Hatbands: Hawaiiana feather and all-pheasant

[JittanyFedora]

I inherited from my grandfather a size 7 cloth Stevens fedora that sports an all -pheasant hatband.

I also have a plush, old, black Knox fedora on which a past owner installed an irridescent black/purple hatband that had thousands of tiny feathers. When i showed the hat to my former hatter, the late-Larry Koch of Larry's Hats in Albuquerque, his jaw hit the floor.

Larry told me that the band is a vintage Hawaiiana feather hatband that is likely worth more than all of the 40 vintage fedoras in my collection, combined.

Each hat wears about 1/4" too small for my fat head.

I'd like to switch the bands to felt or straw 7 3/8 fedoras.

Has anybody tried such a switch? Cost? Success?

On the subject of vintage Hawaiian or Hawaiiana feather hatbands, I've only found a few on ebay and don't know much about the market for them. There are a few hats featuring such a Hatband listed on ebay in the $500 to $1,000. But that's about it.

I learned during a Hawaiian vacation that the 20th Century craze for feather hats and feather hatbands caused the extinction of many avian species worldwide and especially in the Hawaiian and other Pacific- and Indian-Ocean habitats.

I hope that by recycling hatbands the loss of birds will not have been in vain and that we can prevent similar future destruction. And while sporting vintage feathers maybe we can teach people about the past harm caused by our penache and hobby.

I prefer vintage fedoras for similar reasons. There's no need to kill more beavers and rabbits as there are so many vintage hats in search of good homes.

 

[shopkin]

It's illegal to take the feather of any wild bird covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.of 1918 unless it was havested through regulated hunting. That includes all wild birds except for Starlings, House Spoarrows, common pigeons and game birds, whether or not they actually migrate.. You cannot take feathers from a wild bird and release it unharmed or even pick up their molted feathers on the ground. Violators are subject to imprisionment and thousands in fines.

For endangered species it's even worse. You need a permit to possess material even iif you can prove it was collected prior to 1918.

Ancient Hawaiians made feathered capes, hats, kahilis and other ornammts, It took thousands of tweety birds to make a full-length yellow feathered cape. Hawaiians were pretty good resource managers but many of their bird species could not cope with the introduction of avian malaria and rats.

Prior to the 1918 Act, the Florida Everglades was at the center of plume hunting.

Intricate feathered hat bands are still being made in Hawaii. But, these days, they usually use dyed goose feather and maybe some pheasant, peafowl or chicken. The feathers are sort of a by-product of the harvest. The high prices reflect the time and talent to make them rather then the value of the feathers. Each feather is hand-stitched in place; not glued.

Bottom line.... recycling a feathered hat band is a great thing to do, but it's unlikely to save a bird's life. I'm not sure that recycling a felt fedora will save an animal's life either. These days, they are sustainably managed or farmed. Having too many beaver or rabbit or nutria is not a good thing. Robert describes it well in his recent HATalk article.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I inherited from my grandfather a size 7 cloth Stevens fedora that sports an all -pheasant hatband.

I also have a plush, old, black Knox fedora on which a past owner installed an irridescent black/purple hatband that had thousands of tiny feathers. When i showed the hat to my former hatter, the late-Larry Koch of Larry's Hats in Albuquerque, his jaw hit the floor.

Larry told me that the band is a vintage Hawaiiana feather hatband that is likely worth more than all of the 40 vintage fedoras in my collection, combined.

Each hat wears about 1/4" too small for my fat head.

I'd like to switch the bands to felt or straw 7 3/8 fedoras.

Has anybody tried such a switch? Cost? Success?

On the subject of vintage Hawaiian or Hawaiiana feather hatbands, I've only found a few on ebay and don't know much about the market for them. There are a few hats featuring such a Hatband listed on ebay in the $500 to $1,000. But that's about it.

I learned during a Hawaiian vacation that the 20th Century craze for feather hats and feather hatbands caused the extinction of many avian species worldwide and especially in the Hawaiian and other Pacific- and Indian-Ocean habitats.

I hope that by recycling hatbands the loss of birds will not have been in vain and that we can prevent similar future destruction. And while sporting vintage feathers maybe we can teach people about the past harm caused by our penache and hobby.

I prefer vintage fedoras for similar reasons. There's no need to kill more beavers and rabbits as there are so many vintage hats in search of good homes.

