Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[Snowman]

I wasn't looking for one but picked a nice, little-worn Akubra Snowy River for the princely sum of $1.25 plus shipping.

How do you guys find these deals!?!

 

[drmaxtejeda]

View attachment 302643 A very special eBay victory.
Snagged this mid 30s black Dobbs Homburg called the, “Pilgrim”.
Link below:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254809885383

Seller said it was a 40s/50s model, but I knew better. He also implied that the leather sweatband was loose in spots. Also wrong. It was completely unattached. If you look closely at the somewhat disguised photos you can see that it was detached.
Fine with me. That’s why I got her so cheap! $50 for a 30s Dobbs in perfect mint condition—except for the loose sweatband? Yes, please!
I wet and reblocked the crown to a size bigger, then hand stitched the completely supple 2 1/16” sweat back in.
Finally, a reedless sweatband that I could sew on that hadn’t suffered from dry rot!
Made it much easier, but what didn’t make it easier was the amount of sew holes that very early sweatbands had. One every 32nd inch!! Had to dye some yellow thread to a brown/orange color so it would blend in correctly with the color of the leather.
Sewing in this sweat is the hardest thing thing I’ve ever done on a hat. Anyone who’s ever tried this knows what I’m talking about. I had to sew directly to the felt. Some reedless sweats are hand sewn to pre-sewn machine stitching around the perimeter of the crown opening, as this one was, but that stitching had completely rotted.
Whew! Glad it’s over and now I can enjoy the 2nd mid 30s hat I’ve ever owned. View attachment 302638
View attachment 302644 View attachment 302639 View attachment 302640 View attachment 302642 View attachment 302641 As you can see in this pic the basting stitches in the top side of the ribbon are still intact.

Dang, Randall! Congratulations!

 

[drmaxtejeda]

View attachment 302643 A very special eBay victory.
Snagged this mid 30s black Dobbs Homburg called the, “Pilgrim”.
Link below:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254809885383

Seller said it was a 40s/50s model, but I knew better. He also implied that the leather sweatband was loose in spots. Also wrong. It was completely unattached. If you look closely at the somewhat disguised photos you can see that it was detached.
Fine with me. That’s why I got her so cheap! $50 for a 30s Dobbs in perfect mint condition—except for the loose sweatband? Yes, please!
I wet and reblocked the crown to a size bigger, then hand stitched the completely supple 2 1/16” sweat back in.
Finally, a reedless sweatband that I could sew on that hadn’t suffered from dry rot!
Made it much easier, but what didn’t make it easier was the amount of sew holes that very early sweatbands had. One every 32nd inch!! Had to dye some yellow thread to a brown/orange color so it would blend in correctly with the color of the leather.
Sewing in this sweat is the hardest thing thing I’ve ever done on a hat. Anyone who’s ever tried this knows what I’m talking about. I had to sew directly to the felt. Some reedless sweats are hand sewn to pre-sewn machine stitching around the perimeter of the crown opening, as this one was, but that stitching had completely rotted.
Whew! Glad it’s over and now I can enjoy the 2nd mid 30s hat I’ve ever owned. View attachment 302638
View attachment 302644 View attachment 302639 View attachment 302640 View attachment 302642 View attachment 302641 As you can see in this pic the basting stitches in the top side of the ribbon are still intact.

Randall? If you reblocked it to one size bigger, why didn't you have to add a strip of leather to the sweatband to make ends meet?

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Borsalino Qualitá Superlativa. My friend Neal Blangiardo says it is probably Austrian.
Notice the almost undetectable joint of the leather in the last picture. Amazing! Really Qualitá Superlativa.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

My friend Neal Blangiardo says it is probably Austrian.

The history of Venezia is another, very different. It was a duchy from the seventh century AD to 1297 and ever since, it was a republic until 1797. It was given to Austria from 1814 to 1866, then it became Italy. The Second World War changed the eastern borders for Italy, in favor of the nascent Yugoslavia.
The Borsalino is a hat from the fifties, Tyrolean style

 

[drmaxtejeda]

The history of Venezia is another, very different. It was a duchy from the seventh century AD to 1297 and ever since, it was a republic until 1797. It was given to Austria from 1814 to 1866, then it became Italy. The Second World War changed the eastern borders for Italy, in favor of the nascent Yugoslavia.
The Borsalino is a hat from the fifties, Tyrolean style

Thank you, Daniele

 

[steur]

Borsalino Qualitá Superlativa. My friend Neal Blangiardo says it is probably Austrian.
Notice the almost undetectable joint of the leather in the last picture. Amazing! Really Qualitá Superlativa. View attachment 307395 View attachment 307396 View attachment 307397 View attachment 307398 View attachment 307399 View attachment 307400 View attachment 307401 View attachment 307402 View attachment 307403

Good to see it found a home, Max. I think the felt is going to be wonderful. The designation "superlativa" wasn't used much on the older hats.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Good to see it found a home, Max. I think the felt is going to be wonderful. The designation "superlativa" wasn't used much on the older hats.

