Homemade Campaign Hat Conversion/Reproduction

[deanglen]

Well, here are a few initial shots, I have others I haven't uploaded yet, anyway, this was the first conversion I did. It began as a Dobbs Ranger Twenty. The crown is a six inch open crown bashed Span-Am War style fore and aft to a 4 inch crown, brim is 2 3/4". Added the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon and bow.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Excellent job, the hat looks spot on. Now all you need is the horse.

 

[Flitcraft]

That is a good job! I had to re-read your post to make sure you said "conversion". Looks very true to period.

 

[deanglen]

Attempt at conversion #2

Thank you for the compliments! Here's my second attempt, a Resistol generic cowboy hat. Took more work:

1) Had to shave off the fuzzy finish to the felt.

2) Had to dye the felt the appropriate shade of tan, and used instant coffee to do it, using light silicone spray to set the dye job.

3) This felt is twice as thick as the other hat, and needed a lot of steam to get it period correct.

3) Hand stitched three rows along the brim edge, which was trimmed to 3"

4) Crown was 7" high, now about 5" due to period bash.

5) Added 5/8" grosgrain and bow. This bow is smaller than on the other hat, because I noticed some variations on the original hats existed as far as bow size.

6) BUT, neither hat has a leather sweatband, just some pseudo leather cloth I found at Wal-mart. If I can run across some actual leather I'd put it in.

This hat is also a bit larger size than the other, a loose 7 3/8 and the other a tight 7 3/8. Have some outdoor shots I can post when they arrive to show how sunlight shifts the color:

I was aiming to reproduce what I saw in this photo:

 

[docholliday55]

Great job. I like the second one better.
doc

 

[Uncle Vern]

deanglen, both of your newly rebuilt hats look great. You did a fine job, and your image postings continue to both entertain and educate me. But in regards to the second version, I'd like to respectfully point out that, to a western hat man like me, there's no such thing as a "Resistol generic cowboy hat!"

 

[deanglen]

deanglen, both of your newly rebuilt hats look great. You did a fine job, and your image postings continue to both entertain and educate me. But in regards to the second version, I'd like to respectfully point out that, to a western hat man like me, there's no such thing as a "Resistol generic cowboy hat!"

Uncle Vern, I meant no disrespect to the the Resistol Brand:eusa_doh:! I should have said I didn't use a specific model of Resistol hat because I don't recall it having a specfic model name, and it goes to show I don't know my western brands well, and honestly I don't have a great deal of hat brand knowledge, on the whole. It's this group that teaches me, and I hope to be quick study. Thanks for liking the campaign hat stuff. Soon I'll get into fedoras, I guess, it's just that I like the heroic associations with the men who won the west and brought our country into its leadership role in the world. Where's our TR? Send the Rough Riders to Iran! Remember 9/11!

Dean

 

[deanglen]

Great job. I like the second one better.
doc

Doc, me too! I have since modified the first one to look more like a fedora, brim down in front, darker ribbon, (but same bow). The second attempt clinched "the look" I was after. Now I'm at a loss for an inspiration for some creative effort . Looks like it's going to be chasing the elusive, due to expense, vintage fedora that everybodyhas. I just like the history and the hat, it's not just fashion that appeals to me.

Dean

 

[Feraud]

That looks awesome! Are you going to reproduce a T.R. style Spanish American War outfit? You really should, you are off to a great start!
Next is the Winchester '95.

 

[deanglen]

That looks awesome! Are you going to reproduce a T.R. style Spanish American War outfit? You really should, you are off to a great start!
Next is the Winchester '95.

Hadn't thought of doing that, Feraud, but it's an interesting idea. Thank you for your kind remarks!

Dean

 

[Joel Tunnah]

Dean,

Good work. I don't know how the second one could be improved.

I agree - the 5/8" ribbon is the way to go. I had to order more for mine, as the color wasn't quite right - but the size is!

Off topic - but the schiff 705 pattern rayon/cotton ribbon available on the net is nowhere near as bad as Marc and Steve made it sound. The average person simply isn't going to notice a difference between it and the "millinery" pattern.

Joel

 

[deanglen]

Dean,

Good work. I don't know how the second one could be improved.

I agree - the 5/8" ribbon is the way to go. I had to order more for mine, as the color wasn't quite right - but the size is!

Off topic - but the schiff 705 pattern rayon/cotton ribbon available on the net is nowhere near as bad as Marc and Steve made it sound. The average person simply isn't going to notice a difference between it and the "millinery" pattern.

Joel

Joel! Great to hear from you again! Believe it or not, I forgot to mention that I used wood stain, a light oak shade, to tint the grosgain from a creamy "oatmeal" to the shade I saw in color photographs of existing hats from the period. It worked great! Tinted evenly, and produced just the right shade. It goes on dark at first, but as it dries it lightens up and retains the sheen of the grosgrain.
Also, notice how tight the pinch to the fore and aft bash is. It looks strange at first, but photographs of the period bear it out as true to the times. It makes the hat very different from most western hats, which is why I did it.
If I can get another hat, I'd be tempted to try a "montana" peak, but like the peaks in the photos, not a Marine DI hat from the later period, no disrespect intended, just an interest in how it was done in 1898. Will you posting pictures of your hat when you're happy with it? I hope so. Again, great to hear from you, thanks for your responses!

