Now Forming! the Campaign Hat Corps

[deanglen]

Hey Squid! Wouldn't you know! The Navy! Nice to see that some branch preserves the tradition of some degree of individuality. Great observation, thanks!

 

[deanglen]

Decided to post these 'cause some of you said you liked lookin' at 'em:

THE FIGHTIN' FEDORAS!

 

[Kevin Popejoy]

Thanks for posting these. I've always loved vintage photos. I've been eyeing my old campaign hat this week. Maybe time to get out the steamer. k

 

[deanglen]

Dear Casablanca Chuck, thank you for your kind words about the pictures, and as regards shaping, you know steam works great, and believe it or not I have never handled an original 1883 campaign hat or authentic reproduction but from the later campaign hats I handled, yes, they were practically board stiff. Maybe someone else in the Lounge can advise on softening them up. All I've done is modify western hats to match photos like the ones I've posted. I would love to own a) A repro like yours, b) An Open Road and c) more western hats to modify because its loads of fun. Really, the types of bash they used in 1898 kept the crowns, I think, reasonably low. Excepting the "montana' peak which I don't care for, and some of those crowns bashed liked that make their hats look as tall as a V2!

 

[deanglen]

Hot off e-bay and hopefully acceptable:

 

[Baggers]

Very cool! You've got me hankerin' to add a decent repro to the collection!

Cheers!

 

[Mojave Jack]

Very cool! You've got me hankerin' to add a decent repro to the collection!

Cheers!

And for one of these:

And a pair of these:

And a pair of these:

And...well, let's just say the list goes on!

 

[CasaBlancaChuck]

[/IMG]Dear deanglen...I tried (unsuccessfully) to include pictures of my Dirty Billy's repro campaign hat...as in all campaigns, I regrouped and forged ahead with another try...This hat was made by Dirty Billy several years ago. I didn't think then to ask what material it was made of. I had added the snowflake vent and the brim trim (double row stitching). I was attracted to it because I love the Open Road and saw this as it's "granddaddy". I had the idea of actually wearing it, but, alas,thought it was too stiff and couldn't get used to the extra tall crown...so, I shelved it until I saw your thread with all the wonderful pictures...now I have the hat out again and would like Lounge members to comment on "what to do now?" I would like to soften it up and maybe reshape it just a tad ( especially bring the crown down a little)...Thanks again for your great addition and am awaiting suggestions, and comments. I can see I haven't mastered this yet, but here goes.
Best wishes to all, CasaBlancaChuck http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k301/garbo99/th_100_1125.jpg[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

 

[Baggers]

And...well, let's just say the list goes on!

lol lol lol Hah! The quest never ends, does it?

Cheers!

 

[deanglen]

CasablancaChuck, Your Campaign hat repro looks wonderful! Reducing the height of the crown using steam will produce what I'd call a "pup tent" effect as it did on one of the high crown cowboy hats I experimented on when I began modifying them to look like what I saw in the photos. I'd say the guys back then were like us, they wanted lower crowns so they just kept pushing them down "fore-n-aft" as much as they were satisfied with. Notice these originals I'm sure I posted here or in another thread:

I also know that in that there were several versions of campaign hats issued in the period and I'm convinced crown height and brim width was reduced over time, a cost saving measure perhaps, because you can see in the photos, ranging rom 1898 to 1901 and beyond, variations in those dimensions. The tapering that results does take some getting used to, but it's an essential part of the style's charm, as I see it. The only picture I have of one of mine shows how pushing down the crown produced a dent at the front and back and a really tight crease at the top, but indeed some of their hats looked that way, so I did it too:

As in this shot:

My guess is the rule was "bash-to-taste", or something like it. What do you think?

 

[Joel Tunnah]

CasaBlancaChuck,

That's a great looking hat. If you want to soften it up, and give it a more used look, maybe you could soak it in the shower a couple times? That would also taper the crown some too.

Joel

 

[Michaelson]

I keep looking at this one from Dirty Billy. Nutria with star or snowflake vent, $125. Looks quite stiff.

I have an AB dark gray sitting on the shelf next to me at this moment that looks EXACTLY like the one picture on the right in this photo. I had no idea the style I was emulating was considered a 'campaign style' hat. I have just taken open road blocked hats and 'pushed' them into this style front bash and brims.

Hummm. Interesting.

