Hat History and Economics

[Brad Bowers]

Here's an interesting question I've been pondering: How long were hats offered where the name = the price, such as "Knox Twenty," "Stetson Twenty-Five," and so on? Were they offered during the 1930s?

Consider some historical data. The Depression years were a period of deflation, where prices declined. Yet, if these hats retained their stated value, that is good for the hat companies and bad for the consumer.

Conversely, the Post-WWII years were marked with high inflation. The Rate of Inflation from 1930 to 1945 is around 6.5%, by some estimates, but if you look at 1945 - 1950, the rate jumps to over 37%. Hat manufacturers would have a hard time justifying keeping these hats at the same price when their costs were going up. Did they start phasing these name=price hats out during this period? Or did they begin cutting back on quality to maintain the price?

Could crowns have gotten lower and brims narrower in an effort to keep prices down? (Just a wild hare of an idea, doesn't necessarily correlate, as automobiles grew larger during this period, but prices grew as well).

Any thoughts on these questions, folks?

Brad

 

[MattC]

Dobbs and Knox 20s

I have a light green Dobbs 20 homburg that has the sales slip pasted on the bottom of the box: 6/50. I have a blue Knox 20 and a grey Knox, that both have 30ish dimensions--5" crown (on the side) 2.3" brim, wide ribbon, somewhat squarish look--but I think hats like these were made well into the 50s.

 

[MJL]

Here's an interesting question I've been pondering: How long were hats offered where the name = the price, such as "Knox Twenty," "Stetson Twenty-Five," and so on? Were they offered during the 1930s?

Consider some historical data. The Depression years were a period of deflation, where prices declined. Yet, if these hats retained their stated value, that is good for the hat companies and bad for the consumer.

Conversely, the Post-WWII years were marked with high inflation. The Rate of Inflation from 1930 to 1945 is around 6.5%, by some estimates, but if you look at 1945 - 1950, the rate jumps to over 37%. Hat manufacturers would have a hard time justifying keeping these hats at the same price when their costs were going up. Did they start phasing these name=price hats out during this period? Or did they begin cutting back on quality to maintain the price?

Could crowns have gotten lower and brims narrower in an effort to keep prices down? (Just a wild hare of an idea, doesn't necessarily correlate, as automobiles grew larger during this period, but prices grew as well).

Any thoughts on these questions, folks?

Brad

Brad,
That is a really interesting analysis and not one I had considerd. I had always thought that as heating and AC units became more widespread; combined with the increased private ownership of automobiles in the 50s and 60s the functional need for high crowns and large brims became lessened. People just walked less, spent less time at bus/train stops and buildings became more comfortable. In essence the hat became more of a fashion item as its functional value began to wane. I see the same thing happening to ties today and frankly am surprised they are still around. Regardless, as the hats functional value lessened the need to introduce more audatious fashion to them became the way brands were able to differentiate themselves from the competition for an ever decreasing market share. This explains the terrible, flamboyant "Caddy Shack" type hats you see being sold in the late 60s-70s.

 

[Aaron Hats]

Could crowns have gotten lower and brims narrower in an effort to keep prices down?

My guess is that it was just a style change. Just like everything else we buy styles and colors change year after year.

 

[Panamabob]

What a great idea.

Montecristi99

Cuenca49

Montecristi800,not3500

:cheers1:

 

[Brad Bowers]

Good responses so far! I suppose I should have split this into two threads, though.

1)"Name=Price"

I have a light green Dobbs 20 homburg that has the sales slip pasted on the bottom of the box: 6/50.

So they were made at least into 1950, and perhaps later. I would think that by 1955 or so, something would have to change to make the hats more cost-effective, such as changing material quality or quantity, or dropping the "Name=Price" structuring, and raising the prices. It wouldn't keep on working indefinitely.

I'm interested in getting to the bottom of the economics of this.

Anyone have more dates on these hats?

2)Decline of crowns and brims.

In essence the hat became more of a fashion item as its functional value began to wane.

My guess is that it was just a style change. Just like everything else we buy styles and colors change year after year.

This was actually a stray thought thrown into my original line of questioning. I think I've even started a thread about it before. Everything that's been mentioned was probably a factor: Style change, decline in functionality, fewer men wearing hats, etc. But examining the issue to find corollaries could be a neverending project. Did men buy fewer hats because they didn't like the style change? Did the style change because men were buying fewer hats, and the manufacturers were hoping to entice them into more purchases?

Montecristi99

Cuenca49

Montecristi800,not3500

Go for it, Robert! :cheers1:

Brad

 

[MattC]

Grades that adjusted

The companies could have kept the names and simply lowered the quality. So a Dobbs 20 made in 1960 would be less of hat than one made in 1950. It appears that is not what happened with the number lines; they seem to me to have mostly died out in the 50s. But that undoubtedly is what happened with the "x" lines. I've got a Stetson "3x" beaver from the late 30s that is gorgeous, much nicer than a 3X from the 50s, which is, nicer than the 3xs of the 70s.