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Dunlap Drive-In

One Drop

One of the Regulars
Messages
243
Location
Swiss Alps
Thought I'd finally stop by and chime in about a lovely Dunlap OR clone I bought a little while back, but will unfortunately end up selling because it's a size too large for me (7 ⅛, a 7 LO fits me best).

It's a very light tan '50s Westlite Superior, originally purchased from Jim Conlin, with the typical light brown sweatband and white liner from the era, liner label in gold as is the embossing on the sweatband. I did some research before buying it but could only fid references the it's sister the Knox Westlite.

The felt is superb, very finely finished with an extremely soft hand, and the brim is fairly stiff while the crown is soft and very easily shaped - it holds any dry crease easily but is quite lightweight so it's rather easy to inadvertently change the crease just by handling it. I would have steamed a crease in but like it as is, I enjoyed gradually tweaking it until I ended up with a tugboat shaped diamond bash, with a loose pinch, and the brim sides slightly upturned. The OR shape suits my face but I don't like the way a flat brim looks, and snapping down the brim on this style doesn't work as well for me either, and seems to go against the general style of the hat, with it's moderate brim size.

I really liked wearing this hat until I found a Borsalino Alessandria that fits me better, due to it being more flexible and conforming to my head shape rather than just fitting tight to the front and back of it.

I'll eventually post some pictures, and will end up putting it in the classifieds soon, as I was also recently tempted by a '50s Stetson 7X Clear Beaver OR in Silverbelly that also fits perfectly and that I'm more comfortable exposing to inclement weather. I really don't need three such similar hats, if the Dunlap had fit better I would have definitely have not looked for another light coloured OR or clone in the first place, the quality and overall look of the hat is superb.
 
Messages
11,907
Thought I'd finally stop by and chime in about a lovely Dunlap OR clone I bought a little while back, but will unfortunately end up selling because it's a size too large for me (7 ⅛, a 7 LO fits me best).

It's a very light tan '50s Westlite Superior, originally purchased from Jim Conlin, with the typical light brown sweatband and white liner from the era, liner label in gold as is the embossing on the sweatband. I did some research before buying it but could only fid references the it's sister the Knox Westlite.

The felt is superb, very finely finished with an extremely soft hand, and the brim is fairly stiff while the crown is soft and very easily shaped - it holds any dry crease easily but is quite lightweight so it's rather easy to inadvertently change the crease just by handling it. I would have steamed a crease in but like it as is, I enjoyed gradually tweaking it until I ended up with a tugboat shaped diamond bash, with a loose pinch, and the brim sides slightly upturned. The OR shape suits my face but I don't like the way a flat brim looks, and snapping down the brim on this style doesn't work as well for me either, and seems to go against the general style of the hat, with it's moderate brim size.

I really liked wearing this hat until I found a Borsalino Alessandria that fits me better, due to it being more flexible and conforming to my head shape rather than just fitting tight to the front and back of it.

I'll eventually post some pictures, and will end up putting it in the classifieds soon, as I was also recently tempted by a '50s Stetson 7X Clear Beaver OR in Silverbelly that also fits perfectly and that I'm more comfortable exposing to inclement weather. I really don't need three such similar hats, if the Dunlap had fit better I would have definitely have not looked for another light coloured OR or clone in the first place, the quality and overall look of the hat is superb.
Thin ribbon OR/Strat clones especially in Silverbelly are a style I keep telling myself…. I don’t need anymore. And then… ohhhhh look at that one! :D

I don’t see too many old Dunlap. Nice find. Love to see pics
 

One Drop

One of the Regulars
Messages
243
Location
Swiss Alps
Thin ribbon OR/Strat clones especially in Silverbelly are a style I keep telling myself…. I don’t need anymore. And then… ohhhhh look at that one! :D

I don’t see too many old Dunlap. Nice find. Love to see pics

Here's a link to the sale listing, the second to last picture is the closest to the real colour in natural light, a fairly pale sand. It's minty, I doubt it was worn all that much.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/104...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California

moehawk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,847
Location
Northern California
Hey all!

I found this at a local vintage shop while out playing tourist today.

