Now Presenting: A Remarkably Strange Stetson Whippet

[MattJH]

This was briefly discussed here in the eBay thread when I first won it. It arrived today, and has most certainly never been creased. This is NOS. You can still see the ring mark around the brim close to the crown where the block/flange was set.

I actually purchased this as a gift for Oscar Pierce over at South Street Hats, who has treated me (and my hats) very well. I happened to get his hat size out of him, and I'll be surprising him with this sometime this week. I knew it was an oddball when I bid on it; Oscar is a unique fellow and deserves a unique hat.

There are a few photographs in the link above, and here are the ones I just took below. Does anyone know what this even is? I mean, I know it's a Whippet, but it's not the Whippet we're all familiar with. Did Stetson release a different model later on, slapping the "Whippet" name on it? That's my initial guess. How old is this hat? I need information! Help! Haha.

Crown: 5 1/2"
Brim: 2 1/8"
Ribbon: 1 5/8"

Front view of the hat.

Side view of the hat. Nice ribbon treatment.

I've never seen this liner on a Stetson before. Have you?

Standard embossed label for a Royal Stetson.

Told you!

The only identifying markings under the sweatband - 239433.
​

 

[Tango Yankee]

A raw edge?

No, Matt, I can say that I've seen a Whippet with a raw edge before. I've seen a Stetson with a purple liner posted recently, I think, but I'm not sure when or by whom.

So far in my going through my hats adventure I've found four Whippets with four different brim widths from about 2 3/4" to 1 7/8". Two have bound brims and two have overwelts. Apparently there's a lot more diversity in Whippets then we thought! :eusa_doh:

Someone more up-to-speed than I on dating Stetson liners will probably be able to help you out as far as the age of yours goes.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Ande1964]

Continental

Matt,

Nice hat, and a great gift! I have the same liner in my Royal Deluxe, which I have also thought was from the late '50s. The model on mine is "The Continental". The crown on it is quite tall- about 4 3/4 as bashed. The brim is only 2 1/8, but I suspect it may have been cut down... the edge is slightly rough.

Glad to see another purple liner! I have not seen another, that I can recall.

I'm guessing what you have is a late attempt to morph the Whippet with the fashion of the changing times. Doesn't quite seem like a Whippet without the bound edge, but it's still great looking!

Anj

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Maybe it was trimmed? It would explain the narrower brim.

 

[Dinerman]

I've never had one with that liner, but it looks like the brim was trimmed, just by the way the brim is flat, like the cupped outer part of it was cut off and it wasn't re-flanged.

 

[carter]

The Continental is/was a Stetson style. A Continental is not a Whippet . There have been several examples of the Continental posted on the FL over the past few years.
Does anyone have pictures showing a Continental stamp on a sweatband and a Whippet designation in the liner of the same hat? If so, my guess is that parts of two hats have been combined at some point to create some sort of after-market hybrid.
I believe we tread on rather thin ice in assuming that any hat designated a Whippet, based on a part of the hat that may have been replaced, is actually a Whippet. Without some supporting evidence that Stetson actually departed from a classic Whippet model , I'd be wary of deciding that any variation is the real deal. This includes some provenance regarding a cutdown brim.
I'll be the Luddite in the bunch until having better evidence than what has been presented thus far. The next thing we're likely to see are a bunch of supposed variations on the Flagship. LTBB.

 

[Ande1964]

Huh... wha?

Carter, the Continental and the Whippet are two different hats, even in this thread. I simply showed my Continental because it had that same purple lining Matt was showing off in his unusual Whippet.

Anj

 

[carter]

Huh... wha?
Carter, the Continental and the Whippet are two different hats, even in this thread. I simply showed my Continental because it had that same purple lining Matt was showing off in his unusual Whippet.
Anj

Just making sure there is no confusion.
As a matter of fact, HATCO did produce a later version of the Whippet, as Steven of Bencraft Hats has noted in other posts. This was a pale shadow of the original model. I've not seen one but imagine that Steven could readily identify Matt's Whippet posted below. I suspect it to be one of the later HATCO version.

 

[Dinerman]

It has the mid '50s type of sweatband and markings

 

[Lefty]

Here's confirmation that Stetson varied the heck out of everything. Back in 1936, you could get a Playboy in 3 different brim widths. This sort of variation was probably limited by the time of your hat, but it may have still existed.

 

[jimmy the lid]

In 1954, Whippets were available in 24 colors and a variety of brim widths and ovals. Those were the days...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Lefty]

All of this variation in brim width, color, edge binding, ribbon width, etc. begs the question: what defines a given model (aside from the name on the sweat)?

 

[carouselvic]

Same liner, same hang tag, black sweatband

My dad's hat...I do not have a solid date on this hat. I know he bought it new in this town.

 

[Feraud]

24 colors?
I wonder what the 24 colors are and what happened to them?
Most people seem to have conservative attitudes toward dressing. Did these hats not sell? Were they purchased and never worn? Is there a cache of colorful fedoras sitting in boxes out there?
Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[carouselvic]

Rumor has it that johnnyphi is sitting on the mother-load, a rainbow of colors, all in large sizes. Rumor also has it that I will sometimes pull your leg.

 

[Lefty]

Rumor has it that johnnyphi is sitting on the mother-load, a rainbow of colors, all in large sizes.

I thought it was justdog who was sitting on his hats.

 

[Lefty]

My dad's hat...I do not have a solid date on this hat. I know he bought it new in this town.

Is it the same hang tag? Yours has the full 7 1/4 size on it, but it looks like Matt's just has the 1/4 - though the little bow obscures the tag a bit.

 

[MattJH]

Yours has the full 7 1/4 size on it, but it looks like Matt's just has the 1/4

Confirmed. Mine just has 1/4 (denoting an older hat?).

 

[epic610]

Are we overlooking the obvious....

a good business plan for Stetson would be to just start re-making the hats they used to produce. they should already have most of the old equipment and expertise. their contemporary Open Road are fine hats; presumably they could make a decent Whippet or other model today.

Hamilton watches has done something similar. they are re-casting some of their famous watch cases from the 30's and 40's and putting in modern quartz movements. not the same quality of course, but you can still buy one of their famous watches at a decent price.

am i being realistic here?

 

[gtdean48]

Confirmed. Mine just has 1/4 (denoting an older hat?).

For the most part yes, an older hat would just have the fraction on the hang tag.