MY FAVORITE HAT

[DOUGLAS]

This is buy far my favorite hat.The shape,style and the color for me can not be bested. I would give great hats away for another one like this in my size. I don't even wear it that much any more in fear of damage. I got this at a flea market all crumpled up. I wish I new what type it is. I've heard it called the "GIANT" but I can't be sure. Has anyone seen this type?

 

[Matt Deckard]

Now that's a rad hat. i want to find one like that for myself sometime.

Just a cool pencil rolled edge western look. I've already got some old school western gear... now just to ad the hat.

 

[PutALidOnIt]

Open Road Prototype??

Hmmmm and Open Road homberg...what a concept.

That really is a unique lid, DOUGLAS!! Have you joined The Open Road Guild yet???

 

[Matt Deckard]

And yes I have seen that style before... it's an old standard western hat style.

 

[jake_fink]

Oh for the luva mike!! Stop posting these hats, you devil, you're making me crazy.

Edited to say: Don't really stop, but they are really making me crazy.

 

[feltfan]

Tremendous hat

Thanks so much for sharing that hat.

I've never seen one like it myself. It's like a missing link
between the Boss of the Plains era and the fedora era.
The crown of the Boss of the Plains was open, where this
has a C-crown and pinch. The ribbon is like a cross between
the Open Road (or Strat) and a "gambler" bow. The felt
appears to be thin and soft, more like a fedora than an
older western hat.

And oh, that leather sweat. The Stetson logo with the
"Boss Raw Edge" banner looks like it was designed by
Edward Gorey. The embossed Ackerman building is frameable
art by itself. I gather there is no liner?

Any Stetson logo experts have a guess on age? No way was
it later than 1920s, I would guess.

Thanks again and enjoy that hat.

 

[jake_fink]

Thanks so much for sharing that hat.

I've never seen one like it myself. It's like a missing link
between the Boss of the Plains era and the fedora era.
The crown of the Boss of the Plains was open, where this
has a C-crown and pinch. The ribbon is like a cross between
the Open Road (or Strat) and a "gambler" bow. The felt
appears to be thin and soft, more like a fedora than an
older western hat.

And oh, that leather sweat. The Stetson logo with the
"Boss Raw Edge" banner looks like it was designed by
Edward Gorey. The embossed Ackerman building is frameable
art by itself. I gather there is no liner?

Any Stetson logo experts have a guess on age? No way was
it later than 1920s, I would guess.

Thanks again and enjoy that hat.

I was just flipping thorugh some stuff trying to figure it out. It looks like very late 19th to early 20th C, possibly as late as the 20s, but the ribbon is thin compared to some that I'm seeing in a similar style. The embossed image of the store on the band should help date it.

 

[Fedora]

Looks like an early Stetson staple hat, or western hat. I think that edge was done while the hat was being felted. They said this curl would never come out, and no binding was needed to keep it in. Nice. By the way, what sort of material was used for the reeding tape? Fedora

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Nice hat! With side dents and that pencil roll, it would look very turn of the 20th Century, at least according to the old catalog pictures I've seen.

 

[ideaguy]

fav. hat

almost makes you want to see the sweatband on the outside of the hat...
:eusa_clap

 

[DOUGLAS]

The felt is very thin,thinner than most of my dress fedoras. The curl on the brim is very stable and has never weakened even in heavy rain(although I have not worn it in bad weather for years).It has no lining and I don't think it ever did because there are someone's initials on the inside of the crown.It is a type of self sticking material.
Matt,If you know where I could find another one like this you would make me very very happy.
I don't have many Open Roads.I like that type of cross over style but to be honest the hats that I have seen posted are superior to mine, So no I have not joined the guild. I did show one though.
If anyone has this type of Stetson I will gladly buy,trade or steal it from you. It is a FANTASTIC hat.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

...where this has a C-crown and pinch.

Which is 100% not contemporary to the hat.

 

[DOUGLAS]

The pinch and crown are the same as when I found it.Ten minutes in the shower did bring it back as it was badly crushed. The styling is not mine.

 

[Dinerman]

I can understand why that would be your favorite. it's just so cool looking, and it has all the right details that make your eyes happy.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Douglas, I have one of this style ( not ackerman but Stetson) with a slightly shorter crown but same color in my collection. With the shorter crown I am dating it in the forties so yours could easily be 30's or earlier ( I suspect earlier). Great prize and I'm honored to see others collecting and preserving the history. Bravo

 

[DanielJones]

Looks very well cared for Douglas. Great hat.:eusa_clap
My favorite is still your bottle green Tullio lid. Dig on that one.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Razzman]

Great hat Douglas. :eusa_clap Gives me the incentive to get out and take a peek in every flea market and antiques shop in the area.

 

[DOUGLAS]

Razzman before Ebay I spent almost every weekend at fleamarkets looking for hats. Here in the city the markets that are left have changed to more craft and less vintage items. I am convinced though that in the Mid West there are thousands of hat in small stores just sitting there.
Art, this hat does have some moth bites and is not in perfect condition but still I love it. I will not try to restore it in fear of damaging it's flavor.
DJ the green hat is nice too.I have not seen another like it so that one will not be repaired either. At some point in my mind a hat that is unique or rare that I can't replace becomes an object to admire and not one that I can wear often.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Agreed Douglas, I wouldn't restore it either. It's too valuable as an original example to mess with. Mine also is a bit eaten and in fact isn't my size so wearing it has never been an option. I have several in the collection that I feel the same way about, including an 1860s Dunlap that the leather is falling out of but just can't bring myself to do anything but admire and study it.

 

[Mulceber]

Wow Art, can we see pics? I've never seen a hat from the 1860's. The closest I've seen is Theodore Roosevelt's hat in the American Museum of Natural History. -Mulceber