My ancestor with his hat

[Russ]

I just received this old photo of one of my ancestors in West Virginia. He was the older brother of my great grandfather, one of twelve brothers. The photo was probably taken around the end of the 19th century. Notice the great hat at the bottom. He was standing with his daughter by his wife's grave, and had apparently removed his hat for the photo, and out of respect.

I was not planning on buying any more hats, but I feel I need to find one more that can be turned into this official "ancestral" hat. As a tribute to my forefathers, of course.

It apparently has a nice straight sided crown and what appears to be some kind of band made of cord (I assume a grosgrain ribbon band was under the cord). He lived through the civil war when slouch hats like this were very popular. I have no idea what the dimensions would be. According to the photo the hat was gray. Actually it could have been any color.

Any suggestions as to where I can find this type of hat without having it custom made? I can put in the bash myself.

 

[RBH]

Very neat photo Russ, thanks for sharing it.

 

[adamgottschalk]

Fascinating photo. Did he put the hat on top of the grave? Why so far away? Interesting to wonder about.

From the shade of gray I'm guessing it's a brown color. Also, I've never seen a hat with a cord around the base of the crown that had grosgrain underneath the cord. Usually the cord goes through a few loops of felt. Grosgrain-cum-cord would be a cool look.

 

[Russ]

The whole photo

Here's the entire photo which does indeed shows the hat resting on the corner of the base of the grave stone. Very interesting place to put it (rather than hold it) and gives us a nice view of the top of the crown.

BTW my wife says that even now, over a hundred years later, she can see the family resemblance. Now if I can only find a hat that resembles his with those perfectly straight sides. Must have been fairly tall and squared to allow that kind of a bash.

 

[Russ]

cords over grosgrain ribbon

I believe it was a common practice to put a cord over a grosgrain ribbon on a slouch hat since removing the ribbon would have been a hassle. It is a cool look. I wish I could remember the website where this came from:

 

[deanglen]

I believe it was a common practice to put a cord over a grosgrain ribbon on a slouch hat since removing the ribbon would have been a hassle. It is a cool look. I wish I could remember the website where this came from:

Wonderful shot of an M1876 Campaign Hat! My favorite ribbon and bow combo with the regulation fore and aft bash and three rows of stitiching on the brim! I wish you could remember where you found that, Russ.

dean

 

[DOUGLAS]

Beautiful photo Russ. It is good to keep a visual record of your family. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Russ]

Eureka!

I wish you could remember where you found that, Russ.

After a very long search I found it again!

http://www.andersonmilitaria.com/Web_Pages/headgear/headgear.htm

Now I'm exhausted...

 

[DOUGLAS]

Thanks Russ,That is a terrific site!!

 

[Russ]

Slouch hats

Thanks Russ,That is a terrific site!!

It is a great site, and I had lots of fun searching for it again; found lots of great web sites on slouch hats out there! I think every fedora fan should do a web search for slouch hats -- just for a bit of "family history" of their favorite hat.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

It looks a lot like the Stetson "Dune" to me, which I find to be an attractive hat.

Joel

 

[deanglen]

It is a great site, and I had lots of fun searching for it again; found lots of great web sites on slouch hats out there! I think every fedora fan should do a web search for slouch hats -- just for a bit of "family history" of their favorite hat.

I think I once held to that theory myself.

dean

 

[Russ]

Twelve men, twelve hats

The same distant relative (whom I did not know existed until a few days ago) sent me another photo of all twelve brothers -- who have become icons in our family history. This was taken around the same time as the one above, somewhere around the end of the 19th century. What a great sight to see all twelve men holding their hats. Makes me chuckle to see those serious faces and all those hats. Also fun to see those steep West Virginia hills in the background. For what it's worth my great grandfather is second from the right, holding a white hat (!?).

 

[Pilgrim]

Russ, it appears to me based on the visual proportions of crown to brim that a Stetson Open Road would be a good candidate for a replica of that hat. My only reservation would be whether the crown was tall enough - but I think the brim would be a good match.

And thanks for showing the photos!

 

[Russ]

Yeah, I'm coming to the conclusion that something along the lines of a western hat with tall crown and straight sides is what I would want.

A softer open crown like the Open Road would be ideal. The Dune as well.

There also seems to be a hint of a bound edge in the photo. I was thinking the Akubra Bushman is also a possibility.