Dean

 

[Uncle Vern]

No harm done, deanglen--I was just having a little fun at your expense. I spun my pistols a few times and shoved them back into their holsters.
Somewhere back a few decades ago, Resistol went nuts and made numerous western hat models. There seems to be no end to them. In regards to your campaign hat quest, I suggest that you watch eBay for a Resistol Fort Worth. It has a medium crown and a 3-inch brim as thin as a taco shell, a dress-weight western. The crown is flexible and easy to reblock. I suspect that it's the modern version of those old Teddy hats, just blocked differently. The Fort Worth model was was eventually moved over to the Stetson line, and is now called the Stetson Fort Worth, and there's the Stetson Range, same hat, little different block. Miller Hats has them on their site. Nice hat, but not the same as the old Forth Worth model--the brim's a bit thicker. If you find one with the nice brown sweat band, you're in the money. Quite a few vintage Resistol and Stetson 3-inch brimmed western hats pop up on eBay, and they'd all be candidates for conversion. I have a photo of the hat somewhere in my jpeg files. I'll dig it out and post it later today.

 

[deanglen]

Thanks, Uncle Vern, I didn't think you were greatly offended, just wish I knew more about hats[huh] . This campaign hat thing has probably run its course, and looking to the hat hobby future, I think I'll always be drawn to fedoras that have a more "western" look to them. Wide brims, narrow ribbons, a bash fore and aft, catch my eye. Those men in the Western Army were a special breed. Wish I had been one of them.

Dean

 

[mikepara]

Dean..

...Had a real good look at your pictures. I would say the 2nd hat posted next to the original pic you where trying to emulate is superb. If you had done a photoshop type thing and placed yourself in the parade you would never spot the interloper.

Fantastic effort. Worth putting into production! Oh! and yes please sort yourself a period uniform...just for the hell of it.

One impressed Mikepara.

 

[deanglen]

...Had a real good look at your pictures. I would say the 2nd hat posted next to the original pic you where trying to emulate is superb. If you had done a photoshop type thing and placed yourself in the parade you would never spot the interloper.

Fantastic effort. Worth putting into production! Oh! and yes please sort yourself a period uniform...just for the hell of it.

One impressed Mikepara.

Mikepara, you're too kind .I'd enjoy making and marketing historical reproductions, but others, Dirty Billy, et. al. have that market pretty well cornered, they time, resources, established clientele, the whole bit. I just wanted to produce something unique and see what I could do. If I could someday get into, I know I'd love it!

Thanks Again for your response,
Dean

 

[clevispin]

Excellent - more than excellent - SUPERB! What about the vent holes - will you try that too?

Its not a cowboy hat and its not an Art Fawcett and its not a stingy and its not an Indy. The coolest taper ever - A trendsetter?

m

 

[deanglen]

Trendsetter!? Gosh!

Excellent - more than excellent - SUPERB! What about the vent holes - will you try that too?

Its not a cowboy hat and its not an Art Fawcett and its not a stingy and its not an Indy. The coolest taper ever - A trendsetter?

m

Thank you, Clevispin, you raise two interesting points! Trendsetting would be an awesome accomplishment, I mean who wouldn't want that status, but realistically, who can resonably expect such to be the case...but then again, only time would tell. Really it's a matter of ribbon width, bow style and the fore and aft bash, and voila! one has the look!

Regarding the vent holes, I tried to puch some in the first hat but it didn't work too well, the felt simply closed up around the holes. My guess is you need to actually punch-out a tiny bit of felt for the holes to retain their shape, and I simply don't have the type of tool necessary to do it, plus, I don't really have a pattern of the correct dimensions to keep each vent professional looking and "just right". After my first attempt I swore I would not do it until I was able to do it right. Maybe somebody could help here.

Regarding that first hat, as I indicated elsewhere, I have since darkened the ribbon with my un-patented wood stain process, which works great, BTW to get the color I can't seem to find in any craft store at 5/8" grosgrain, and have also modified the brim to be more front and back droop, like an Aussie hat, while retaining that classic tight crown bash, and I think it looks great as a fedora style. And actually, study of many photographs that I have found reveals that some of those guys wore their hats with a very fedora like brim shaping. Notice the sargent in this shot, he has a front downturn, but the rear is pretty level. Looks very 1930-1940:

The soldier behind him has the dipping brim as well, along with the more common pancake flat types you see a lot of. The fellow in the picture below
also has the rear brim in a more fedora-like fashion:

Even the guy behind him. My guess is, and from my experience wearing these hats, is that you get better sun glare protection front and back when the brim droops down, so after being in the field, it made more sense for your hat to have a downturn brim rather than upward like an ashtray, and of course rain rain off more effeciently with the downturn. Thank you for following this thread and your positive response to the old campaign hat. I am convinced that the styles these guys wore in the military influenced later hat styles as they entered post wartime service civilian life. maybe I could provide some research to support that theory I could get the time to do it.
I think it is no accident that the fedora style we love and have come to know developed post Spanish-American war in civilian wear, where before men's hats seemed more bowler-ish, which is a style I like, too. I'd love some coments and observations from Loungers on this theory. Thanks again, Clevispin.

Dean