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

[Hagwood]

Congrats, and, be forewarned as there's no going back now! At 6-7/8 you're sitting on a goldmine for finding vintage hats at good/great prices.




It's easy to misjudge a brim width as camera angle can make all the difference. I quickly learned to send a message to the seller and ask for that information if it's not already listed.

Great advice, thanks !

 

[drmaxtejeda]

American Hat Co Velour.
I don't have another hat like this one

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[TheOldFashioned]

American Hat Co Velour.
I don't have another hat like this one

I gave up hope when you opened the bidding at $10. The outcome was inevitable. Congrats, Doc!

 

[drmaxtejeda]

I gave up hope when you opened the bidding at $10. The outcome was inevitable. Congrats, Doc!

Thank you!

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[Hat and Rehat]

I have a brim curling tool on order so I needed some hats to practice on:

Akubra (unknown model):

Akubra Cattleman:

Resistol 4X:

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Will you curl with the binding on?

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[Hat and Rehat]

I actually had six hats that I was watching end today, so I had to pick and choose what to go after (and for how much). That was my miss. One was a top hat that was too small but another curiosity. Two hats received no bids, though I was only seriously contemplating one.

And then my two victories. A beater/project Panama boater:
View attachment 184764
And a Stetson top hat:
View attachment 184763
Because who needs a beater boater and a top hat? These ones might get me in trouble.

I was watching a pair of tophats, one a folder. I had a rare moment of sanity and unwatched them.

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[Hat and Rehat]

Thanks for the info, very cool ! It's a little more of a stingy brim than I thought from the ebay listing, but I think it will look great with my 1940's grey herringbone overcoat this winter.

I was going to offer almost the same opinion as Brent until I scrolled and saw it would be redundant.
The leather looks great. The pin on the bow is interesting. It might help you narrow the age down.

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[Hat and Rehat]

I read this post to my wife, and she gave me a sideways glance and laughed at me... huh.

I wouldn't DARE read it to my wife!

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[Hat and Rehat]

American Hat Co Velour.
I don't have another hat like this one

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I like it, Max. Too many velour have a felt self ribbon or a braid in my opinion.

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[drmaxtejeda]

End of season “straw” sales are hard to resist. Worth & Worth:

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Is that Sisal?

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[drmaxtejeda]

I like it, Max. Too many velour have a felt self ribbon or a braid in my opinion.

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I dislike those a lot.

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[deadlyhandsome]

Is that Sisal?

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I’m not sure. It was cheap and looked decently made.


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[deadlyhandsome]

Will you curl with the binding on?

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Sure. I’ve done it before without the tool and I don’t see the binding getting in the way.


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[Hat and Rehat]

I dislike those a lot.

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I have a silvery grey velour Sovereign with a matching braid that I've grown fond of. It's the first one I've warmed to though.

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[Hat and Rehat]

Sure. I’ve done it before without the tool and I don’t see the binding getting in the way.


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I've watched tools used on YouTube with considerable heat. The maker won't come to mind (might pop into mind at 3AM), but the tool demo was a pencil curl of a western hat. The curling iron got heated on a little single burner gas hotplate type of thing. A second piece was wood. It slipped under the brim to push it around the iron.
The hatter got the edge if the brim pretty wet and the iron sizzled on it and put off a lot of steam.
I wondered if a ribbon binding would take that much heat.

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[deadlyhandsome]

I've watched tools used on YouTube with considerable heat. The maker won't come to mind (might pop into mind at 3AM), but the tool demo was a pencil curl of a western hat. The curling iron got heated on a little single burner gas hotplate type of thing. A second piece was wood. It slipped under the brim to push it around the iron.
The hatter got the edge if the brim pretty wet and the iron sizzled on it and put off a lot of steam.
I wondered if a ribbon binding would take that much heat.

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This one?

It’s the one I ordered. I think I can manage the heat and not damage the binding. I’ve used a steam iron on binding with no ill effects and I don’t plan on heating the stainless steel too hot.


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[steur]

American Hat Co Velour.
I don't have another hat like this one

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Fantastic, Max. I like that one a lot. Looks to be an old one.

 

[dkstott]

At the peak of my guitar collecting, I had 12 of them around the house. I always had a spare guitar case to hide the newest acquisition. Bedroom closets were great until they became full of guitars.

I'm down to 3 guitars now

My wife doesn't seem to notice a difference between a Stetson or a Bailey hat. So I'm safe with acquiring a couple more hats.

I wouldn't DARE read it to my wife!

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[Bill Hughes]

This one?

It’s the one I ordered. I think I can manage the heat and not damage the binding. I’ve used a steam iron on binding with no ill effects and I don’t plan on heating the stainless steel too hot.


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I bought one of these. I had a Montecristi that I thought needed a more pronounced curl. Worked great.

I was able to take it from this.


To this.

 

[Hat and Rehat]

This one?

It’s the one I ordered. I think I can manage the heat and not damage the binding. I’ve used a steam iron on binding with no ill effects and I don’t plan on heating the stainless steel too hot.


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That's the one. I'm anxious to see how it works for you.
That video inspired me to play around with curling myself. I bent some mild steel rod into a curve, then squared off the end of a wooden salad spoon as the pushing tool.
I was able to get a surprisingly even curl my first try, even with an extremely primitive setup. I didn't intend it as any kind of finished product, or even a prototype, but it did enable me to play with the technique. My spoon could curl a little past 90 degrees, but didn't have that half curl that fits around the hot iron, which curling shackles have, and which is also shaped into the wood pushing tool you are waiting for. Without being able to apply that extra pressure downward with my spoon onto the top of the heated rod, the curl that resulted opened back up a little. You should get a considerably better result with that sophisticated set, and I think you'll get the technique down pretty well on your first brim.
I've created shiny spots on grossgrain when using a steam iron to swirl it. Granted, it was cheap polyester ribbon, but that's what led me to ask you about curling with the binding on.
My primitive tools did this, and pretty easy. I had previously removed an overwelt from this brim, then reflanged and ironed it flat with a bag of powdered drywall compound placed on it overnight. I ironed it again, and was going to bind it as a flat brim until I watched that YouTube. I experiment first on total throwaway wool most of the time, but knew I wasn't going to accomplish much with my crude set-up unless I used fur felt.
This is a velour Sovereign I started "converting" for my wife, but she doesn't like the color. To be honest, the color doesn't give me shivers of joy either. I bought that hat in her size, not my own.
Perhaps some old memory of the overwelt made the felt easy to curl evenly. It's possible.

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