Open Road reshaping

[John in Covina]

I am going to see about getting an Open Road, hopefully a nice condition vintage one. I would very much like to have it shaped something like the fedora style that Jeff bridges has in the movie "Seabiscut" with the right pinch in the front.

Any suggestions as to who to go to for this task?

 

[Art Fawcett]

John, somewhere in the search engine look up "Seabiscuit" and you'll find a thread with pics of the actual hat. If you need more I'll take it out & picture it for you. I own it.

 

[tonyb]

Fedoralover hit it square, John. I have a few ORs, too, and I've successfully cleaned and massaged them into nice-looking lids in my preferred bash, using only what can be found in the kitchen (stovetop and teakettle), the hardware store (naptha) and the cowboy shop (Scout brand spot-removing granules, brushes, stretcher, etc.). While I would never discourage you from sending a hat off to a pro for a proper restoration, you can do a creditable job of it yourself, provided the lid is in reasonably good shape to start with and that you use common sense and the advice to be found here. (It's a treasure trove, really, but you already know that.)
I doubt you'll find, these days, a good older OR to work with for less than 20 or 30 bucks, but I see little reason to spend more than 50 or so, unless you happen upon an exceptionally fine and/or rare example, such as some of the ones fedoralover owns. A couple of my better ones were found in secondhand stores (aka "vintage" or "antique" shops), where, in my experience, a person can usually make a purchase for considerably less than the asking price, just so long as that person leaves the seller with the impression that he's willing to walk away. In other words, wear your poker face.
And should you buy any you'd rather you hadn't, let me know. I love 'em.
By the way, Art, what exactly IS the Bridges Seabiscuit hat? I rarely go out to the movies myself, and I've never seen that one.

 

[Art Fawcett]

TonyB..it's a late 30's early 40's Penny's Marathon in what i consider to be "beater" condition, but on film it looked great!!

 

[fedoralover]

If fact I just saw a Penny's Marathon fedora in excellent condition at a vintage shop this weekend. I believe it was either a 7 1/4 or 7 3/8th and it was around 60 or 70 dollars. If anyone is interested I'll go back and check to make sure.
fedoralover

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Fedoralover, is that an Open Road in your picture above?

KC

 

[fedoralover]

Yup

The one I posted a pic of is an older Open Road, very soft and pliable felt.

fedoralover

 

[Old Fogey UK]

Can you reshape a newish O.R. like this or does it present fundamental problems ?
O.R.'s are rare in the UK.
What are the main differences between old and new ones ? Are crown height and brim width different ?

 

[jeboat]

Open Road conversion

The late model Open Road hats are not as pliable as the vintage ones. Be sure that you get a "soft" crown version if you want to modify it. Some are cardboard in consistency and very hard to change the bash without leaving lines.

jeboat:cool2: :cool2: :cool2:

 

[John in Covina]

Stiffener removal

The late model Open Road hats are not as pliable as the vintage ones. Be sure that you get a "soft" crown version if you want to modify it. Some are cardboard in consistency and very hard to change the bash without leaving lines. jeboat:cool2: :cool2: :cool2:

*****
I was wondering about the stiffener, if it is a shellac or varnish, then there maybe a way to disolve it and wash it out. Then it would be easier to re-shape the crown.

 

[Art Fawcett]

John, Fedora has been working with this and he is soaking the hat in alcohol. He says it works but I don't know how suitable it is for the non hatter.

 

[tonyb]

What's your size, Old Fogey? Over here in the colonies, where the streets are paved in gold and a gentleman's path is lined with recumbent maidens, it's not at all unusual to come across nice older ORs, although I can report anecdotally that they are almost always some shade of gray and in size 7 or 7 1/8. But I've never had any real problem with stretching those 1/8s up a size or so to fit my head. I'll keep an eye out, if you wish.
By the way, it might be best to steer clear of those new ORs, unless you want the cattleman's bash. They come that way from the factory these days, and that way only, or so the local retailer tells me. And an older, better one can usually be had for something less than half the price.

 

[Old Fogey UK]

Hi, Tony B.
I'm 7 1/4 US.
The Open Road style never made it here. If I wore one un-reshaped it would jar a bit on the populace in England's green and pleasant land. People would think I was an LBJ wannabe ! Cowboy hats tend only to be worn publicly over here by the Country & Western afficianados. I go for the "straight out of a Norman Rockwell picture" look.
However, the challenge of reshaping one into a 40's style fed that I would wear really appeals.
Thank you very much for the offer, if you ever spot a suitable candidate for an experiment, I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd let me know.

 

[The Wingnut]

Art, you should put up a few shots of this one once you're done with it:

That was my hand-reshape on an LBJ block.

 

[jamespowers]

Just so you know, a vintage Open Road that has not been reblocked looks like this ad from 1949:

You can get it to look like this fairly easily:

Hat stiffener from the Golden Era was shellac. I am not sure what they use now.

Regards to all,

J

 

[tonyb]

Thanks for the ad pics, jamespowers. Didn't ORs come open crowned back then? Or in a variety of bashes, maybe? If not, then how come I see so many more old ones with the fedora pinch than the cattleman's bash? Is it that they were reshaped after they left John B.'s? I remember ORs coming open crowned a coupla-three decades ago, although I've lost so many brain cells since then that my memory may not be the most reliable source. Coulda sworn, though ... And I have a dark grey one, bought new something like 10 or 12 years ago, that came open crowned. I doubt it was NOS.

 

[tonyb]

I went to the closet and pulled that relatively new dark grey OR out of its box, just to remind myself of what I have. (I really oughta get back to work, but first things first.) Haven't worn it much in years, and taking a good look at it reminded me why. It's badly, badly tapered and the felt doesn't feel nearly as nice as the older ones, which have all held their shape nicely, by the way. Maybe I'll use it in advancing my education, once I acquire a block, seeing how ruining it wouldn't be such a tragedy. And maybe I can turn it into something I wouldn't mind being seen in.

 

[jamespowers]

Thanks for the ad pics, jamespowers. Didn't ORs come open crowned back then? Or in a variety of bashes, maybe? If not, then how come I see so many more old ones with the fedora pinch than the cattleman's bash? Is it that they were reshaped after they left John B.'s? I remember ORs coming open crowned a coupla-three decades ago, although I've lost so many brain cells since then that my memory may not be the most reliable source. Coulda sworn, though ... And I have a dark grey one, bought new something like 10 or 12 years ago, that came open crowned. I doubt it was NOS.

They might well have come open crown but all of the older ones I have seen were bashed as the picture shows. It makes me wonder though.
The "new" ones made after 1964 are something I have no knowledge of. Those are a different animal in my opinion. They are the stiff ones mentioned. Crwon height is usually lower as well. That makes no sense really because the Open Road bash would actually suck up more crown than just about any other style. I suppose that is why the older ones make such great high crowned fedoras.
I had a tan one reblocked into a C crown by Art a while back. I wear it a lot more often as a C crown than the Open Road bash it came with.

Regards to all,

J

 

[varga49]

Hat stiffener from the Golden Era was shellac. I am not sure what they use now. Regards to all,J

When I was a kid we used hairspray to stiffen our cowboy hats!