Feather hatbands don’t tend to be very popular here. I’ve “plucked” many a vintage hat and usually toss the feather band in the trash. That’s not to say that there isn’t a subset of collectors that want them, but they don’t post much here if they’re around. I’m also not saying the feather bands I’ve tossed were the same or comparable to the bands you’re talking about.

It’s not a popular look, and judging from vintage photos etc., they were never very common. Aside from 1970(ish) westerns, the fedoras I’ve seen with them have all been 1960s or later…and I’ve seen few soft felt hats of any era or style with feather bands.

Could you add photos to show what you’re describing.

 

[belfastboy]

I inherited from my grandfather a size 7 cloth Stevens fedora that sports an all -pheasant hatband.

I also have a plush, old, black Knox fedora on which a past owner installed an irridescent black/purple hatband that had thousands of tiny feathers. When i showed the hat to my former hatter, the late-Larry Koch of Larry's Hats in Albuquerque, his jaw hit the floor.

Larry told me that the band is a vintage Hawaiiana feather hatband that is likely worth more than all of the 40 vintage fedoras in my collection, combined.

Each hat wears about 1/4" too small for my fat head.

I'd like to switch the bands to felt or straw 7 3/8 fedoras.

Has anybody tried such a switch? Cost? Success?

On the subject of vintage Hawaiian or Hawaiiana feather hatbands, I've only found a few on ebay and don't know much about the market for them. There are a few hats featuring such a Hatband listed on ebay in the $500 to $1,000. But that's about it.

I learned during a Hawaiian vacation that the 20th Century craze for feather hats and feather hatbands caused the extinction of many avian species worldwide and especially in the Hawaiian and other Pacific- and Indian-Ocean habitats.

I hope that by recycling hatbands the loss of birds will not have been in vain and that we can prevent similar future destruction. And while sporting vintage feathers maybe we can teach people about the past harm caused by our penache and hobby.

I prefer vintage fedoras for similar reasons. There's no need to kill more beavers and rabbits as there are so many vintage hats in search of good homes.

Rabbit felt is a byproduct of rabbit as a meat source. So the use of the fur is actually ecologically sound. Beaver's are humanely trapped according to a world standard. In 1999 the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards was agreed upon by the largest fur supplying countries in the world.

AIHTS sets the standards for the type of traps used and the signatory countries must comply with those standards. The trapping of beavers is also a needed ecological step as unchecked they can cause great damage to the ecosystem.

No one is more sustainably concerned than the trapper....many of them indigenous and rely on trapping as a source of needed income.

Also, for those of us with larger head sizes the vintage market is not a great source of hats large enough to fit.

I purchase my exotic feathers from humane/sustainable avian breeders that harvest the feathers from live birds. No birds are killed to provide the feathers.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I inherited from my grandfather a size 7 cloth Stevens fedora that sports an all -pheasant hatband.

I also have a plush, old, black Knox fedora on which a past owner installed an irridescent black/purple hatband that had thousands of tiny feathers. When i showed the hat to my former hatter, the late-Larry Koch of Larry's Hats in Albuquerque, his jaw hit the floor.

Larry told me that the band is a vintage Hawaiiana feather hatband that is likely worth more than all of the 40 vintage fedoras in my collection, combined.

Each hat wears about 1/4" too small for my fat head.

I'd like to switch the bands to felt or straw 7 3/8 fedoras.

Has anybody tried such a switch? Cost? Success?

On the subject of vintage Hawaiian or Hawaiiana feather hatbands, I've only found a few on ebay and don't know much about the market for them. There are a few hats featuring such a Hatband listed on ebay in the $500 to $1,000. But that's about it.

I learned during a Hawaiian vacation that the 20th Century craze for feather hats and feather hatbands caused the extinction of many avian species worldwide and especially in the Hawaiian and other Pacific- and Indian-Ocean habitats.

I hope that by recycling hatbands the loss of birds will not have been in vain and that we can prevent similar future destruction. And while sporting vintage feathers maybe we can teach people about the past harm caused by our penache and hobby.

I prefer vintage fedoras for similar reasons. There's no need to kill more beavers and rabbits as there are so many vintage hats in search of good homes.

Let’s see this jaw-drop feathered hatband.
Pics please!
B

 

[JittanyFedora]

I'll set up for a photo to show the iridescent aspect. It's quite something.