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

[Mystic]

It's still "hanging" in Florida.....

He he he...

So is my brother Chad.... lol

 

[jlee562]

Gents, please be on the lookout for eBay seller gameishu. This guy recently sold me a Royal Stetson, advertised as being in "excellent" condition, and worn "a few times." When I received it, not only was it stuffed in box which was too small for it, but it had some pretty deep moth bites. The auction photos were from creative angles which did not show the mothing. I requested a partial refund and the guy went all balllistic. I had to open up an eBay resolution case, where he admitted to describing the item wrong in one response, but then accused me of taking pictures of a different hat to send to eBay. Ebay sided with me and I finally got a partial refund.

Moral of the story is, stay away from seller gameishu. He is dishonest about the quality of his hats, or simply too incompetent to accurately assess them. He is unprofessional and rude.

 

[randooch]

Heads-up appreciated, Jared. Bummer of a tale.

 

[gtdean48]

Looks to me like the LOW price is due to the HIGH price of shipping....

$33.00 is very high unless it's being sent by pony express.

$9.50 and under should get this hat delivered any where in the con U.S.

Agree & seller doesn't have to pay ebay based on shipping charges...thinks he's being so sly....

 

[buler]

Lelewer hat identification tag. States "established 50 years". Earliest reference I could find was 1865. So this may be from around 1915.

B

 

[randooch]

Über cool!

 

[jskeen]

The previous owner just tightened up the adjustment bow string (or whatever the proper name for it is). Those cuts at the rear of the sweatband were there originally. It will probably be fine once that string is loosened and whatever is behind the sweatband is removed.

It's not an Open Road though. The brim is too wide. It's probably just a western Stetson 25 with a 3" to 3 1/2" brim.

Is that really what that is for? As much muss and fuss as there is about getting a hat to fit right in the first place, do stetson's best quality vintage hats really need an "adjustable" sweatband? If so, is that the best way to go about it? It seems that it would put all the tension of wearing the hat onto a tiny little strip of leather at each end as soon as it's "adjusted" the least bit. Really? I had always just assumed that it was decorative and meant to distinguish the higher end hats which would fit correctly as purchased.

Of course I have no factual basis for the above opinion, and am open to correction

 

[Landman]

Is that really what that is for? As much muss and fuss as there is about getting a hat to fit right in the first place, do stetson's best quality vintage hats really need an "adjustable" sweatband? If so, is that the best way to go about it? It seems that it would put all the tension of wearing the hat onto a tiny little strip of leather at each end as soon as it's "adjusted" the least bit. Really? I had always just assumed that it was decorative and meant to distinguish the higher end hats which would fit correctly as purchased.

Of course I have no factual basis for the above opinion, and am open to correction

I think it is probably intended to be more decorative than anything in newer hats but I have seen some very old hats (1800's) that it appeared to be used to help size the hat. Below is a closeup picture from the Black Sheep Hat Works thread showing the sweatband in Mikespens' new custom hat with a drawstring bow. Very classy looking and I guess if you needed to tighten the sweatband a little you could do so.

 

[alanfgag]

It is purely decorative. The strip of ribbon is taped to the back of the sweatband. Steve posted a couple of examples where the cord runs the full diameter of the sweatband and is meant to adjust the fit. I have seen this used in equestrian bowlers.

 

[Landman]

It is purely decorative. The strip of ribbon is taped to the back of the sweatband. Steve posted a couple of examples where the cord runs the full diameter of the sweatband and is meant to adjust the fit. I have seen this used in equestrian bowlers.

I was wondering if the bow ribbon on Mike's hat pictured below went all the way around the sweatband. The very old hats I have seen usually have the leather cuts all the way around the top of the sweatband and it is obvious it goes all the way around.

 

[alanfgag]

This photo shows the construction detail on a 1960s Stetson 100.

 

[Landman]

Alan,

Thanks. That doesn't look like it would withstand much tightening!

 

[Joshbru3]

Here's a couple examples of old hats with drawstrings in the sweatbands, Landman

1916 Stetson Pacemaker

WW1 era Peschel Velour

Both of these sweatbands are VERY thin and I feel if the sweatband string was tightened at all, it would make the sweatband fairly uncomfortable. I think this is decorative as well. I could be wrong, but it just appears to be decorative.

This Stetson equestrian hat has a drawstring, but its meant to be tightened. The leather part of the sweatband is stitched to a fabric portion which would be more comfortable and conform to ones head much better than leather would.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Allow me to refine what I was asking. I mean is the hat a good quality one? It seems like a low price.

Usually I've found Resistol dress hats to be unsung bargains. At $16, plus $8.50 economy shipping, it seems like a grand deal if you like the style and color, and if it's your size.

 

[Landman]

Thanks Josh. Very cool hats.

 

[alanfgag]

The Old Hawes Von Gal has a perfed sweatband with ribbon too... I'd have to check to confirm, but I don't believe the sweat bow and the perf ribbon are connected... purely design.

 

[Joshbru3]

The Old Hawes Von Gal has a perfed sweatband with ribbon too... I'd have to check to confirm, but I don't believe the sweat bow and the perf ribbon are connected... purely design.

I'm still drooling over that one.......

If only they could make hats like that for $3 today!

 

[mikespens]

I think it is probably intended to be more decorative than anything in newer hats but I have seen some very old hats (1800's) that it appeared to be used to help size the hat. Below is a closeup picture from the Black Sheep Hat Works thread showing the sweatband in Mikespens' new custom hat with a drawstring bow. Very classy looking and I guess if you needed to tighten the sweatband a little you could do so.

Mike the bow and drawstring are decoration, I asked Bob to add it after finding it in a vintage RDL Stetson I have. Fortunately, with Bob's custom fit a functional one isn't necessary anyway.

 

[bowlerman]

...and yet, how wonderful it would be to have functional ties on modern sweatbands for those of us who can't seem to stick with one hair style for very long!

 

[VetPsychWars]

The auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ope...E3Cl/iDUws8ra8xq/o0Fo70=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

What I got, after creasing and adding a pin:

It really was unworn and didn't take a whole lot of time and effort to crease because I didn't have to undo someone else's screwup. You can tell it had some creasing before but only some minor messing around that didn't affect anything. Neat blue-grey color.

Tom