"It isn't a @*$%> cowboy hat"

[Rick Blaine]

I was responding to the OP. Sorry I did it before I noticed the thread was 6 pages long. Saying an Open Road is not a cowboy hat is just silly. of course it is. Doesn't matter how you crease it, it's a cowboy hat. Plenty of cowboy hats have had teardrop creases. I think they look great creased that way, but it doesn't make them NOT a cowboy hat.

I think the snap brim would be the tell-tale difference (and to a lesser extent- a pinch front crown) ...otherwise a Stratoliner would be a cowboy hat, eh?

 

[mattface]

I think the snap brim would be the tell-tale difference (and to a lesser extent- a pinch front crown) ...otherwise a Stratoliner would be a cowboy hat, eh?

Isn't the primary difference between a stratoliner and an OR the brim width?

Thin ribbon + wide brim = clearly western style in my book. If you want it to not look western, cut a half inch from the brim, and add it to the ribbon, then you've got a hat that is clearly distinguishable from a cowboy hat. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with wearing a cowboy hat. Growing up all my heros were cowboys, but if we want to wear vintage styles, we might as well be cognisant of the roots of those styles, and I seriously doubt you'll find many vintage Open Roads or even Stratoliners for that matter with the names of Men's shops from places like Detroit, Chicago, Boston, New York stamped in the sweatband. They are all from Texas, Colorado, Wyoming. Heck even google where the new Open roads are being sold. MOST of the vendors of Open Roads are western wear shops. Why did LBJ wear one? because he was from Texas.

Hey, if you want to be in denial about the fact that an OR is a cowboy hat, more power to ya, but try not to get your knickers in a twist when other folks don't share your delusion. I would love a camp draft for myself in Bluegrass Green. I would wear it proudly, and never flinch if someone called me cowboy. Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit I often dressed up as a cowboy, no reason I can't do it now if I want to.

 

[HatsEnough]

I have never once gotten a cowboy hat reference to my fedoras. Then again, I don't wear my Open Roads with the cattleman's crease. I rebash any cattleman's crease to a front pinch. I am not a fan of how the cattleman's crease looks on me at all.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Isn't the primary difference between a stratoliner and an OR the brim width?

I think not, as I have seen ORs w/ brims as stingy as 2 3/8".

 

[mattface]

I think not, as I have seen ORs w/ brims as stingy as 2 3/8".

OK, then ya got me. What IS the difference between a Stratoliner and an Open Road? Is this another one of those things where it's basically the same hat with a different name stamped in the sweatband? Another "it's not a whippet unless it says whippet in the liner" sort of distinction? Correct me if I'm wrong, I really am just learning this stuff, but weren't both originally sold with open crowns? Were they more or less the same specs, or were there some differences in design between a Stratoliner and an Open Road made in the same year? I've really never seen a Stratoliner in person, so I can only speculate about what the differences might be. The 3x OR I have at least is a pretty thick stiff felt (like a cowboy hat). I have a 50s era 3x fedora with very thin supple felt. So was the stratoliner perhaps made from a more supple fedora-like felt than the OR?

 

[Jedwbpm]

Matt When the OR first came out Fedora's had wide brims and the OR could go back and forth from Western to Fedora. Very good for Stetson since they could make one hat fit more then one buyer. As we moved through the 50's and 60's the brims on fedora's became smaller and the crowns shorter and tapered. Cowboy/Western hats kept their wide brims and high crowns. This is why I think that when we wear old school fedora's that people see the wide brim and high crown and just assume cowboy hat. As to your question about the Stratoliner from what I have gleaned from here is that the main difference is that the Stratoliner had a more pronounced flange then the OR.

Jeff

 

[EggHead]

Today I wore the Akubra CD (2.5" brim,silverbelly) to work. As I was riding my bus, a crazy hopped in and started acting a little crazy and ruffled feathers of some passengers. Strangely, he stayed away from me.

 

[scottyrocks]

I wear IJ style hats almost exclusively, and I get the cowboy comments from kids, and the occasional IJ comment from older kids or adults. If the remark from a kid it is dealt with by saying, "It's a fedora. Say 'feh-dor-ah!'" Adults I just smile at (if it's good natured) or ignore.

