Fedoras afield

[Blare]

Thanks for bumping this thread, Rick. Wasn’t sure where to place these 2 but I think they fit.

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From Ludington and Scottville Michigan. I’m originally from the mitten and my whole family moved to the West side of the state from Detroit a few years ago. While it’s not where I was born and raised, these spots on the west side now feel like home.
I did a solo trip cross country, 4600+ miles across 12 states (and countless snow storms) to see my Grandma on her 91 birthday. She recently got diagnosed with Leukemia and I felt compelled to take this journey. Grandma is going through chemo treatment and at her age, I’m not certain she’ll see another bday. Grateful I was able to spend her 91st with her!

Sounds like a memorable trip. I am sure she was grateful as well. I remember when my grandfather was in his 90s and he reached the point where he needed to let the car go. I would go take him a couple times a week to get his groceries and supplies and what not. He always said I did not need to do that for him. I always insisted. Truth is it was more for me than for him. I miss those days.

 

[Uncle Will]

I hope this post is ok here...

This is a grey vintage Fedora made by Adam, in NYC. Hats by Adam were made popular in the late 1940s and '50s, due to the Adam company sponsoring boxing matches out of Madison Square Garden, NYC. Adam's reputation was that they made nice hats that cost less, so says Wikipedia.

This Fedora was worn by a fellow from that time frame. His daughter had kept her father's hats and gave this grey Fedora and a shapeless, brown suede "Country Gentleman" to me after she leaned that I like wearing hats.

The Fedora had a deep middle crease and two dents in front. The crown is tall and my wife didn't like the way it looked on me, so it sat on the shelf. I nicknamed it my "Mugsy" hat ( a very short cartoon gangster, from the Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour, who wore an exceedingly tall Fedora) Since I recently resurrected a black Cowboy hat, I looked to reshape this as my second victim.

I left the liner in while working the hat because the thread holding things together is old, weak and breaking. I steamed the areas I wanted to change and reformed the crown to reduce the height, then carefully steam ironed the brim. The ribbon was rumpled from hats being stacked on it, and I repaired and ironed that so it looks better, still but not great. A thin grey catbird feather from by the feeder will do as plumage till I find better.

The brim has weak areas in the front, from decades of open storage. I'll have to treat it nicely from here on out. Now I need storage boxes and proper hat hangers!

It'll be worth it.

 

[dh66]

Misting rain, cold, and windy had me in a wool cap instead of a fedora for a drive up to visit Noccalula Falls, named for the Native American Princess whose statue is atop them, poised to end it all. If I'm remembering the story right her father sold her to be married to the wealthy chief of another tribe but she wasn't having any of it so she jumped off the top of the falls.

 

[Bamaboots]

If I'm remembering the story right her father sold her to be married to the wealthy chief of another tribe but she wasn't having any of it so she jumped off the top of the falls.

Cuz, that’s the way I remember it being told when I was going to school in Gadsden.

 

[Uncle Will]

Nice post, DH66! I like your hat and the story.

 

[Rmccamey]

Visit again in the spring, Rick, when all the trees and flowers are blooming. It is a beautiful place.

I was in Dallas TX a few weeks ago. This was taken at the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden. Wearing the OR RD. Nice place. I was out of town, so I believe it qualifies for Fedoras afield.

 

[dh66]

Nice post, DH66! I like your hat and the story.

Thanks, man!

 

[dh66]

Spent the day yesterday with my kids exploring some property my brother and I own. We saw a barred owl down by the creek (My phone doesn't zoom in very well) I was wearing this old Cavanagh.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

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Spent the day yesterday with my kids exploring some property my brother and I own. We saw a barred owl down by the creek (My phone doesn't zoom in very well) I was wearing this old Cavanagh.

I touched the exposure just a tad. Looks like it was a fun outing.

 

[dh66]

I touched the exposure just a tad. Looks like it was a fun outing.

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Thanks Jack. It was a good day.