What designation is higher than superlativa?
Superlativissima?

 

[steur]

What designation is higher than superlativa?
Superlativissima?

Sometimes I have the feeling they were making it up as they went along. They had qualitá suprema and qualitá massima as well; take your pick!

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Sometimes I have the feeling they were making it up as they went along. They had qualitá suprema and qualitá massima as well; take your pick!

Hmmm...
Did they have "Qualitá qualcosa di meglio non è possibile"?
And maybe later "Qualitá impossibile"?

 

[Just Daniel]

Buy, this one is getting to me, $1400 for a soft Stetson Premier, with the four medal presentation. Whew. I know Justin just sold one for comparatively very little, but his did not have the sweat stamp.

Did anyone see where this one sold originally, if it was on our market? I missed it completely.

 

[TheGuitarFairy]

Buy, this one is getting to me, $1400 for a soft Stetson Premier, with the four medal presentation. Whew. I know Justin just sold one for comparatively very little, but his did not have the sweat stamp.

Have you seen many examples of "sold" items at these prices? I don't think many of these auctions from JP are based in reality, more like high flying times of yore. Most if not all of the auctions I'm seeing lately I suspect are third party sellers. Sometimes you'll even see same item for sale simultaneously but from different sellers at different starting or BIN prices.
There's a nice No1 dress western currently up with a 1.4k BIN ... Ya ... I've offered seller a completely fair market price for hat but was declined. I don't think these guys understand the US market.

 

[Just Daniel]

I think they are selling to the Japanese market where they may be getting these prices, I don’t have any personal confirmation.

With the numbers of hats for sale at generally the same prices over there, I assume the market supports those costs.

Have you seen many examples of "sold" items at these prices? I don't think many of these auctions from JP are based in reality, more like high flying times of yore. Most if not all of the auctions I'm seeing lately I suspect are third party sellers. Sometimes you'll even see same item for sale simultaneously but from different sellers at different starting or BIN prices.
There's a nice No1 dress western currently up with a 1.4k BIN ... Ya ... I've offered seller a completely fair market price for hat but was declined. I don't think these guys understand the US market.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Finally found a Berteil. From Miami Bruno, God bless him. He says he doesn't have the original sweatband with the Berteil markings. Since it's Adrián who's saying it, I can be sure it is. View attachment 308178

 

[drmaxtejeda]

MacLachlan Derby. Didn't have one.

 

[Rmccamey]

I've not seen a Mac bowler, Max. Very unique indeed!

MacLachlan Derby. Didn't have one. View attachment 308198 View attachment 308199 View attachment 308200 View attachment 308201 View attachment 308202 View attachment 308203 View attachment 308204

 

[drmaxtejeda]

That's what I think, Randy. MacLachlans are my faves. Thank you!

 

[Randall Renshaw]

Randall? If you reblocked it to one size bigger, why didn't you have to add a strip of leather to the sweatband to make ends meet?

Thanks, Max.
I have been very successful stretching a good many leather sweatbands, in or out of the hat, since the time I finally got wise to sand a heavy taper in the sides of my wooden turnbuckle hat stretchers.
Even with two sized stretches!
Matter of fact, I’ve only broken the seam of one insignificant sweatband band—which was not in the best condition to start with.
A tapered stretcher puts less stress on the rear seam, and leather, as most sweatbands are tapered.
Most heads and foreheads are tapered.
A belt sander works well to sand a taper in the wood all the way around.
When out of the hat I rub in Lexol leather conditioner on both sides very heavily and let it dry for a few days then put a 3” piece of packing tape over the rear seam on the back side to help hold the seam together.
Then stretch in small increments over a 3/5 day period.
Works very well on sweats that are in great condition...and with crowns that are going to get reblocked.
Course, you have to be willing and able to sew the sweatband back in.
Or, just tell Ignacio about this new way and ask him to try it.

 

[Randall Renshaw]

$9 winning bid?? WOW!

Still a super great price for a 30s Dobbs, but not $9.
It was around $60, and very happy to pay it!

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Thanks, Max.
I have been very successful stretching a good many leather sweatbands, in or out of the hat, since the time I finally got wise to sand a heavy taper in the sides of my wooden turnbuckle hat stretchers.
Even with two sized stretches!
Matter of fact, I’ve only broken the seam of one insignificant sweatband band—which was not in the best condition to start with.
A tapered stretcher puts less stress on the rear seam, and leather, as most sweatbands are tapered.
Most heads and foreheads are tapered.
A belt sander works well to sand a taper in the wood all the way around.
When out of the hat I rub in Lexol leather conditioner on both sides very heavily and let it dry for a few days then put a 3” piece of packing tape over the rear seam on the back side to help hold the seam together.
Then stretch in small increments over a 3/5 day period.
Works very well on sweats that are in great condition...and with crowns that are going to get reblocked.
Course, you have to be willing and able to sew the sweatband back in.
Or, just tell Ignacio about this new way and ask him to try it.

Muchas gracias. I will