This in my "new" Stetson 4X Wisp I got on ebay. Nothing too remarkable about the hat in general (3" brim, Silverbelly, printed "Last Drop" liner, etc.), but the felt is very different than others from this era (I suspect 1970s to 80s). The felt is very thin, lightweight, and very soft for a western - the felt is more of a modern dress hat weight. I think I even have another (older) Wisp in more of light silver color and it has the thicker, stiffer western felt hat felt.
The other interesting part of the story (to me anyway) is that hat was advertised as being unworn, and it appears that is likely true - but when it arrived there were two wide "marks" on the underside of the brim. They looked like stains or scuffs of some kind, but I could not figure what they were from. I tried both a hat brush and a stiff plastic brush and no changes. I had decided to just to eventually have it cleaned. But when I was getting some Lexol out I noticed a white rubber eraser that had come with a shoe cleaning kit. I decided to see if that would do anything to the brim marks - it did! They all but disappeared from "erasing" them. Maybe this trick is old news to some, but it was pleasant surprise to me.
Purplesage: Congratulations! Thats a very nice Stetson, indeed - and you're probably right about the dating. The sweat and size tag points to the 30s. Interesting ribbon. To my knowledge Stetsons with petersham ribbon are quite rare, except for The Flagship. A great find
Alan, There is a Lot Number on the back of the sweatband but is partially covered by an old price tag and it isn't very legible. I thought about removing the old price tag but it might remove the Lot Number in the process as well as loosing the price tag which can possibly help identify the date of the hat.
Figured you guys might get a kick out of this photo, we had a mugshot night down at the shop. This is me in my new Simonds newsboy vintage wool, 11in diameter all around awesome cap and my new go to for working in the shop.
Figured you guys might get a kick out of this photo, we had a mugshot night down at the shop. This is me in my new Simonds newsboy vintage wool, 11in diameter all around awesome cap and my new go to for working in the shop.
Picked this up from a local theater company this week, seems they were thinning the prop department a bit. I'm still trying to decide if it's too big or will settle down to a better fit in a little while. I'm usually a 7 1/4 LO, and have a couple of 7 5/8 regulars that fit good, but this 7 3/8 lo may be a bit much. Anyway, original listing pics;
Any info on dates that hatco went to the plain white liner from the white diamond version, the 7x designation without the clear beaver tag, and the black square size tag without the metric size, and whatever other observations come to mind appreciated.
I did a little steam shaping after a thorough brushdown today and came up with this;
This one arrived yesterday - Stetson Open Road 3X with "Last Drop" liner - color is light olive green color (similar to a Resistol OR-styled hat I used to have). I thought the liner was embroidered, but I don't think it is - however, it does not look like the later printed Last Drop liners. I'm guessing the hat is from the 1960s based on what I've seen on TFL. I've never seen a Stetson box like the one it came with, which seems to be original to the hat (not sure if the writing says "Buck Skin" - but I have a '50s OR in Buckskin that is a very different color than this). Any input on the age of he hat or box is appreciated.
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