 

[Uncle Will]

Hi DH66, that Cavanaugh looks much like my grey hat above. Do you think that mine is a Cavanaugh, too? It's interesting to know more about our hats, the style, the materials, the time frame in which they were made, even who were the original owners.
That Barred Owl was a good find!
U-Dub

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi DH66, that Cavanaugh looks much like my grey hat above. Do you think that mine is a Cavanaugh, too? It's interesting to know more about our hats, the style, the materials, the time frame in which they were made, even who were the original owners.
That Barred Owl was a good find!
U-Dub

Your hat above has a raw edge and not a felted AKA Cavanagh edge. It’s unlikely that yours is a Cavanagh.

 

[dh66]

Hi DH66, that Cavanaugh looks much like my grey hat above. Do you think that mine is a Cavanaugh, too? It's interesting to know more about our hats, the style, the materials, the time frame in which they were made, even who were the original owners.
That Barred Owl was a good find!
U-Dub

The ribbon's a little different on yours, but I can see the edge. It might be, just from a different era. I'm not 100% sure, but I think mines from the 70s. The felt is thin as a Kleenex.

 

[quikrick]

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Spent the day yesterday with my kids exploring some property my brother and I own. We saw a barred owl down by the creek (My phone doesn't zoom in very well) I was wearing this old Cavanagh.

That’s beautiful other cuz. Looks like awesome family time.

 

[dh66]

That’s beautiful other cuz. Looks like awesome family time.

It was, Cuz. Those kids had a great time.

 

[dh66]

Dobbs for the drive thru dinosaur exhibit. Even my teenaged kids were excited, so you know it was good.

 

[Uncle Will]

DH66,
Looks like fun! The models have nice detail and expression. And there's the Cavanaugh, displaying its nice thick edge. I had to visit the great and powerful Google and research the Cavanaugh edge to understand the reference above. Cool stuff, dinos included.
U Dub

 

[Scooterz]

Fedoras Afield well in the car anyway. Driving thru a semi-rural area looking at homes when we were set upon.
The Akubra Burnt Oak Fedora

It began with a frontal attack. And progressed to the front tire. It is the breeding season so the boys want to beat up any rivals. I perhaps did prompt the assault by yelping like a hen turkey.

They tried to stare me down.

Next the back tire became a pecking target. I guess they don't like black walls.
They feigned retreat if one of us got out of the car. Even my wife was only able to temporarily frighten them, probably because she was looking at them and wondering what they would taste like stir fried with jalapenos.

Over and over they feigned retreat but would come running back to the front of the car and block the way. Eventually my wife chased them off a little ways and ran back to the car we turned left down a side road which turned out to dead end in a circle.

So we had to turn back and go past them but by then some hen turkeys had come out down the road and they had moved down towards them and we were able to evacuate the neighborhood.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Fedoras Afield well in the car anyway. Driving thru a semi-rural area looking at homes when we were set upon.
The Akubra Burnt Oak Fedora
View attachment 317814
It began with a frontal attack. And progressed to the front tire. It is the breeding season so the boys want to beat up any rivals. I perhaps did prompt the assault by yelping like a hen turkey.
View attachment 317815 View attachment 317816
They tried to stare me down.
View attachment 317817
View attachment 317818
Next the back tire became a pecking target. I guess they don't like black walls.
They feigned retreat if one of us got out of the car. Even my wife was only able to temporarily frighten them, probably because she was looking at them and wondering what they would taste like stir fried with jalapenos.
View attachment 317819
Over and over they feigned retreat but would come running back to the front of the car and block the way. Eventually my wife chased them off a little ways and ran back to the car we turned left down a side road which turned out to dead end in a circle.
View attachment 317820
So we had to turn back and go past them but by then some hen turkeys had come out down the road and they had moved down towards them and we were able to evacuate the neighborhood.

Instead of Fedoras Afield this should be a lesson in Wild Turkey 101.

 

[Scooterz]

Instead of Fedoras Afield this should be a lesson in Wild Turkey 101.

I'll drink to that!