Knox Forty - from 1920

[TomS]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[tonyb]

People understood quality more back then. To get someone to spend 200 for a hat today is quite a task. Back then, a person spent 10 on a hat quite often.

What sells best?

A retailer has to carry what sells, of course. I assume that every bricks-and-mortar hat store carries products that some of us around here might look down our noses at -- wool felt fedoras and homburgs, for instance, and Shantung straws. Better to sell a customer a 40 dollar hat than no hat at all.

I'm on friendly terms with the sole proprietor of a local higher-end menswear shop. He has a good eye, and a good sense of what his customers will buy. And yes, he carries hats. He tells me that there is still a very real resistance to anything over a hundred bucks. A man who will spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes might not spend a hundred on a hat. So the wool felts move much better than the fur felts.

Maybe that will change when (and if) hat-wearing becomes more normalized, when (and if) more men regard hats in a manner more similar to how they regard shoes -- as necessary items of attire.

 

[TheDane]

People understood quality more back then. To get someone to spend 200 for a hat today is quite a task. Back then, a person spent 10 on a hat quite often.

- and hats are just one example. Look at most of the "food" we consume today. Nutritious? Quality? My foot! It's cheap and fast to prepare. That seems to satisfy us and keep us happy. Focus has shifted in many aspects, I guess [huh]

 

[Historyteach24]

Tony, you hit the nail on the head with your post. I shop in quality gentlemen's stores all the time, and these guys have no problem laying down damn good money for leather shoes or hell some guys pay 100 bucks for a tie! Hats are seen as an un-needed accessory unfortunately. People always make smart-ass comments when they ask how much a particular hat costs. I simply point out to them that I wear a hat everyday and you must pay for quality.

 

[alanfgag]

So, imagine this... in 1920 the average income seems to have been around $1,200 annually. So, someone paying $40 for a hat? Wowsers!

In 1950 the average income was around $5,000. Imagine spending $100 on a Stetson 100 at that time.

The costs boggle the mind when thought of in those terms.

It was not the customer earning the average income of their day who purchased the top of the line hat in the 1920s or the 1950s... or the $1000 hat at Optimo today.

 

[mayserwegener]

It was not the customer earning the average income of their day who purchased the top of the line hat in the 1920s or the 1950s... or the $1000 hat at Optimo today.

+1

Side Note: There were soft felt hats from other makers (circa 1920) that cost in the 20-40 price range.

 

[Joshbru3]

+1

Side Note: There were soft felt hats from other makers (circa 1920) that cost in the 20-40 price range.

There sure were......

Circa 1919 - 1920 Peschel (Now owned by Garrett)

This hat cost $25.00 + $2.00 war tax......

 

[buler]

It's been almost 3 years since this thread was bumped. Was just reading old American Hatters on a plane ride yesterday and thought of this.


Here is a description of the Knox 20 from the end of the same article (I missed it when I started the thread).

B

 

[Redfokker]

+1