French Hats and makers.

[Chepstow]

Flea market find today!

Love that Mossant, a great deal and a wonderful suprise! Superbe condition, a bargain!

 

[mikespens]

A real beauty Mafred, your king of the fleas! Hope it's your size too.

 

[Chepstow]

Thanks, Mike! Indeed a 57 but sits like a 56!

 

[Fastuni]

Wonderful Mossant, Manfred. Good that it is not a 59 to 61... (or I would have fainted from envy! ;-))

I got this Size 59 Flechet Homburg - excuse the poor photos! Can you experts make sense of the numbers, names and tags? Ideas about the age (not pre-1937 obviously).
I get that "Chapeau Hauby" was the store, "Smart" is the Model name. What about the handwriting? Thanks!

P.S.: The plastic front stabilizer was inserted by me.

 

[ManofKent]

^no idea of age but that's a beauty Fastuni

 

[mayserwegener]

Great find! Robert (RLK) might be able to help with the dating.

 

[Chepstow]

Thanks, Fastuni. A great find and Hat. A sharp Flechet if you ask me. A cautious estimate on my part the 50s

 

[Garrett]

Mossant Esterel (size 3 1/2). Slight up-brim flange. Guessing late 30's

 

[alanfgag]

Tiny beauty. Can you wear it? Does it make headlines?

 

[Garrett]

Regrettably too small to wear.

 

[Chepstow]

That's a beauty, great find!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[ManofKent]

It's a beauty to display even if it is a little small.

 

[mayserwegener]

Garrett, Really great find!

 

[Purplesage]

French Velour Imported by Saks Fifth Avenue (Unknown Manufacturer)

I don't suppose there is anyway of finding out who the French manufacturer is! Maybe someone here might be able to tell me more about the hat. I think it's from the 30s but I'm not really sure. The velour is practically unblemished. Looks like it was owned by Dr. B.M. Lewis whose name is stamped on the sweatband. The hat has a 2 1/2" brim with an overwelt edge and a 5 3/4" open crown which is wrapped in a 1 3/4" black grosgrain ribbon. This was practically a steal so I couldn't pass it up.

 

[mayserwegener]

Super find! I am not sure of the maker. You may want to go back and check if you can match the size tag. My guess would be later 50s early 60s.

 

[besdor]

It could be Flechet. They sold a lot of hats here in he USA in the 1950's and 1960's.

 

[Purplesage]

It looks older to me with the wide brim and high untapered crown. The ribbon also looks like a much older style. I would have to see some 50s or 60s Fletchets for comparison purposes. The hat box could provide a clue if anyone would know what period it's from. The size tag might be a place to start as you say.

 

[TheDane]

The typeface used on the order-label is Futura, designed for Bauhaus by Paul Renner in the late 20s. If I remember right, it was released by the type-house Bauer in the year of the Berlin Olympics - 1936.

The version used on the label is not an early version, but one of the "Americanized" versions - very frequently used by the fashion industry during the 50s, 60s and 70s. The difference is the much smaller "over-" and "under-heights" - here visible on the "d" in the word "Ordre". In a "decent" version of Futura, the vertical stroke of the "d" would be significantly higher.

The 50s, 60s or 70s would in my mind be a realistic guess. Also the seemingly low quality sweatband and the indisputable low imprinting quality points to the same era

 

[besdor]

The box seems late 1950s -early 1960s .After that Flechet was sending much to the USA. But the size of the brim seems to be late 1950's.

 

[Purplesage]

Can we say for sure that this is a Fletchet? The order label does look similar to some I've seen on Fletchets. I agree the leather sweatband quality is not that good, it's thin and fairly cheap feeling. The rest of the hat is top notch though. I would still like to a Fletchet from the late 50s-early 60s for comparison. I can't say I've seen many hats from that era with high untapered crowns in combination with fairly wide (2 1/2") brims. Maybe Borsalino was still making some hats with those characteristics at that time. That is interesting about the Americanized version of the typeface on the order label. I still haven't found a size tag that matches this one.