five-dollar stetson stiff-rim?

[mayserwegener]

I know that! They are lifting a hat from a China man who I assume lives in a city / town. If it's the 1890s most would be wearing Derbies. The popular soft felts were curled brim Euro style soft felts (see Homburg and Fedora). I am fairly certain they wouldn't be wearing Campaign Hats but anything is possible.

 

[ingineer]

Which one would you nick?

Richard

 

[mayserwegener]

Looks like it would fit the profile. What is the year / location?

 

[ingineer]

1898
San Francisco
The Street of Gamblers
Richard

 

[mayserwegener]

Here is NYC Chinatown 1899 which appears more typical (hat styles) of the times (notice a good number of Fedora / Homburg Euro curled brim styles). Notice the white guy wearing the Derby next to the street light.

 

[mayserwegener]

1898
San Francisco
The Street of Gamblers
Richard

They are all dressed similar. Very different from the NYC Chinatown photo I posted although there are some similar style hats.

 

[fedoracentric]

I'd also note we are talking about fiction, too. Writers are known for altering things for effect.

 

[Blackthorn]

I'd also note we are talking about fiction, too. Writers are known for altering things for effect.

It is widely accepted as being non fiction, in this case, his stories of his late teen years. I am currently almost done reading it, and I don't doubt a word of it. It is "warts and all." A lot of it isn't very nice.

 

[mayserwegener]

From the photos I have looked at Derbies are not common. It appears that flat stiff brim rigid to softer rounded crown is especially common with traditional dress (not sure what you would call it) on the West Coast.

This one from SF is more varied hat style wise (also not wearing traditional clothing).

 

[Blackthorn]

Here is NYC Chinatown 1899 which appears more typical (hat styles) of the times.

I'd be happy wearing almost any of those as "road hats," just not happy about the idea of stealing them from other folks.

 

[mayserwegener]

It is widely accepted as being non fiction, in this case, his stories of his late teen years. I am currently almost done reading it, and I don't doubt a word of it. It is "warts and all." A lot of it isn't very nice.

I believe it especially after seeing the photos from SF. Is there a location mentioned other than the street names? As mentioned the NYC photo is more varied although very few Derbies (which is unusual for the time period).

 

[ingineer]

No date or location, but seems to be the taste of those from the Middle Kingdom, Note no ponytail, so perhaps turn of century.

Richard

 

[mayserwegener]

Definitely a similar hat style (not typical of a city / dress soft hat style of the time). A couple of guys had pony tails (with non traditional clothing) in the SF photo (around 1900) I posted above.

 

[mayserwegener]

This is typical of city dress hat styles of the time. Notice Derbies and Euro style curled brim (Fedora, Homburg) soft felts.

Stetson 1895

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Did Stetson make Derbys ? .......& would they have cost only 5 dollars given the high finish. Also seemingly being the prefered head cover of a certain social class at the time & so worn as an exterior sign of affluence, it would be hard to imagine them wearing 5 buck hats, that apparently were part of the 'hobo uniform'.

Jack London included a lot of his own experiences & encounters in his novels so it's feasable he did add a little......what shall we say....'fictive embelishment' ? .....to his autobiographical works.....he was a brilliant story teller after all.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Which one would you nick?

Richard

I'd take the scout hat from the dude on the right, nearest the camera & hope I could outrun him 'cause he looks bad ass.

 

[fedoracentric]

Did Stetson make Derbys ? .......& would they have cost only 5 dollars given the high finish. Also seemingly being the prefered head cover of a certain social class at the time & so worn as an exterior sign of affluence, it would be hard to imagine them wearing 5 buck hats, that apparently were part of the 'hobo uniform'.

Of COURSE Stetson made derbies! And $5 was a common hat price until the 1920s or so. And derbies did not denote any sort of economic class in the USA. Every class wore them between the 1880s and the 1930s. In fact, it was an extremely common city hat in that era (just like the top hat was from the 1800s to the 1870s--not class oriented, very common). After the 30s derbies sort of settled into a business-oriented hat before they started to go away in favor of the fedora. So there is no reason at all that a hobo wouldn't be seen in one.

 

[tommyK]

One would think, aside from train hopping and avoiding bulls, as a hobo walking mostly, that one would want a bigger brim hat to shield one from sun and rain. Maybe something lighter in color. Or am I thinking too practical?

 

[Blackthorn]

One would think, aside from train hopping and avoiding bulls, as a hobo walking mostly, that one would want a bigger brim hat to shield one from sun and rain. Maybe something lighter in color. Or am I thinking too practical?

I think you're right. I certainly would.

 

[RBH]

http://www.hobonickels.org/insearch/jungle.htm