 

[mattface]

Matt When the OR first came out Fedora's had wide brims and the OR could go back and forth from Western to Fedora. Very good for Stetson since they could make one hat fit more then one buyer. As we moved through the 50's and 60's the brims on fedora's became smaller and the crowns shorter and tapered. Cowboy/Western hats kept their wide brims and high crowns. This is why I think that when we wear old school fedora's that people see the wide brim and high crown and just assume cowboy hat. As to your question about the Stratoliner from what I have gleaned from here is that the main difference is that the Stratoliner had a more pronounced flange then the OR.

Jeff

Makes sense. THe Dobbs Premier I just got in the mail is probably 50s vintage judging by the plastic in the liner, but it's got a 2 3/4" bound brim with less flange than some, and a very tall straight crown. It had a center pinch when it came to me, so it seems like an older style that might have drawn it's roots more directly from cowboy hats, but no matter how you bash it, there's no mistaking it for a cowboy hat.

I realize it's apparently not as cut and dried as it seems to me, but I think I've got a pretty good grasp of what constitutes a fedora, and when I look at an open road, no matter how it's creased I see something that is more of a western style. Likely the thin ribbon makes the difference in my mind. toss a 1"+ ribbon on an OR and that might make all the difference to me.

 

[mattface]

I wear IJ style hats almost exclusively, and I get the cowboy comments from kids, and the occasional IJ comment from older kids or adults. If the remark from a kid it is dealt with by saying, "It's a fedora. Say 'feh-dor-ah!'" Adults I just smile at (if it's good natured) or ignore.

I get the cowboy comments from kids under 12 fairly regularly, it doesn't bother me at all, they're not being malicious, just ignorant. I suppose if you get it from an adult it's probably the same. Even in my case, I think the OR is a cowboy hat. When I say that I'm not saying it to be mean or obnoxious. I LIKE cowboy hats, if I'm wrong about that it's only because I don't know any better. No reason to use asterisks and pound signs.

 

[hatophile]

Today I wore the Akubra CD (2.5" brim,silverbelly) to work. As I was riding my bus, a crazy hopped in and started acting a little crazy and ruffled feathers of some passengers. Strangely, he stayed away from me.

Maybe you looked crazier?:crazy:

 

[monbla256]

I find it interesting how testy some folks get about describing the OR as a "western" hat around here. Growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas in the 50s/60s it was not unusual to see Bankers, Attorneys, and other businessmen wearing western styled suits with boots and on their heads were the usual OR styled hat, whether a Shady Oaks from Peter Bros. or a Resistal San Antonio or a Stetson Open Road and all were in the typical "Silverbelly" color and most were worn with the Cattlemans crease and the brim up and slightly rolled at the sides ala "western" style. My father wore one as his daily "work" hat though he snapped the brim down in front and his Cattleman crease evolved into a long front pinch/center dent with wear. It was and still will be a "western" styled hat to me

 

[fmw]

The OR is a western hat. It isn't a cowboy hat although real cowboys might indeed wear one. It is a western dress hat. My wife calls mine the "Sheriff Joe" hat saying that I look like a rural law enforcement officer. Definitely a western hat even if Sheriff Joe might wear one in any state.

 

[EggHead]

Maybe you looked crazier?:crazy:

That thought did cross my mind. Maybe he thought I was from Texas and he didn't want to mess with Texas.

 

[hatophile]

Maybe he thought you had a 6-shooter under that hat!

 

[EggHead]

Maybe he thought you had a 6-shooter under that hat!

He had 2 box-cutters in his back pocket, but they wouldn't have been a match for the 6-shooter, that's true.

 

[hatophile]

Like they say, don't bring a knife to a gunfight.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Also not a cowboy hat

 

[animator]

My 5 year old grabs whatever fedora I'm wearing when I get home, plops it on his head and runs around the house yelling "Ride 'em cowboy". He's having a great time so I'm not going to correct him!

Indiana Jones and cowboy hats are the only reference most people probably have for headwear other than baseball caps... I know what my hats are and I don't care much if others don't. Well, I might be offended if people thought they were wool.

 

[matei]

Wow - I can't believe that this thread is still going strong!

I still get the odd cowboy comment, which always leaves me puzzled. FFS, it isn't a cowboy hat!