Modern Stetson Open Road

[DougC]

I bought two new ORs last December. One has a cattleman's crease and the other was hand shaped into a fedora by Paris Hatters in San Antonio. Paris Hatters has a steamer that is over 100 years old and a very talented craftsman. Neither are very stiff. And, both look awesome! sorry no pics...

 

[danofarlington]

hat pictures

Having seen on this website a number of Stetson Open Road hats, its competitors, and different kinds of hats also, I conclude that the old-time flexible Stetson Open Road is the coolest American hat ever made.

I like the Open Road blocked in a fedora style, but the cattleman's crease is OK too for those who can carry it off, or if it's commonplace in your region.

No other American hat, so far as I'm concerned, could be worn as widely in modern times as that vintage flexible hat. Not even close.

 

[RBH]

Wise words indeed Dan!

 

[4spurs]

San Antonio

I have a Resistol San Antonio, with wind string, eBay, maybe cost $28; it can't be very old. It is their version of the OR. I wet it and reshaped it, and am fairly happy with how it came out.

I'd recommend giving it a try yourself, just don't bid too high, I see the newer ones going for around $30 on eBay.

 

[DougC]

Wise words indeed Dan!

true--the vintage OR is the best...I got lazy and impulsive and bought new. Still, the new OR is not as stiff as I would have thought.

 

[Pilgrim]

I wouldn't hesitate to take a new OR to a good hatter and have them re-block it.

I'm never very happy with my own blocking anyway - Greeley Hatworks 30 miles away in Greeley, Co does a much nicer job. Well worth a few bucks to me.

 

[danofarlington]

reblocked Open Road

so I just bought one on EBay, but it's a stiff cattleman's hat. I intend to have it re-blocked and de-stiffened to the extent possible. So I paid $100 all in for the hat, probably another $40 to reblock it, all in the name of the experiment of "can a cattleman's hat be successfully re-shaped into a fedora?" .

I will report on the result.

I am now reporting on the result of reblocking a new Stetson Open Road. I received the new Open Road from Ebay--I don't know how old it was but it looked brand new--it is the stiff kind. I took it to my hat man here in the Washington D.C. area. He said that you can unstiffen a stiff hat through some kind of dry cleaning process. But he recommended that we not do that because it beats up the hat quite a bit. I liked the roll of the brim as it was--rather flat--and asked him to just re-block the crown to the center dent that I always get. So he did, and it worked out well. The hat man says you can still see somewhat the old cattelman's crease. I couldn't see it, but I suppose it's there. It won't bother me; no one else will see it either. The hat man did not unstiffen the crown either, so it's still a stiff hat, but blocked the way I want instead of the original cattleman's crease.

The big observation I have about that new Open Road versus the vintage model is that the new one has a shallower crown than the vintage OR. The vintage is a tall hat, and you really know it's a Stetson. I think cowboys, John Wayne, real men. So that's one look. On the other hand, the new OR looks more modern. It sits higher on my head, just like the photo from Deanzat above. Actually the result on my re-blocked hat is not that different from Deanzat's photo, only I have a center dent. But the new hat is new, and looks new. So it has uses different from the old one, which looks old. End result: A new stiff OR can be reblocked. It looks good, and looks new, but it is stiff. My reaction: Different hats have different uses. I'll wear the new one around and see the kind of niche it falls into.

 

[Pilgrim]

OK, then here's a crown for a manly man! (Supposedly a shot from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.)

 

[wedens]

I hope this thread isn't too old to ask one more question. I just purchased a vintage OR on ebay. It's a 4XXX Beaver and it's from the sixties according to the seller. It has the cattleman's crease. My question is would an OR from the 60's be old enough to be softer as I will be wanting to re bash the crown?

 

[hatophile]

Hi Wedens,

I have quite a few Vintage OR's, as well as 2 newer ones. I have found vast differences in the felt feel of all of them. My newest OR, maybe 2-3 years old, is extremely stiff, both brim and crown. I can bash if I steam or wet it thoroughly. I would say, most of my other ones are 50's-60's era, and are fairly shapeable. You may just have to use a lot of steam and patience.
On the other hand, I just won a 1951 Open Road 15 that is very pliable, much like my Stratoliner.

