OK...so what is your oldest hat?

[TCMfan25]

Nice Boater, TCMfan25! I'm not very good at dating English hats, but I do know that its not a 20's/30's boater. If the characteristics are anything like American hats, I would say 1960's.

Thanks, I hope its older though...

 

[randooch]

probably this one, with the replacement ribbon it received somewhere along the way

Mighty interesting hat, and the first time I've seen it. Do you know what the "Grand Prize" refers to, Lefty?

 

[Lefty]

The International Expos are world's fairs. Here's the Wiki article on the 1900 Paris fair.
The Stetson Expo thread shows examples of ads and hats where Stetson won various medals.

 

[mayserwegener]

NO very helpful indeed! Hopefully between '25 and '55... still my oldest

You might want to e-mail photos (including paper labels if available) to Lock & Co. and see what they have to say about it. Here is an early - mid 60s Boater by Ottmar Reich for comparison.

http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/18-ottmar-reich-hutfabrik/page__view__findpost__p__335

 

[HatsEnough]

I forgot to add my 1860s era topper to this "oldest hat" thread. So, here ya go...

1860s era stove pipe top hat.

Compared to a late 1800s or early 1900s era topper... stovepipe on the right.

Maker's mark in the crown.

 

[randooch]

The International Expos are world's fairs. Here's the Wiki article on the 1900 Paris fair.
The Stetson Expo thread shows examples of ads and hats where Stetson won various medals.

Links appreciated and enjoyed. Many thanks.

 

[bowlerman]

Whoa, Hats Enough! Love those old toppers.

I just posted this exact message in "New Hats," and it has been suggested to include it here. This is my oldest hat:


I'm stoked about this baby from the bay! It's in pristine condition, save for a smudge or two on the liner, and though it's labeled as a 7 1/4, it seems to have been made exactly for my 7 1/8 long oval head-- sometime around 1923-1934 (the original box included from Southcomb Hats, Baltimore, had an eight cent Grant stamp as postage), making this the oldest in my collection as well.
I particularly enjoy the tassel attached to the sweatband's bow.

 

[randooch]

Beautiful bowler. 80-year-old hats hold up better than 80-year-old humans, and tassels look better on the former, too.

 

[jaco]

Hi all dear lungers.

You cannot know how this tread greatly emotioned me.
I'm Italian so I have a different mind whit respect to American people can consider old or vintage so I apologize if I'll do a little OT.

My wife and I live in a 91 year old house and have collected antiques for 27 years, we love all the old stuff.

fedoralover...my parent's house is more than twice the age of your: my great-great-grandfather built it in the 1820 after retiring from his work as minerary engineer...Do you imagine how many really old things were collected during four generations of people living it...people that did many travels around the world (for example I have an original japanese satsuma teapot that my great-grandfather brought from Japan in the second half of 19th century...).
Reading "old" near "91 years" make me laught (without any lack of respect, that's clear). Is a matter of fact that New and Old world have such kind of differencies in point of view: from mine "old" means at least 2 centuries.
Now, returning IT: the real reason taht make me cry is the memory of something that my grandma told me when I was a kid (and the relate old photo album).
Her father and her granpa (as any gentlemen during that timeframe) were fond of hats and have many kind of bowler, top hat, homburg and dress hat, and since they travel a lot (inside Europe and in the far east) they collected a huge quantity of them.
What a lucky guy (you think): wrong! my great-grandmother didn't give the right value to all this "ancient" beauties so during her life (after his Husband died) she give away the major part of this hats or she, simply, destroyed them ("All these old awful felts are uneuseful", she was used to say).
Some years ago in a very old and big blanket, during a rearrangement, I found some hats and I was one of the saddest guy in the world: some very old Barbisios, Borsalinos, Lock&Cos and other unknown hats all ruined by moths and by humid conditions in which they were stored for such a long time (even a specilised restore hat factory in Milan cannot do anything to restore).
Consider that this was a small part of the whole collection...and are something like 30 hats....
By the way...regards.

Beautiful bowler. 80-year-old hats hold up better than 80-year-old humans, and tassels look better on the former, too.

Quote.

 

[FedoraFan112390]

What's the oldest hat you wear?

Out of all your hats, what's the oldest hat you actively wear? And how did you determine it's age (that's something I want to learn about hats in general--how to place a date on them...)

 

[Nick D]

I have a '30s brown longhair fedora I wear regularly during the cooler months.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I wear all my hats. If they can't be worn, I shift 'em along; no collector, I.

fedora: 1920s Stetson. (Stetson dating is quite easy; there's a thread somewhere)

Cap: 20s (more of a hunch than a surefire date, based on typographic clues from the liner)

 

[Phineas Lamour]

I have 4 fur felt hats a modest collection for a Lounger. All of them have been dated by fellow Loungers as being from the 1950's. One was a homburg until last week, I converted it to a fedora. Pics are in the Conversion Corral thread. I have a Borsalino milan of unknown vintage. All of my hats get warn. I also have a modern flat cap made by http://www.mizenhead.com/ that I wear to work everyday. My job is too filthy to wear a vintage fedora to.

 

[Joshbru3]

I've got a couple more real old ones in the last couple of months.

1890's Howard (Freeman Bros.) Derby

1890's Star Straw Boater

 

[randooch]

Groovy bowler, Josh. Does it fit you?

 

[Joshbru3]

Groovy bowler, Josh. Does it fit you?

It fits pretty snug, but then again people used to wear their hats higher on their heads in those days, so If I wear it like it "should" be worn, then yes it fits. This one is for display purposes though. It would be a shame if I lost the sweatband to sweat damage.

 

[scottyrocks]

My oldest hat is from the '50s. Its a Royal Stetson with a 2 1/2" bound brim. Definite difference in feel from modern mass-produced hats from even ten years later, at least the ones I have.

 

[davidraphael]

I've got a couple more real old ones in the last couple of months.

1890's Howard (Freeman Bros.) Derby

LOVE the derby

 

[DJH]

Until recently my Zephyr Weight Stetson from late 30s/early 40s was my oldest hat

It is a joy to wear and I wear it often.

I've since acquired another Stetson a couple of decades older - no pics yet.

 

[mayserwegener]

LOVE the derby

Agree! And the light color makes it even more rare.