French Hats and makers.

[Daniele Tanto]

Flechet de Luxe gris

Flechet de Luxe gris made for A Meer Chapellerie - Strasbourg
It seems a little younger than me, on the inner sweatband there is stampe 53830, that could be the date of the hat.

It is made in plain fur felt. Grey with matching ribbon and bounded brim in a more purplish color

Ribbon 4,5 cm does not has a bow, but is plaited

Brims are 5 cm. and crown, low point, 11,5 cm

It is lined and very well finished

The crown could be crease as you want, it is a buttery felt and the brims snap up or down.

A real gem in my collection!

 

[mayserwegener]

Great felt color and finish! Also really like the bow treatment!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Tirard Ragonda noir

A black formal hat this Tirard Ragonda

It arrived from the sixties-seventies.
It was made in a medium stiff black fur felt.

The maker was Tirard a famous French (Nogent-le-Rotrou) hatters producer that stopped its production le 31 March 1956

Even if as some others old French the trade mark was used lately.
Proportions are: bound brims 5,5 cm. and lowered crown 12 cm. (open is 14 cm.)

Well finished ia medium level hat.

Waterproof and made for Chapellerie Meer

An elegant hat for suit and good shoes

 

[mayserwegener]

Fantastic! Super high quality work! It just shows that great hats were still being made in that time period.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Carlton gris clair

A very classic Homburg from France.
It is a Carlton made probably in the sixties.

The mesium gray felt is really pliable and it is impossible to put it on the stand, it will lose quickly the crease.
The crown is full and high (11 cm. lowest point, 13 cm highest point) brims are 6 cm. rolled pencil

It is finished with a black ribbon with bow and the brims are bound with a matching light grey ribbon.
The interior has an excellent finish with a super sweatband in fine leather

Expressly made for A. Meer - Strasbourg

One of the gems in my homburg collection

 

[mayserwegener]

Thank you for posting the liner and sweat photos! I like the contrasting bow and binding. Also great form!

 

[DJH]

Random poster in the window of Barber's Bookshop in Ft Worth

 

[mayserwegener]

Nice surprise!

 

[DJH]

The surprise gets better, Steve. What we thought was just a small poster, turned out to be the full 3 hat version. My wife went to see the store guy and $20 later we have a large framed print to hang on our wall.

 

[mayserwegener]

That is great news!

 

[jlee562]

That's quite the bargain! Looks great.

 

[RJR]

Great deal.

 

[ofcoursemyhorse]

Newspaper tucked away in the sweatband dates the hat to at least 1938.

Flechet

 

[hatsRme]

Wow-ZA, OfCourseMH!! Talk about "upping the game!" Really fantastic lid in pristine-looing condition. Many congrats, man.

 

[mayserwegener]

Great find! It's fantastic! Is the nap clockwise?

 

[Daniele Tanto]

This Flechet is superb!
I think that despite the stamp on the sweatband the hat is made by JB .
This brand is also found on some French hats in my collection.
It seems that in France, at different times, some manufacturers of hats have worked for others, leaving their mark along with that company's originator and owner of the "principal" mark.
Usually the products of JB were fantastic.

 

[mayserwegener]

The paper label has B. Fléchet.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Steve that's true, but I see the linen marked JB.
This was a very high grade manufacturer for others parts and for sure they made superb hats.
Many of my best French hats were made by JB and marketed with others name.
Mine is only a guess.......

 

[mayserwegener]

Yes that is strange. The J.B. mystery! I guess it's also possible the liner was changed. RLK (Robert) found a number of old NOS French Velours (some Austrian sourced) a while ago. Here is one from that find with a B. Fléchet liner.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?36690-French-Hats-and-makers&p=1500345&viewfull=1#post1500345

 

[mayserwegener]

I found that J.B. was Jean Bourrel Manufacture De Chapeaux, Quillan, France. This area (including Espéraza) was a hat making center of France. The company went out of business in 1949.

http://www.belcaire-pyrenees.com/article-decouvrez-quillan-capitale-de-la-haute-vallee-de-l-aude-2eme-partie-57343454.html

"A man marked the industrial history of the Upper Valley region, Jean Bourrel:

Although he spent most of his life in the town of Quillan, Jean Bourrel only remains pure Espérazanais since Espéraza born in November 11, 1886, son of the industrialist Jean Baptiste and Bourrel Mathilde Barbaste his wife.
After a good education, he will naturally learning the family business in Espéraza (current Monblason facilities) where brothers Bourrel factory occupies an important place among the manufactures of hats that are so renowned high valley Aude. After his marriage in Gincla in 1912 and the turmoil of the Great War, Jean Bourrel is called by the director owner Huillet factory and Lasserre in Quillan (created in 1908) in order to boost production milliner this recently ravaged facility by a devastating flood of the Aude. Dynamic man and remarkably organized, rigorous manager with a physical giant, Jean Bourrel who became owner of the factory to the death of Mr. Lasserre in 1922, will boost an innovative impetus to its company, with the famous hat marks the "Tibet", quickly conquered the national and international market.

The factory of John Bourrel hats in 1900

The famous hat "Thibet" of the 30s

In a few years, Jean Bourrel will organize and expand its production buildings it connects with an iron bridge in the center of Quillan, the famous "Bridge Suzanne", bearing the name of his daughter, opened in 1928, during the transition from President Gaston Doumergue which also inaugurated that day the first large dam on the river Aude, in Puyvalador.

Quillan deck "Suzanne" spanning the Aude, built by Jean Bourrel in 1928 to facilitate access to its plants"

A major figure in the upper valley of the Aude Jean Bourrel (Some great photos too! You can run through Google Translator.)

http://www.patrimoine-quillan.com/bourrel.htm

The hat factory Jean Bourrel (ex Huillet and Lasserre)

Daniele's J.B. "Thibet"

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?36690-French-Hats-and-makers&p=1902377&viewfull=1#post1902377