Photos: My Vintage U.S. Fish and Wildlife Stetson

[Atticus Finch]

Hi Floks,

I just picked up this unusual (to me) Stetson. Evidently, this hat was once issued by the USF&W to one of its officers. I'm not sure when. Right now, its a bit "cowboy" to suit me, but I can see how I might grow to like it. Can anyone here hazzard a guess as to when this Stetson was made?

Atticus

 

[Dinerman]

probably from the '70s or '80s.

 

[D.W. Suratt]

That is a great find, I love to collect official things like that.

 

[Alex Oviatt]

It is never too late to get in touch with your inner cowboy--this hat may well be the catalyst....

 

[NonEntity]

First, let me say that, although this hat is outside my area of expertise, it is very appealing.

I would say that it is probably from the late '60s or early- to mid- '70s.

Before you make any alterations, get it evaluated by a professional appraiser with a written appraisal. You may be pleasantly surprised at the evaluation $.

 

[Pat_H]

Interesting, I didn't know the USFW every issued cowboy hats. Most USFW folks I see wear ball caps.

Likewise, the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. authorizes its wardens to wear a cowboy hat, and I believe will pay for one. It looks right with their uniform, which is pretty simple, consisting of red uniform shirt and blue jeans. Unfortunately, most of them stick with a ball cap. On rare occasions, I'll see one wearing a cowboy hat, usually a silverbelly hat.

Frankly, for these guys, a good cowboy hat makes a lot of sense. Too bad they don't wear them.

Our local Sheriff's office will authorize and purchase a cowboy hat for their deputies. A few do wear them.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies.

I've always been an Open Road fan and this Stetson looked quite "Open Roadish" in its e-bay photos. Not that I'm disappointed. I think that it will soon make a comfortable niech for itself in my modest hat wardrobe. I have a friend who throws bonfire-parties at his farm several times per year. I'll probably sport this new hat to the next one.

You know, I'm now noticing an interesting phenomenon in the world of vintage hat collecting. It strikes me that big-headed people can sometimes get good deals on old hats. My new Stetson is a size 7 3/4. I wasn't the only bidder, but there weren't many, and I ended up paying only 32.00 USD. Not long ago, I paid only 11.00 USD for a very nice Stetson Panama, again, in size 7 3/4.

This is exactly opposite from the vintage flight jacket market. There, big people pay big prices. Size 46 and 48 (especially size 48) vintage jackets are difficult to find and bring premium prices when they are available. A D-series G-1 in size 48 will literally sell for three times the price of the same jacket in size 38 or 40. A size 48 original WWII A-2 might sell for five to eight times the price of the same jacket in size 38.

Maybe I just need to stick to hat collecting.

Atticus

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Although I sometimes defend altering a hat to another style (because I do it), this is one case where it would be a shame to change the hat. You have a great piece of history, which happens to look pretty good, too. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap