No-Brand Fedoras of Distinction

[randooch]

Post your mysterious, brand-free beauties here. They might lack a label, but they can still turn heads!



The felt on this one rivals the best: smooth and dense as clay.


A shot of the underbelly:


And one of the mystery crest:

 

[mikespens]

Matters not the brand but if you like it. I don't have one to post though. I'd wears yours in a heartbeat Randall.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

Great idea for a thread Randooch ...

I picked this up at an antique shop and just couldn't resist it... The felt is magnificent.

It didn't look this good as It needed a cleaning badly. I sent this off to Parker at Falcon Park hattery and he cleaned and blocked it, replaced the soiled and battered ribbon but it sure was worth the wait ......

The brim was bound but horribly soiled so we decided to remove it and just let the original color of the felt show and stitch along where the edge of soiled binding had been.

The name on the label is Fabroc and I can find that there was a store somewhere in the Northwest and this is a hat that was manufactured for them and has their name on the liner but that is about I could find...

Anyone knowing anything about this brand please post the info.

I wish I had taken pics of the before but I didn't think to do that....

Here it is now...

Randall I would say we got a couple of unknowns but very nice lids.....

 

[DJH]

Randall, OG - two very nice looking hats, gentlemen!
I'm liking the style, ribbon and brim treatment on both of them.

 

[randooch]

Thanks for the thumbs ups on the thread idea, guys. I suspect that many of us have examples to share.

That's a "Fab" hat, OG!

 

[Dinerman]

Marked "pure lapin", but blank otherwise.

It's actually pretty nice quality fur felt, but fabric ribbon and no markings or tags whatsoever. A good rolling hat.

Only marked "waterproof"

 

[seabass]

Randall, OG - two very nice looking hats, gentlemen!
I'm liking the style, ribbon and brim treatment on both of them.

I Agree & the Stitching on OG'S is a great idea Looks real nice.
wow check out D-Mans Orphan hats !

 

[Dinerman]

No makers mark, and the store brand has been redacted

Made in England. No markings otherwise

"Genuine Milan" A surprisingly nice hat. Surprising it's not marked with a maker.

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Radooch...
Fabulous hat! The felt is beautiful, and the Cav edge is superb.

Ordinary Guy...
Amazing! I absolutely LOVE the contrast of the original felt on the edge. What a great idea to fill in the stitching with --- stitching.

 

[randooch]

Thanks, A-n-A!

Dinerman, great contributions. I dig the 3X's brim especially.

Here's another of mine:


Here's the only mark. Could they have been any more vague?

 

[buler]

I'll put this TA Chapman hat here since its a store rebrand. Very nice "Beaver Fifteen" hat.

From a book about the Gimbels store, "Milwaukee's upscale market belonged to T.A. Chapman Co. Appleton Chapman established his business in 1857, and his signature building "on the other side of the river" was built in 1885. T.A. Chapman was an old world store that served Milwauke's carriage trade shopper. The Milwaukee Journal reported, "Chapman's customers were driven to the store's doors in horse-drawn hansoms, welcomed inside and warmed at the triple fireplace that was the store's centerpiece." The fireplace was said to have cost $6,000 when the store was built. T.A. Chapman closed its downtown Milwaukee location in January 1981. Its closing was like a final chapter of a good book."

B

 

[alanfgag]

Chapeau Richelieu

 

[alanfgag]

private label homburg for Jack Henry in Kansas City

 

[hatsRme]

Post your mysterious, brand-free beauties here. They might lack a label, but they can still turn heads!



The felt on this one rivals the best: smooth and dense as clay.


A shot of the underbelly:


And one of the mystery crest:

Hey Randoochie;
Have you ever determined who the manufacturer of this hat was? I just scooped one up with all the same hallmarks at a second hand shop. A magnificent sand colored Open Road clone in perfect condition. Such a beautiful hat, but whodunnit?!?![huh]

 

[tonyb]

Gotta wonder how many of those "no name" hats lost their names during refurbishing. Generic liners and sweatbands, you know. I'd imagine that back when hats were standard items in Joe Everyman's daily wardrobe, and all that regular wear left those hats in need of cleaning and blocking, and for that reason hatters could be found in towns of any size to speak of, and several in the larger burgs, oodles and oodles of hats had their original brand-name liners and sweats replaced.

And, of course, there were also the bench-built customs that came out of those shops. Many if not most of those small hat shops had their proprietary liners (maybe), and perhaps sweatbands as well, but certainly not all of them, by any stretch. Verbiage such as "Beaver Quality," Fifth Avenue," etc., and crests and crowns seem the likeliest to include on such generic liners, which were commonly available from numerous hatter's supply houses back then.

 

[Chepstow]

Great no Brand's Fedoras, Gentlemen. It must not ever be a brand to have a good Hat. There are some beauties under it!

 

[hatsRme]

Gotta wonder how many of those "no name" hats lost their names during refurbishing. Generic liners and sweatbands, you know. I'd imagine that back when hats were standard items in Joe Everyman's daily wardrobe, and all that regular wear left those hats in need of cleaning and blocking, and for that reason hatters could be found in towns of any size to speak of, and several in the larger burgs, oodles and oodles of hats had their original brand-name liners and sweats replaced.

And, of course, there were also the bench-built customs that came out of those shops. Many if not most of those small hat shops had their proprietary liners (maybe), and perhaps sweatbands as well, but certainly not all of them, by any stretch. Verbiage such as "Beaver Quality," Fifth Avenue," etc., and crests and crowns seem the likeliest to include on such generic liners, which were commonly available from numerous hatter's supply houses back then.

Thank you Tony. That certainly makes sense. Standardized renovation or custom makers' components made to emulate known brands? The sweat band bows were both of the Cavanaugh style. Thanks again for your insight!

 

[randooch]

I think Tony hit the nail on the head.

 

[Landman]

Great idea for a thread Randall.

I think I have to agree with Tony too. I know I personally have one old Stetson Stratoliner and one Resistol San Antonio that I had the liners and sweatbands replaced by a local hatter because the originals were shot but the felt was still decent. Since the liners and sweatbands are generic with no names on them, if somebody besides me looked at these hats they would be clueless as to what they were originally. I think the Stetson reorder tag survived though.

Now that I think about it, I also have an old Stetson Open Road that Texas Hatters refurbished for me a few years ago and they put their own labeled liner and sweatband in it. If someone looked at that hat they would think it was a custom made hat from Texas Hatters.

 

[carldelo]

Wow, I wish I could find this hat, so I could kayak with a little style....
Great thread, this, and I agree with TonyB re: nice old hats with generic renovations.