Henry the Hatter

[mattface]

Pics of the top hat

 

[mattface]

Here are my initials stamped into the band of my Borsalino.


Initials! by mattface, on Flickr

I also got them put into my stetson 3x. He also offered to stamp it into other hats, but I didn't want to stamp new initials into vintage sweats, so only hats with new sweats got initials.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Matt, glad to see that HTH is as cool in person as they, and Joe, seem to be online.

I have my Fed back, and thereby hangs a tale with both good and bad elements. My plan is to borrow Miss Linda's digital camera, take a few shots of the revamped lid, and post 'em -- tomorrow, I hope.

 

[mattface]

Matt, glad to see that HTH is as cool in person as they, and Joe, seem to be online.

I have my Fed back, and thereby hangs a tale with both good and bad elements. My plan is to borrow Miss Linda's digital camera, take a few shots of the revamped lid, and post 'em -- tomorrow, I hope.

I'm sorry to hear about the bad elements of your tale, but Joe is a really good guy. If you've got a problem I'm sure he'll make it right.

I still need to post up pics of my hats, especially the Weekender Zephyr weight, but I've been so busy, just got back from Detroit Tuesday night and still haven't completely unpacked.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I have my Fed back, and thereby hangs a tale with both good and bad elements. . . .

The story is, as I said, good and bad. Good: Great ribbon work, and the hat arrived swiftly. The bad: Despite my written instructions to cut the brim to 2.5" (that's two and one half inches), the guy at HTH cut it to 2" on the sides and about 2.25 on the front and back!

When I first took it from the box, I was unhappy. After spraying it that evening and shaping the brim . . .

. . . I was happier. Plus, Joe called me the next day, and apologized about the mix-up. When I asked him to refund the brim trim charge, he readily agreed, so no problem there.

Much as I love the color and the ribbon work, I'm not sure whether the short brim and high crown makes the hat look odd. Though it's no odder than a lot of hats we've seen in movies from the Golden Age. And see here, which was kind of what I was aiming at:

Whaddaya think?

The point being that Joe at Henry the Hatter did what he could to make it right, so it's okay as far as that goes.

 

[Hoyt Clagwell]

I think the hat looks good in the pictures, and the ribbon is very nice.How does it look straight on? I have a Steel Grey Biltmore with a 2.25" brim,one of my favorites,but it has a slightly lower crown than a Fed, and some taper.It makes you wonder how these instructions get mixed up. I had the opposite problem with my Stetson Bear Creek from Noggintops. I ordered one with the brim cut from 2 3/8" down to 2 1/8", but that was overlooked,and it came 2 3/8". I was not happy for about 3 hours till I started wearing the hat and found out how much I like that width.My wife prefers the narrower brims though,(just not my stingy.She hates it.)
On the bright side Benz, you still have a very nice hat,with a story behind it.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Hoyt, there's a bit more story to this Fed than that.

Of course it came to me all the way from Australia, as we all know. But I wore it one day last year when I visited our local shop, Meyer the Hatter. I happened to mention to Mr. Sam, the boss of the family, that the hat still fit a little loosely. I'd taken it off and was browsing through their hats. Then I turn around and find Mr. Sam has gone and put sizing foam all the way around under the sweatband, and fixed it in place with tape!

The hat fits quite firmly; in fact, after it came back from HTH, I put it on the stretcher a little. Not really a problem, though.

This Fed has been through a lot. I imagine that if Matt had seen it when he was at HTH in Detroit, it might have whispered to him, "Rescue me!!!"

 

[Hoyt Clagwell]

Benz, maybe you should have had Henry send your hat along with the Lions this past weekend.They could have handed you your hat instead of having their hat handed to them by dem der Saints!

 

[Kevlar]

Anybody know anything about Henry the Hatter of Dtroit?

I have had this vintage gray porkpie since the mid-'80s, and it was old then, and the only information on its lining is this: Henry the Hatter, Detroit's Exclusive Hatter since 1893. Above the writing is the picture in gold of a man in a top hat and monocle. On the sweatband is a shorter version: Henry the Hatter, Detroit. Other than the size -- 58 and 7 1/4 -- that's it.

Did Henry the Hatter actually make its own hats or did it sell hats that were made for it by another manufacturer?

I bought the hat from a store at 9th and South Street in Philadelphia that sadly is now longer in existence.

 

[casechopper]

Henry the Hatter is one of the few hatters still around. They did and still do make their own hats I believe. You can see their website here: https://www.henrythehatterdetroit.com/

 

[Doomstein]

I have had this vintage gray porkpie since the mid-'80s, and it was old then, and the only information on its lining is this: Henry the Hatter, Detroit's Exclusive Hatter since 1893. Above the writing is the picture in gold of a man in a top hat and monocle. On the sweatband is a shorter version: Henry the Hatter, Detroit. Other than the size -- 58 and 7 1/4 -- that's it.

Did Henry the Hatter actually make its own hats or did it sell hats that were made for it by another manufacturer?

I bought the hat from a store at 9th and South Street in Philadelphia that sadly is now longer in existence.

More than likely they made their own hats. The common practice as I understand it is when a quality hat manufacturer produces a hat for a particular store the manufacurer keeps their branding on it and adds a "made for <insert store name here> on the sweat. Since Henry the Hatter had presumably been operating since the 1800s we can probably safely assume they had the gear to make their own hats.

 

[HudsonHawk]

According to their website:

"Henry the Hatter was actually a hat factory until 1985. When you came into Henry the Hatter at that time, if you didn’t see a hat on the shelf that caught your eye, a quick call was made upstairs where the hat finishing was done. You selected the felt finish, the brim size and finish, and what trimmings you wanted on your hat. Within a couple of hours your custom hat was ready."

 

[hatophile]

I have 2 Tilden hats from Henry the Hatter, my guess is from the 50s. My understanding is that HtH contracted with Tilden to make their hats in the old days, in addition to selling other brands. According to Wiki, they did manufacture their own until 1985, whether from scratch or just modifying the hat bodies, I don't know. I don't think they sell Tildens anymore based on this website.
https://www.henrythehatterdetroit.com/

 

[Doomstein]

I have 2 Tilden hats from Henry the Hatter, my guess is from the 50s. My understanding is that HtH contracted with Tilden to make their hats in the old days, in addition to selling other brands. According to Wiki, they did manufacture their own until 1985, whether from scratch or just modifying the hat bodies, I don't know. I don't think they sell Tildens anymore based on this website.
https://www.henrythehatterdetroit.com/

They do, they're sold under the 'Henry the Hatter' brand category on the right.

 

[hatophile]

They do, they're sold under the 'Henry the Hatter' brand category on the right.

Ahh, missed that.

 

[DaveProc]

1899-1900

 

[DaveProc]

1903-1908

 

[DaveProc]

1910

 

[DaveProc]

1912

 

[DaveProc]

1913