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

[Tiller]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120398565440

Stetson Medalist Straw Hat ~ Large ½ Oval

Nice one here IMHO. Wish I'd of bid on it, but I was a bit busy this weekend. Anyone here get it?

 

[Torpedo]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120398565440

Stetson Medalist Straw Hat ~ Large ½ Oval

Nice one here IMHO. Wish I'd of bid on it, but I was a bit busy this weekend. Anyone here get it?

I did score this one some days ago... Stetson boater with self-conforming sweatband... I hope it fits...

http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270359148105

 

[Brad Bowers]

Professor Bowers' class in Sweatband Technology is in session.

Dating? Glued rear swetaband vs. newer apearing price tag. Hm, there are later sweatbands that feature the same connection (bowlers!).

Which brands? Are we talking American manufacture, or European? Most American companies switched over in the 1930s (see below).

Do all post 30ies feature a sewn rear connection rather than a glued paper joint?

A machine to paste the fabric, joining the sweatband ends, was invented in 1892, and speeded up production over the next few decades.

The question is, why did companies switch over to sewn sweatbands? This would perhaps require a capital investment in new machines for this purpose, and would have to demonstrate a lower manufacturing cost over the old method to make it worth their while. Most companies appeared to have made the switch around the same time, in the 1930s, probably as a cost saving measure during the Great Depression. It might have required new machines, unless they were able to adapt existing machines for the purpose, but their other sewing machines were highly specialized, so I don't think they adapted. But they could lower their manufacturing cost, because the only thing in the way of supplies they needed was thread, and they were buying that already. With the old method, they had to buy the adhesive fabric, which I imagine cost substantially more than mere thread. Instant cost savings there.

This could be a holdover hat, made by a company that continued the old methods, but I suspect it was made by Mallory or one of the other large companies in Danbury, which means, they most likely would have followed the rest of the hat industry in making the switch. Too, note the pleated liner, a manufacturing extravangance that also disappeared, for the most part, during the Depression.

Is there proof of other early tags of this style?

Gluing an upright size tag to the back of the sweatbands like that goes back at least as far as the late-nineteenth century, if not earlier, so that's nothing new by the 1930s. As far as the color and typeface, I don't see anything about it that rules it out as being an earlier tag. We'll just have to wait and see when the hat arrives.

I must now admit my previous ignorance to tape-and-reed history. Apparently, the use of tape (called reed cover or reed cloth in the old days) and reed goes back at least as far as the 1870s, I've discovered. The hats that I thought didn't have any, actually DO have reed cloth and reed. I checked my pre-1909 C&K Derby and my mid-'20s Dobbs, and both have them. It's just that the reed is situated so far back under the leather that it appears to not be there at all at first glance.

But the question now is, why did they switch to a style where the reed cover and reed is so much more prominent, and sewn on with a different style of stitching, which required a different sewing machine? Where is the cost savinds in that move?[huh] I'm still working on that one.

Class dismissed.lol

Brad

 

[Dinerman]

Dating? Glued rear sweatband vs. newer appearing price tag. Hm, there are later sweatbands that feature the same connection (bowlers!). Do all post 30ies feature a sewn rear connection rather than a glued paper joint? Is there proof of other early tags of this style?

'20s-'30s hats with size tags and taped back seams

----------------------
Finchley

-----------------------
Lazarus

note pleated lining and style of reeding on the sweatband.
-----------------------
Steefel Bros. - Different style of size tag that was seen during this era.

pleated liner, taped and unreeded sweatband
------------------------

Note the three hats have different sweatband colours, but that the sweatband leather top edge is embossed differently than later hats.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Doesn't that Lazarus have partial stitching on the sweat seam?

Great photos, Dinerman, thanks for posting those.

I guess you could call us the Tag-Team Hat Historians, or T-squared H-squared.lol

Brad

 

[Tiller]

I did score this one some days ago... Stetson boater with self-conforming sweatband... I hope it fits...

http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270359148105

Wonderful hat :eusa_clap. You'll have to show us how it looks! I'm looking for one for the Fourth of July (Independence Day here in the States). I'd also wear to a few political functions from time to time , which is another tradition of the boater here besides barber quartets, and actual boat riding.

 

[Dinerman]

Doesn't that Lazarus have partial stitching on the sweat seam?

Great photos, Dinerman, thanks for posting those.

I guess you could call us the Tag-Team Hat Historians, or T-squared H-squared.lol

Brad

You're absolutely right about the Lazarus- I just went back and fixed that.

The taped back seam on sweatbands seems to have hung around much longer in Europe. I've owned examples from the mid-late '60s with that kind of seam. I don't think I have the photos uploaded to photobucket, though.

 

[Rick Blaine]

STETSON "HIGHWAY" (?) from OZ

...hope I didn't snipe anyone here but I wasn't getting up at 6 am on a Sunday!
I know the foil tag denotes manufacture in a Commonwealth country but I am unfamiliar with the model. Looks rather OR-ish w/ a wider ribbon & groovy bow treatment... the wait begins :eusa_doh:

 

[rlk]

Old Blue Stetson

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...E:B:EOIBSA:US:1123&viewitem=&salenotsupported

 

[Tiller]

...hope I didn't snipe anyone here but I wasn't getting up at 6 am on a Sunday!
I know the foil tag denotes manufacture in a Commonwealth country but I am unfamiliar with the model. Looks rather OR-ish w/ a wider ribbon & groovy bow treatment... the wait begins :eusa_doh:

Good catch Rick, I had my eye on that one, but this weekend has been busy (one of my friends bachelor party) and I forgot all about it. You'll have to show us what it looks like :eusa_clap.

 

[ScottF]

rlk - I love that hat! That's really the only color hat that I'm 'in need' of.

 

[toobacat]

taped sweatband seam

I won this hat on ebay last year. I just assumed that it was a fairly recent hat. Is it possible that this is actually an older hat?

 

[carouselvic]

It is a older hat.

 

[Lefty]

I guess you could call us the Tag-Team Hat Historians, or T-squared H-squared.lol

Thanks to both of you. This is great information. :eusa_clap

 

[jimmy the lid]

I won this hat on ebay last year. I just assumed that it was a fairly recent hat. Is it possible that this is actually an older hat?

I agree with carouselvic. The taped sweatband seam, combined with the lack of a reeded sweat, would seem to indicate an older lid. And, by the way, that is a gorgeous hat! :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

 

[jimmy the lid]

Wow. What a beautiful lid. Looks blue/green on my monitor. Just gorgeous.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[toobacat]

I agree with carouselvic. The taped sweatband seam, combined with the lack of a reeded sweat, would seem to indicate an older lid. And, by the way, that is a gorgeous hat! :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

Thanks, I didn't really mean to buy it, I set esnipe at the minimum bid just to watch it, and no one else bid. I was disappointed when I got the message that I had won, because I wear a 7 3/8, but the hat is a perfect fit.

 

[Gilgamark]

Adam Executive?

Here's the Adam I won on a buy-it-now earlier this week. The lining just reads "Adam," but the sweatband reads "Executive Quality." Is this an Adam Executive?

The hat is in great shape. Slight yellowing in the liner. That's it. It was dusty, but a good brushing took care of that. The photos don't quite get the color. It's a cinnamon brown.

Any tips on dating an Adam? I've read on other threads that they were a major brand of the 40's and 50's. When did they go out of business? This hat came in it's original box - sale price: $8.95.

 

[Gilgamark]

BTW, can someone tell me why my pictures are always enormous?

 

[Jabos]

Beautiful Adam G-Mark. I can select the size the pic will be before I upload to Photobucket. What a BIN pick up for you.