Does My Vintage Royal Stetson Have a Two Tone Brim?

[Tom-n-Perris]

I just got this one on Ebay and some of you may have already have seen it. I was going over what the seller had written in the auction about the lid I have and discovered a comment stating "the inside brim is a darker color ". Well in all of my excitement I have not really looked at every detail of the hat.

So I looked at both sides of the brim and it does appear to be a darker color. I gave it a good brushing with the orange sponge which did then turn to dark brown. Then I gave it a good brushing with my brush for good measure. So now looking at it I can't figure out if it is just dirt or if indeed it is different color shade of grey. So if it is just dirt then why isn't the rest of the hat the same shade or close to it.

Ok, I need everyones opinion on this one. Here are some pictures to illustrate my confusion.

If you look at the picture you can see a different color on the under brim of the hat

Here is close up of the brim.

Hats are like potato chips, You just can't have one!

 

[Wolfmanjack]

Could be that the tonal difference has been caused by the sun bleaching the upper side of the brim, while the underside has seen less sun and thus remained darker.

It is not unusual to find a darker color under the ribbon, where the felt has been protected from the sun.

 

[Tom-n-Perris]

Wolfmanjack, I just looked under the ribbon and found that it is the same color as the rest of the crown no fading. Thank you for the suggestion.

Hats are like potato chips, You just can't have one!

 

[Sir Tom]

I think Wolfman is on the right track. It could also be kind of an optical illusion being on the underside.
It also could be smoke stains. Does it seem darker under the front vs the back?

That is one special hat. Congratulations.

 

[Tom-n-Perris]

Sir Tom the color is uniform all the way around under the brim. Here is a picture of the underside of the brim.

Hats are like potato chips, You just can't have one!

 

[Art Fawcett]

Tom, if the color is consistent and the top side is the same as the crown with no fading, than my guess would be that the hat was stored in a box, upside down of course, but no lid. Over time dirt could have settled in it.

 

[reetpleat]

Well, if art has never seen t his, that is something. As far as fading, fo the whole top to be so uniform and the bottom to be so uniform, that is hard to believe. Art's explanation might have merit. My guess was that with such a fancy two tone hat, it was a style thing, but how would they have done it?

 

[Pilgrim]

My observation is that two-tones usually had MORE color difference between brim and crown. I think it's one color.

 

[carter]

I'd say that Art's explanation is spot on. A hat stored inverted in a box with no lid, for any appreciable length of time, would certainly exhibit these characteristics. The fact that you removed a lot of the color on the underbrim with an orange sponge and a brush supports this explanation.