Thank you VERY much for this thread. I've tried and tried to describe what my hat is, and until I saw this, I could NOT for the life of me remember what this style was called. I knew it's time period, but had forgotten the rest. Much obliged!!

Regards! Michaelson

 

[CasaBlancaChuck]

What colors, or what predominate color were the campaign hats?...My repro is about a medium brown, more like the picture on the left. Also, I don't know how to enlarge the pictures I posted, and I see extraneous letters like img and don't know how to avoid those. Any advice appreciated.
Best wishes,
CasaBlancaChuck

 

[Uncle Vern]

I have a Stetson from that era, with a 2 7/8 inch brim that's bound, and a 1/4 inch ribbon. I wear it in a pinch brim atyle, but it came looking like the hats on this thread. I've always thought it was a military hat, but I'm not sure. It's very thin, soft and lightweight. I bought it on eBay. It used to belong to a professional wrestler named Man Mountain Dean, who died c. 1953. I looked him up. He chased Pancho Villa with Pershing and ended up in world War One. Here's a photo of it.

 

[deanglen]

To all of you who have appreciated this, and the other thread, thanks for your positive comments. I know Fedoras are the proper concern of the group (just looking at the tastes of Douglas', Matt's and Hemmingway's, et. al.). I'm sure some find this a diversion with limited thread 'shelf life', and perhaps it is, perhaps we need a category like "Turn of The Century" to pursue hat styles post-Civil war to WWI, I don't know. As far as the colors of the hats, I have only seen color shots of a few originals, and Dirty Billy, at his site, claims TR had a grey one, and some photographs show a variation in shades from light to dark, I'm sure you can't go too far wrong with an earthen hue ranging from a butternut to a battleship grey, though I'm sure the tan/brown range predominated. Churck's repro looks dead on, and Uncle Vern's genuine article is a gem! Seems water and heat are the key to softening up the felt. Does that leach out the chemical they added to stiffen it, I wonder.

 

[Uncle Vern]

Water, heat and usage. Just handling hats frequently seems to soften them. The reason I have the hat blocked like it is, is that there's a hole in the top/front of the crown. If I push the top up, it shows. Maybe I should just go with the military block anyway. I could claim that it's a bullet hole.
Here's the sweatband, featuring Man Mountain's painted initials in red paint.

 

[deanglen]

Uncle Vern! Guess who this is:

What size did he wear? Must have been 7 1/2 at least!

 

[Uncle Vern]

I should point out that this was an eBay hat that cycled through a few times before I bought it for ten bucks and change. Not knowing what it really was, I figured that, for ten bucks, I couldn't lose on an old Stetson like that. It came from the widow Dean's estate.
That's a great shot you posted. I've found a few more on the web. In the photo I posted, the one with my hat and the postcard, the postcard is actually from his son, Man Mountain Dean, Jr., to his wife. Junior also wrestled, by his past seems ellusive. Apparently, ol' MMD didn't stay in very good shape, and he got hurt a lot. Did you read that he managed to get himself elected to the Georgia House, and got a journalism degree from the U of G? Interesting character.
And to answer your question, MMD was a size 7 3/8, my size. It would be interesting to look into MMD's military record.
These old pro wrestlers were real characters. My father moved us out to California from Rhode Island in 1955, when I was seven years old. The very first itch he needed to scratch was to drive out to Gorgeous George's ranch, in Cherry Valley, because he'd heard that everything on the ranch had been painted purple, to match George's cape. We drove out to look, and sure enough, it was all purple. What kind of a hat would Gorgeous George have worn--a Liberace model? Maybe Art could come up with a commerative hat!

 

[DanielJones]

Great looking lid, and an interesting history to boot. Can't go wrong with that.:eusa_clap

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Uncle Vern]

A few months ago I spotted a vey cool old "real" Borsalino on eBay, with the following words stamped into the sweatband--"Made Expressly For Walter Brennan." It came with a good provenance, from the prop department at a movie studio and passed down through a family. A buddy of mine bought it and wears it all the time. He looks like Walter anyway. He didn't get it for ten bucks, though. Some of these old hats have great histories. Rescueing them is very satisfying. A year ago, I passed up an old Stetson cowboy hat made in the 20's for a movie studio, in my size. I don't think it ever sold, and the price was $15.00. We live, and, hopefully, we learn.