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Messages
19,001
Location
Central California

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,363
Location
Mexico City
Willoughby Paris. Wonderful felt
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Mean Eyed Matt

One Too Many
Messages
1,142
Location
Germany
Messages
18,442
Location
Nederland
I picked this one up via Facebook's Market Place. Pretty standard, no name, generic moleskin top hat in a primitive box. Turn of the last century I'd say.
It was a waif and stray needing a good home

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And it has found one. What a great style. Good catch, Steve.

Someone who doesn't like this one, doesn't like hats at all really. Stunning.

Fantastic, Max. Just look at that cavanagh edge.

A rare beast for sure.

Borsalino Caesar Qualtia Speciale - Coffin Hat

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Borsalino Caesar Qualtia Speciale - Coffin Hat
Monlov with Bulgaro ribbon
4 inch crown as shaped
1 1/2 dark brown (Bulgaro) grosgrain ribbon
1 7/8 brim with double stitched overwelt

A Borsalino coffin hat at a price I could not pass up. This one a short brim Caesar Qualtia Speciale. The felt is a sort of grayish Milk chocolate brown called Monlov which I have seen described as taupe. Depending on light it shifts between greys and browns. 1 1/2 ribbon Bulgaro Chocolate brown ribbon. The manufacturing label points to late 1960s to mid 1970s. From the looks of the original photos of this hat it was going to need a lot of steam to get it into shape. But a few minutes of working the felt by hand I managed to whip it into a reasonable shape. A bit of steam would smooth out some of the wonky spots for sure. This one has found its way home.

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How it looked prior to shipment.

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Very cool find, Joe. Not only for the Ceasar designation, but also because of the label. It points towards a late sixties to early seventies hat, which seems a late date for a coffin box hat.
 
Messages
18,442
Location
Nederland
Looks like a super felt, Max. Not a lot of these Willoughby's show up. Good get.

Interesting!
The emblem of your Willoughby is actually the emblem of Lock & Co.!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lock_&_Co.#/media/File:Lock_crest.png
Is there a connection between these two trademarks that I am not aware of?
I haven't been able to find anything on Willoughby's. The resemblance is certainly there, but Bates is another hatter that copied (?) the Lock&Co design:

Vtg-Bates-of-London-Ascot-Grey-Top-Hat-_57.jpg
 

Mean Eyed Matt

One Too Many
Messages
1,142
Location
Germany
Looks like a super felt, Max. Not a lot of these Willoughby's show up. Good get.


I haven't been able to find anything on Willoughby's. The resemblance is certainly there, but Bates is another hatter that copied (?) the Lock&Co design:

Vtg-Bates-of-London-Ascot-Grey-Top-Hat-_57.jpg

Interesting addition, Stefan!
Could it be that these are some kind of "subsidiaries" of Lock,
which after the war (or even before) produced or distributed hats "abroad" (Paris)
- under their license or something like that? Something similar to the way
German hat companies after the war often used English names for image reasons!?
 

Mean Eyed Matt

One Too Many
Messages
1,142
Location
Germany
Here is another Tuxedo Hat. I am not sure if it is English or French.
Anyone?
I don't think I had posted this here before, but I could be wrong. Very luxurious. It came inside a coffin box. Interesting label under it... Comments, please?
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Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

Max's fantastic tuxedo hat was also from Willoughby
- at that time already with the discussion whether English or French.
And on the Box: English Hatter
 
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Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
And another size 7. This is the 3X Quality 10-Star Quality Wormser OR style hat. 2 1/2” bound brim and very soft felt. This is my second of these Wormsers and they are marked identically, but this hat has a much softer brim: still western firm, but not as harsh as my first specimen.

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This hat is also looking for a new home so send me a PM if you’re interested.
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
And a Dobbs in my size. I’m guessing that this hat is from the 1970s, but that is truly a guess. It started life as a homburg and the wider on the bottom biding (shows as the top after the brim edge is curled) is wider than the top. A previous owner removed a lot of the curl, but left some. I tweaked the brim a bit and added some sharp dents.

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The sweatband looks perfect, but has a feel of leather I’ve learned to leave alone so no peak for labels.
 
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Messages
11,713
Messages
11,713
And a Dobbs in my size. I’m guessing that this hat is from the 1970s, but that is truly a guess. It started life as a homburg and the wider on the bottom biding (shows as the top after the brim edge is curled) is wider than the top. A previous owner removed a lot of the curl, but left some. I tweeted the brim a bit and added some sharp dents.

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The sweatband looks perfect, but has a feel of leather I’ve learned to leave alone so no peak for labels.
Looks great on ya
 

Silver-Wolf

One of the Regulars
Messages
190
Location
South Australia
Well this is why I call my other half the better half!

No wonder I still love her just as much 36 years later, here's her secret........


Edit: Opps...forgot the hats I was so excited about the steamer lol. Both Akubra Fed IV, Dark Brown and Carbon Grey. I guess I joined more than just the Jiffy club today hahaha. Such a beautiful woman to make sure I had a couple of open lids to play with on the new steamer as well.

Who am I kidding, I'll prolly hit all my hats for a freshen up lol...Should only take a "Jiffy"! hahahaha...
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