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

L

Lastmohecken

Familiar Face
Messages
91
Location
Ozark Mountains, United States
Wow! You fellows have about got me in hot water with the wife. I have exceeded my limit on ebay hats, lately. I got excited about the Stetson Open Roads after seeing all of the nice ones on here, and ended up with a very nice old Stetson 25 with about a 5 inch crown. It was pretty much like new, I reshaped the crown to the general pinch point in the front and 3 points in the back. I am real happy with.

Then I went on a quest to find a few cowboy hats with the idea of converting one or more, and I also needed a better cowboy hat for the farm. The first hat I got was a Stetson 3x more or less silver belly, but it turned out to be way too nice to convert, and too nice to ruin wearing it on the farm, so I decided to keep it as a companion to my Black 4X Resistol cowboy, that I keep for dress.

The next hat I got was Shelper's Stetson 5x and it was OK, but had a lower crown then I like for my cowboy hats, and was still too nice for the farm, so I did convert it to an Open Road style. It was an easy conversion, as the crown worked out easy, and the brim was mostly flat to start with so I didnot have to fight it, much at all.

My next hat I got in tonight, and it's a Resistol Black Gold 20x Beaver, these go new for $300 to $400 and up, but I got it for less then fifty including shipping. The crown was a little shorter then I prefer for a Cowboy hat, but it reshaped out nicely to a very wearable dress hat, and way too nice, to convert, so I recond I have another dress cowboy. Not a bad deal, since in my country, cowboy hats are still worn pretty often, and I have alway worn them.

I got another hat comming, and I think it's going to make me a new farm hat. It's a Brown Resistol, but it's wool, not beaver, and I got it cheap.

I am still looking for maybe another Black Resistol or Stetson to convert for a darker Fedora.

I may attempt some pictures later, but I am not very good at that, so we will see.

I am very impressed with the talent on here, you fellows have displayed some wonderful work.
 
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feltfan

feltfan

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,190
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Lefty said:
also not mine:
green Dunlap, 7 1/4
Click to expand...
Ooh, Leon Woolsey Togs of Oakland. Interesting. Never heard of them before, but apparently they were
a big operation:

card00361_fr.jpg


Can't quite figure out where that is. But note, Lefty, that not all good hats
were sold in Ohio.
 

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Lefty

Lefty

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,639
Location
O-HI-O
I never said all of them.


but a heck of a lot of 'em started out here. :grouphug:



ohio_flag.jpg
 
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D

danofarlington

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,122
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Lastmohecken said:
Not a bad deal, since in my country, cowboy hats are still worn pretty often, and I have alway worn them.
Click to expand...

You're in good shape if you can wear cowboy hats where you are. So many nice ones are up for sale on E Bay. I look at them for conversion candidates only, because here in Washington D.C. I can mainly use dress type hats or something similar. But the quality available of cowboy hats looks great, and the condition too. Answer me this: Is there a noticeable difference between a 60s, 70s, 80, 90s and 2000s cowboy hat? I am just wondering if the people who wear cowboy hats could pick a used one from any decade, or whether they change much. You said one of those you bought had a low crown--maybe modern ones have lower crowns. I am curious because I never have been in the cowboy hat market.
 
fmw

fmw

One Too Many
Messages
1,017
Location
USA
Dan, the quality of western hats is pretty much the same since the 1960's. The major difference is the styling. It would be hard to pin down a decade because even today, you can buy 1960's styles. Sometimes they are called classic or something like that. Lower crowns are more common in today's hats than they were decades ago. Actually, I have bought several westerns recently because I prefer the lower crowns. But you could get low crowns years ago as well - even very low telescope creased crowns. Most of my cattleman's creased Westerns from the 60's had 7" crowns. 6" crowns are more common these days.
 
D

danofarlington

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,122
Location
Arlington, Virginia
fmw said:
Dan, the quality of western hats is pretty much the same since the 1960's. The major difference is the styling. It would be hard to pin down a decade because even today, you can buy 1960's styles. Sometimes they are called classic or something like that. Lower crowns are more common in today's hats than they were decades ago. Actually, I have bought several westerns recently because I prefer the lower crowns. But you could get low crowns years ago as well - even very low telescope creased crowns. Most of my cattleman's creased Westerns from the 60's had 7" crowns. 6" crowns are more common these days.
Click to expand...

Good perspective. I am fascinated by the movement of styles over time, in suits and hats. Fortunately men's shoes don't change much (you can wear shoes from 20 years ago without a problem). But in many of the styles, a person of that day wouldn't be caught dead in a three or four-year old style, and they would have known what was "in" and what was "out" that year. Sort of like wearing bell bottom jeans in 1980. I'd like to get some familiarity with that beyond the movies. With cowboy hats, they all look more or less alike to me, so it's good to know from the wearers what difference over the years there may be. I know in Open Roads, the crowns got lower. Now I have a modern OR for a more casual look, and a vintage 25 with a pretty tall crown for the "serious man" look. There is a utility for both. But in ORs, you can see the style change, however slowly.
 
fmw

fmw

One Too Many
Messages
1,017
Location
USA
Here are a couple of shots. The light brown one with the gus crease is from the 1960's. Originally it had a cattleman's and the crown stood 7" creased. The silverbelly one is from the 90's. It has a 6" crown in a cattleman crease. Note how the brims differ in appearance. The 60's hat lays flat on a table. The line along the bottom of the brim is straight from front to back. The silverbelly is pulled down front and back to provide a more curved look to the bottom of the hat. I would view those as typical changes in style. A western hat wearer, however, would be content in either one. It is just a matter of preference. The 60's style hasn't gone out of style.

stetson.jpg

serratelli.jpg
 
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fmw

fmw

One Too Many
Messages
1,017
Location
USA
My Ebay win for today is this Milan braid stetson fedora. Should I be expecting wheat straw or polyester?

Link
 
delectans

delectans

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,335
Location
Minnesota
Very nice vintage Milan, fmw. In case you have not had a chance to read the interesting Milan primer written by Graham of Optimo Hats, here it is: The Optimo Milan Straw. Note especially the sidebar regarding the history of the term 'Milan', as used in hatmaking.
 
fmw

fmw

One Too Many
Messages
1,017
Location
USA
Thanks, gents. Glad it will be genuine milan. I already have a plastic milan braid hat. I have read the Optimo blurb. I'd sure love to have one of his Milan hats. I'm not sure of the color of this one. It might be dyed brown or it might be aged natural. The seller's images are all over the board. Hopefully it is not dyed. My guess is that it will need a new pugaree. Does anybody have a source for them?
 
alanfgag

alanfgag

Messages
15,083
Location
Buffalo, NY
fmw said:
Thanks, gents. Glad it will be genuine milan. I already have a plastic milan braid hat. I have read the Optimo blurb. I'd sure love to have one of his Milan hats. I'm not sure of the color of this one. It might be dyed brown or it might be aged natural. The seller's images are all over the board. Hopefully it is not dyed. My guess is that it will need a new pugaree. Does anybody have a source for them?
Click to expand...

My guess is that the first and fourth pictures show the color most accurately. Look for pictures of the inside of the hat - the color balance often works out best from this angle. The color is applied with a somewhat heavy hand, reminiscent of Jack Haley in the Wizard of Oz, but that's the look and the effect is quite nice. My Knox Fifteen Milan, inside view.
 
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