Grandparent hats

[Big Dave]

Hello everyone.

I have all of my grandparents hats on display in my office. I was very close to them and it's kind of a memorial.

Anyway, here's some photos.

Here's a photo of me with my grandfather in Louisiana.

The middle hat below is my only nice hat. All the rest were my grandparents.

This one looks like it is real nice. It's a Cavanagh.

A couple of the hats have a of a lock of hair tied in. Was that common? My guess is that it's my mom's hair...being the little girl of the children.

This hat of my grandmother's needs some help getting the wrinkles out. Do you guys have any suggestions of where I could send it?

Many of the hats are like new. They were stored in hat boxes and there is not any evidence of being worn. My grandparents were very humble and more comfortable in the more casual attire. The cowboy hat was well used.

Can anyone tell what time frame the hats were from? My mom thought it was the 1950's.

Lastly, what do you suggest to get the dust off?

Thanks a lot,
Dave

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Very nice Dave and what a nice honor to your Grandparents..!!
HD

 

[hatsRme]

This has to be one of the nicest, most sincere memorials I have ever seen, Dave. GREAT idea, perfectly executed... I have some ancestral hats, but none in the condition or as well organized or displayed.

HATS OFF to you, sir!!

 

[Hercule]

Are you sure that's a lock of hair tied in and not simply a super frayed end? As for getting the wrinkles out of that one hat, I say don't do it. It has a lot of character the way it is and I wouldn't be so sure the 'wrinkles"aren't stylistically appropriate for the hat. I'd gladly be wrong on that though.

 

[hatophile]

Great collectiona and tribute to your grandparents.

 

[ManofKent]

A nice collection and display. To get the dust off you can buy hat brushes, but and unused paintbrush or shoe brush with stiffish bristle will work.

 

[Seth Duzan]

I've used a regular old lint brush on mine, worked well you just have to remember which way the pile on the brush goes or you'll only make more work for yourself... yes I forgot to look and ended up with a large deposit of lint back on the hat... Lol

 

[Big Dave]

Thank you for your kind remarks. It's very special to me.

I really think it's hair although it does look like frayed string. I've look at it under 10X magnification and it looks like hair to me. You can even see the uneven cuts from the scissors. The only question is who the hair belonged to.

What's your guys impression of that Panama hat. Does it look like a nice one? To me it looks very high end...but I don't really know what to look for.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[mikespens]

The Panama is superb Dave. A very worthy tribute and a great idea and presentation.

 

[Big Dave]

Right on. I'm glad to hear that it's a nice example. I doubt he wore it more the one time in the store. It's pristine. I need to remember to keep the AC on in my office when I leave for the day. I wonder if that matters. The rest of the building has AC 24/7 so the humidity in my office should be fine.

Thanks for the input,
Dave

Yep, they don't get tougher than those from the Greatest Generation.