German & Austrian Hutmachers

[mayserwegener]

This is a pre 1940 J. Hückel´s Söhne promo pocket mirror. I have another one like it but this one is in much better condition. There is a blow-up of this same image on display at the Novy Jicin City Museum Hat exhibit. Karl Plachky was a hat / furrier shop in Zeitz, Germany.

 

[ManofKent]

Great find Steve.

 

[Denton]

Remarkable image on that pocket mirror. The three men bow their heads to acknowledge the superiority of a hat they would never dream of putting on their heads. (It appears to be too large for them anyway.) It looks almost as though the fedora is some kind of religious icon.

Or is there a more obvious interpretation -- are the men supposed to be judging a hat exhibition where the Hückel firm was awarded a prize?

 

[Chepstow]

Great find, Steve!

 

[mayserwegener]

Richard & Manfred, Thanks!

Denton, Interesting observations. It does seem mystical. I will try to find out more about it.

 

[mayserwegener]

Here is the blow-up at the Novy Jicin City museum. I assume the other image was also used.

 

[mayserwegener]

A had an artist friend of mine take a look at it. He thinks the men represent three generations of the Hückel family.

 

[mayserwegener]

P. & C. Habig Wien, measures 59cm, probably 1930s. This is my first complete pre 1940s P. & C. Habig Wien soft felt so rare. I haven't seen the logo or black sweatband before. It has hair grease discoloring on the liner but other than that it's in very good condition.

 

[mikespens]

Another treasure for your collection Steve, congrats!

 

[splintercellsz]

Steve, what a grand find!! Swell!

 

[splintercellsz]

1930s Dunn & Co. Austrian Velour (has been posted before by OCMH, but it doesn't hurt to post it again. Thank you, Alex)!

 

[rlk]

Nice velour,
dating:

from Wikipedia

"... In late November 1938, the truncated state, renamed Czecho-Slovakia (the so-called Second Republic), was reconstituted in three autonomous units: Czechia (i.e. Bohemia and Moravia), Slovakia, and Ruthenia.
On March 12, 1939 the Slovak State declared its independence as a satellite state under Jozef Tiso.[16] Hitler forced Hácha to surrender what remained of Bohemia and Moravia to German control on 15 March 1939, establishing the German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,[17] which was created on March 15. On the same day, the Carpatho-Ukraine (Subcarpathian Ruthenia) declared its independence and was immediately invaded and annexed by Hungary. Finally, on March 23 Hungary invaded and occupied from the Carpatho-Ukraine some further parts of Slovakia (eastern Slovakia)."

 

[splintercellsz]

Thank you, Robert!

That really narrows the dating down, doesn't it?

 

[rlk]

At least for the manufacture of the sweatband....but I doubt the supply lasted too long before they had to switch to Made in Germany.

 

[splintercellsz]

You got that right, haha. Is it possible the body is older? The liner doesn't seem to be original, due to a logo being non-existant?

Also, any quick dating tips when it comes to Dunn & Co lids? I'm not too familiar with them (I plan on going through this entire thread when I am back home).

 

[mayserwegener]

Mike, Thanks!

Justin, Thanks! Great pick-up with the G. A. Dunn & Co. Austrian Velour. The finished felt body or complete hat was probably made by either JHS, A. Peschel or B.B.. There is another example of a G. A. Dunn & Co. Austrian Velour on the FL that has the original liner.

Side note: It appears Czecho-Slovakia was still used in some cases after the hyphen was dropped 1920. This would be prior to the time period Robert mentioned above. I know that JHS only mentioned country of origin on hats made for export. Here is one made shortly after German occupation.

 

[mikespens]

Very nice Justin, that's a BLACK hat.

 

[splintercellsz]

Thank you, Mike!

I went for a label-hunt and found one. The liner was stitched over the label, so I had to pop a few stitches (NOT SWEATBAND stitches) to move the liner out of the way, and see it. This is the best photo I can take of it.

 

[mayserwegener]

It looks like a JHS paper label. Can you take a photo of the entire label?

 

[splintercellsz]

It turns out the liner was stitched in spots, and glued to the reed in others.

It looks like a JHS paper label. Can you take a photo of the entire label?

Here you are, sir!