurately measuring each sweatband, to make sure the customer knows exactly what he/she is purchasing.

That certainly is true in many (maybe even most) cases. However, once in a while, we find a sixty year old hat that looks to have "never" been worn, has the size label, and is still true to size. I've found enough of them to keep the collecting bug alive.

 

[mingoslim]

A great hat . . .

And just my sixe

By the way, I have seen Adam ads from as early as 1947 which discuss their ability to repel water . . . but not the actual "Aqua Shed" logo or terminology.

 

[johnnyphi]

"Custom Made" Adam Hats?

While we're on the subject of Adam hats...

I found a few Adams with "Custom Made" printed above the size on the tag. The sizes were standard, (7 1/4, etc.,) so I'm guessing that the custom features could have been related to the ribbon color or other minor adjustments that would have been relatively easy to incorporate into the production process.

Has anyone ever seen this before? What kind of customization would have been available? Do any of the Adam advertisements mention "Custom Made" hats?

 

[surely]

"So, the important factor in this process will be accurately measuring each sweatband, to make sure the customer knows exactly what he/she is purchasing."

Johnny, very commendable. May I suggest that you make up a jig to ease the effort.