Good luck and show us some photos when you get it~

 

[wedens]

Will do. And thanks for the reply. I should have it in a week or so. I can't wait.

 

[gtdean48]

I hope this thread isn't too old to ask one more question. I just purchased a vintage OR on ebay. It's a 4XXX Beaver and it's from the sixties according to the seller. It has the cattleman's crease. My question is would an OR from the 60's be old enough to be softer as I will be wanting to re bash the crown?

ORs from the late 60's were in the "western" line by Stetson. These tended to have a lot more stiffener in them than ones from the late 50's/early 60's which seem to be more "dress" hats, my terminology not Stetson's.
Even if it is a late 60's, a good cleaning then soaking with distilled water makes it easily shapeable to re-crease the crown.

 

[The Good]

I'm actually considering one of these; a modern Stetson Open Road, I mean. The higher crown of Akubra's Campdraft just does not seem to do it for me, personally, and I happen to like the cattleman's crease look on an Open Road, so... I shall see about that, soon enough. Actually, I may just buy it a size over my usual up to this point, as it will inevitably shrink down a size, eventually, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[danofarlington]

I'm actually considering one of these; a modern Stetson Open Road, I mean. The higher crown of Akubra's Campdraft just does not seem to do it for me, personally, and I happen to like the cattleman's crease look on an Open Road, so... I shall see about that, soon enough. Actually, I may just buy it a size over my usual up to this point, as it will inevitably shrink down a size, eventually, correct me if I'm wrong.

I bought a modern Open Road, and the crown is a lot lower than the vintage ORs. It gives a more sporty and probably youthful look. I like it as a change of pace. A high-crowned hat, in my book, is a serious hat.

 

[150719541]

Here are 3 silver bellies that I have.
Going left to right as you look at them is a 1980s Open Road, well worn with lots of sun exposure, an Akubra Campdraft purchased in early 2009, & a vintage Stetson 25 of unknown age.

The OR & the CD

The CD & the 25

The 25 is what I consider the most true silver belly
I do have a Resistol in silver belly that is grayer than any of these 3. The Campdraft is more to the tan side of the bunch

Jtdean48, great hats ¡¡¡¡ the color is special.

 

[DougC]

Just to stir the pot...there is a vintage (late 1960 or so) Stetson Royal Deluxe OR at an antique shop in downtown San Antonio. Kinda dirty. Other than that, the felt is in good shape and the liner is still there. Asking price is $65 and size is a 7 1/8...too big for my little pin head.

 

[RBH]

Here's the OR I got from ebay. I have successfully rebashed it. I worked on it for about two hours. I'm very pleased with the outcome. I know it's a little rough but I like the hand bashed look better than a factory look at least on this style hat. Here are the before and after pics. The first two are the before as I got it. Well I was going to post pics can someone tell me how to do that? I hit the insert picture but it wants a url.

Use a hosting service such as ImageShack.

http://imageshack.us/

 

[wedens]

Use a hosting service such as ImageShack.

http://imageshack.us/

I guess I don't have permission to post attachments according to the rulse at the bottom of the page. How do I get permission?

 

[jlee562]

I'm actually considering one of these; a modern Stetson Open Road, I mean. The higher crown of Akubra's Campdraft just does not seem to do it for me, personally, and I happen to like the cattleman's crease look on an Open Road, so... I shall see about that, soon enough. Actually, I may just buy it a size over my usual up to this point, as it will inevitably shrink down a size, eventually, correct me if I'm wrong.

I say go for it. I picked up an old Resistol on eBay that is an Open Road style hat with smaller proportions (this one has a 2.5" brim and what looks to be about 5-5 1/4" open crown height), and it's a sharp looking lid.

 

[wedens]

Ok. Here's the vintage OR I got from ebay. The first two pics are as I got it with the cattleman's crease. The rest are after my re bashing. I spent about two hours on it and am happy with the results. I know it's a little rough but I like the hand bashed look better than the factory at least on theis style hat.