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FS: 1930s Optimo Montecristi Panama 17x21 350wpsi Size 7 1/4

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
Vintage 1930s Montecristi Optimo 17x21 350wpsi weave count. Size 7 1/4, fits a 57.5cm = 22 5/8" head circumference.

Clearly identified as a 1930s Panama due to the so-called "white treatment", a whitish paste, which was only used during that decade according to Art. The paste won't come off, so you can safely wear the hat as is.

No cracked or dried straw, no holes! The extrawide sweatband is still in perfectly wearable condition even for the summer heat. The front section is reinforced with some intricate construction that is designed to prevent sweat from penetrating into the straw, similar in principle to the front section of unreeded Borsalino lite felts, but apparently made of leather.

The flanging of this hat is done very well - you can wear the hat flipped up all the way, flipped down all the way, or flipped up in front only or in back only! The straw body has a stiffness (in a good way) that makes the brim stay the way it's been flipped.

This has the pleasant smell of sulphur-bleached straw. What you see as whitish or tan discolorations inside the crown is just the effect of the white paste treatment. The hat is not moldy or anything!

Blocked on a very straight and flat-topped block, this hat has a wonderful 30s silhouette.
Brim width is 2 1/2".

Hatband appears to be original.


$220.-

Free worldwide shipping from Germany, sturdy packaged.



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Last edited:

DJH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,355
Location
Ft Worth, TX
I'm with you, Mike.
The hat is a beauty, truly vintage, a great price and a super guy to do business with.

Makes no sense it is still here.
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
Thank you all for the moral support, gents.

yes, great hat/great price...but I take a 7 3/8; is there any way to stretch this hat to fit my overheated noggin??

Without knowing too much about it, I wouldn't recommend it. Stretching, almost certainly no. With reblocking you'd be taking one hell of a chance, although it might work with a little prayer that the straw body doesn't rip. The straw is in excellent condition for its age, but you never know how it might react to such drastic measures as a reblock to upsize.

A hatter who works with Panamas could give you better advice than I can, but no one can give a guarantee.
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
Straw that's not dried out is pretty elastic. It should be no problem to stretch it out to a size 7 3/8.

With vintage of that age, too? Good to know. I only knew that a fine weave in general makes an extremely durable material that can take a lot of stretching over the block.
Do you know this from experience - or from hatters, for that matter - as opposed to hearsay?
 

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