20220902_162023.jpg 20220902_162031.jpg 20220902_162045.jpg 20220902_162230.jpg 20220902_162248.jpg 20220902_162357.jpg 20220902_162326.jpg 20220902_162345.jpg 20220902_162501.jpg 20220902_164256.jpg


There were no other tags under the sweat other than the little rectangle that fell out while probing underneath.
The condition is amazing, with no damage I can see other than what you would expect with age.
The crown is 5", the front brim at 2".148g. This may have the nicest hand of any stiff felt I have, and that includes my fu Lazzaro.
Oh, you noticed that strip of folded newspaper someone used to size it down?
Next post...
 

moehawk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,847
Location
Northern California
Here's the newspaper sizer. I'm thinking the hat may be a little older, as the original owner IMO would have probably bought a hat that fit...

20220902_162520.jpg 20220902_162820.jpg 20220902_162950.jpg 20220902_163003.jpg 20220902_163014.jpg


Oops, sorry for the upside down one. Bad edit...

Still, pretty cool to find something inside an old hat to show a glimpse of the world when the hat was new, or at least new-ish.
 

Rmccamey

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,935
Location
Central Texas
Here's the newspaper sizer. I'm thinking the hat may be a little older, as the original owner IMO would have probably bought a hat that fit...

View attachment 448641 View attachment 448642 View attachment 448643 View attachment 448644 View attachment 448645


Oops, sorry for the upside down one. Bad edit...

Still, pretty cool to find something inside an old hat to show a glimpse of the world when the hat was new, or at least new-ish.

Wow, you're killing me with that Dunlap. Great find!
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,927
Location
Denmark
Here's the newspaper sizer. I'm thinking the hat may be a little older, as the original owner IMO would have probably bought a hat that fit...

View attachment 448641 View attachment 448642 View attachment 448643 View attachment 448644 View attachment 448645


Oops, sorry for the upside down one. Bad edit...

Still, pretty cool to find something inside an old hat to show a glimpse of the world when the hat was new, or at least new-ish.
Fantastic find, John. The newspaper sizer is a nice bonus. I love hats with old newspaper cuttings in them.
 

buler

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,385
Location
Wisconsin
I want to revisit the hat I started this thread with 14 years ago. Getting it ready to sell I noticed something in the photos that I hadn't realized back then.

The "extra" stitch line that I was seeing is really the same stitch. Somehow they did an overwelt and stitched the brim only on the topside. There is no stitch going thru to the underside of the brim. I've never seen this done before. There must have been a special machine to do this and you would think more hats with this would have popped up with this brim treatment.

As far as these earlier (I'm speculating this hat is later 30s to early 40s) Dunlaps, there aren't many that have shown up. Which is a pity because the felt is so nice. The sweat leather is high quality and the liner material is unusually nice.

More pics.

d1.JPG
d2.JPG
d9.JPG
d11.JPG
d12.JPG
d7.JPG
d8.JPG
 

One Drop

One of the Regulars
Messages
243
Location
Swiss Alps
Here's a link to the sale listing, the second to last picture is the closest to the real colour in natural light, a fairly pale sand. It's minty, I doubt it was worn all that much.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/104...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

Heads up : I finally got around to listing this lovely Dunlap, you can find it in the classifieds with a bunch of newer photos. The above link is from the original Etsy listing when I bought the hat.
 
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Messages
18,588
Location
Nederland

moehawk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,847
Location
Northern California
The Dunlap American Golfer.

20240810_172747.jpg 20240810_172718.jpg 20240810_172658.jpg 20240810_172634.jpg 20240810_172605.jpg 20240810_163018.jpg 20240810_163030.jpg 20240810_172341.jpg 20240810_162927.jpg

I wonder how old it is...

20240810_172415.jpg

OK, that narrows it down a bit.

I'm allmost certain the stretchy cord was an aftermarket add-on as it is way too elastic to be 90 years old. I carefully removed it. The size is given in inches rather than a traditional man's hat size. The sweatband, although cloth, is marked in a manner similar to a man's hat. The ribbon work features a bow-adjacent trim on the left side, and a kind of 3-D sharksgill on the right.
Detail of ribbon work in nest post.
 

moehawk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,847
Location
Northern California
Continued...

20240811_135042.jpg 20240811_135057.jpg 20240811_135030.jpg

The crown is 4 inches, the brim 2 5/8 inches. 62 grams on the nose.
Looking at the crease in the crown and brim, I think this was a folder, or at least was folded at some point.
The size measures out to a snug 6 7/8,so way small for me.
If anyone is interested in a vintage trade let me know.
 
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