Gus crown fedora?

[Aaron Hats]

A couple months ago a customer brought his vintage hat in to be cleaned up. It had a gus crown with a pencil-rolled and bound edge brim. The brim was about 2 1/2". It was a medium to dark olive green. Typically a gus crown is only found on a western hat but with the smaller brim this looked more like a dress hat than a western. Every time I think about it I can't believe I didn't take a pic of it. Has anybody seen a hat like this? Unfortunately all I know about the customer is that he was from Maine.

 

[RBH]

Aaron

Was it close to this hat?
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1166/hpim00966dm.jpg" border="0" width="401" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>
This was made for me close to 30 years ago by Texas Hatters.
Mine has shrunk and needs a good cleaning, but I havent worn it in years. So its been on the back burner to be redone.

 

[Aaron Hats]

Yes, very close. The big difference is this guys hat had a wide grosgrain band, probably 1 1/2". There was just something about this hat I can't get out of my head.

Thanks.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Super hat

RBH,

That is one SUPER hat !! You need to find a vintage brown western suit (with the contrasting piping on the yokes) and a pair of retro boots to complete the ensemble. Head on down to the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo and turn a few heads - or maybe that's what I'd do if you'd ever decide to part with it. (hint, hint)

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Looks just like the hat Gus Mcrae (Robert Duvall) wore in Lonesome Dove...

That's gotta be a 'Gus' hat...KC

 

[RBH]

Lone Star Dude

My hat was made long before the "Gus" hat came into being. It was made by Manny Gammage in Austin Texas, the style was one that Manny made for Willie Nelson during the 1970's called the 'Lone Star Dude' or LSD for short. If I'm remembering right I got the hat 30 years ago next March.
But according to the T H website Manny made the original 'Gus' hat for Duvall that he wore in the movie.
Here is a Homberg from the Texas Hatter site that could be rebashed to the same shape crown as the LSD.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5682/homberg3it.jpg" border="0" width="300" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

P.S. thanks GFarmer

 

[majormoore]

Here is the Gus hat and shirt and wild rag from the movie

Here is the real thing, from the movie, his shirt, the hat and the wild rag, that was worn during the making of Lonesome Dove.

Mike Moore

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Damn, he missed it!

I guess ol' RBH isn't going to rise to the bait of my "Hint, hint". I figure I wouldn't part with it either, but it's nice to know where I can order one up.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Missing

Hey Mike -

The link was missing.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Brim and crown info

RBH,
What are the dimensions on the hat? Color too.

Thanks

 

[Aaron Hats]

RBH, That's the closest I've seen yet. Picture that hat with a gus crown and a little less curve to the brim.

 

[RBH]

I guess ol' RBH isn't going to rise to the bait of my "Hint, hint". I figure I wouldn't part with it either, but it's nice to know where I can order one up.

GentlemanFarmer
I knew what road you were going down Ha.
My grandparents bought me that hat for my birthday. I was and still am a big Willie fan. As of yet I just cant part with it... but I will keep you in mind..

 

[RBH]

RBH, That's the closest I've seen yet. Picture that hat with a gus crown and a little less curve to the brim.

Age could reshape it some..
But I think if it were a Texas Hatters hat it would have the headliner or sweat that told as much.
I still wear a weatern style hat some. The fedora is my fave though.
There are some great looking western style hats out there.

RBH,
What are the dimensions on the hat? Color too.

Thanks

The crown is about 3 3/4 inches in the front and 4 3/4 inches in the back. The brim is 3 1/2 inches with a finger or pencil type roll I think the color that is close now is the whiskey.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I have a Stetson Gus in Silverbelly -- it was named after the Duvall character in Lonesome Dove, I have also heard this style referred to as Old West Style, and several other names I can't recall.

Sort of reminds me of the black Hopalong Cassiday hat popular when I was a kid, but I think the dimensions were somewhat different.

A fedora with that crown shape would look more like a short-brimmed cowboy hat to me.

Those high hat crowns were really popular in the early years -- teens through the thirties. There were also Tom Mix hats: really high crowns and longer brims. You'd have to be a big imposing guy -- or gal -- to pull that one off.

http://www.scifi2k.com/misc_html/articles/photos/TomMix.jpg


karol

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Dimensions

RBH,

Thanks for the info. Behave yourself.

 

[Uncle Vern]

I have a Stetson Mix or Gus style hat with a 7-inch crown and a 4.5-inch crown. I can actually wear it in public now, but it took some getting used to. I also have a 70's resistol Stagecoach with a tall crown and 3.5-inch brim that makes a great Gus. There are a lot of tall-crowned vintage Resistols floating around ebay, and many of them would make great Gus-Mix hats. Click on the image below.

 

[majormoore]

The real Gus hat, worn in the movie

Here is a link to the photo of the real hat worn in the movie, the owner of these items is a friend of mine and Art's.

Have other photos of the Tom Horn hat.

Mike Moore

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Looks like the original "Gus" has a hat band similar to mine -- a horsehair band, except my hat has a "stampede strap."

Not that I have been in many (or any) stampedes, but I did worry about the desert winds.

karol

 

[majormoore]

The Gus hat has no horsehair hat band, it is twisted leather strings

Major Moore

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Well, at least its braided, or twisted, like mine is. Got it several years ago at Wild Bill's Western Emporium in El Cajon.

I love the look of that hat.

karol