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Messages
18,410
Location
Nederland
Something else entirely. I don't care much for boaters I'll freely admit, but this one I needed to own.
Borsalino boater. Size 56 with the brim at 5cm and the crown at 9cm. Excellent condition. The owner was born in 1896 and it was sold to me by his daughter. Hard to tell the age. Borsalino didn't make boaters themselves of course, so this was sourced. First time I've seen a Borsalino boater though.

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Messages
19,413
Location
Funkytown, USA
Something else entirely. I don't care much for boaters I'll freely admit, but this one I needed to own.
Borsalino boater. Size 56 with the brim at 5cm and the crown at 9cm. Excellent condition. The owner was born in 1896 and it was sold to me by his daughter. Hard to tell the age. Borsalino didn't make boaters themselves of course, so this was sourced. First time I've seen a Borsalino boater though.

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Excellent find. Should go in Max's Unusual Hat thread.
 
Messages
11,676
Something else entirely. I don't care much for boaters I'll freely admit, but this one I needed to own.
Borsalino boater. Size 56 with the brim at 5cm and the crown at 9cm. Excellent condition. The owner was born in 1896 and it was sold to me by his daughter. Hard to tell the age. Borsalino didn't make boaters themselves of course, so this was sourced. First time I've seen a Borsalino boater though.

View attachment 332879 View attachment 332880 View attachment 332881 View attachment 332882 View attachment 332883 View attachment 332884 View attachment 332885 View attachment 332886 View attachment 332887 View attachment 332888
Really nice ribbon treatment on that boater
 
Messages
11,676
Well, I'll add my 2 cents. First of all: it's a nice looking hat, Joe, so a good catch. I have been wondering about the G.A. Dunn and Dunn&Co sweatbands and liners and I agree mostly with Matt, that the different names don't conclusively tell us something about the age of the hat. I do think though that the G.A. Dunn was more prevalent in the pre-war years for sure and gradually the Dunn&Co took over. The reason for this is that Dunn&Co didn't make hats themselves, but sourced them from various manufacturers from Stockport (like T&W Lees) and Denton. A likely explanation for the different names being used in the same decade is that the hats came from different manufacturers. Some may have had stock of the older sweatbands and liners and some already worked with the newer ones.
The liner and sweatband on this hat both suggest an earlier hat. The later ones have a far more simple liner design. I'm leaning towards forties. The idea that this was once a different hat and most likely a homburg seems plausible to me. The crudeness of the brim edge is not like Dunn at all: their hats are always well finished.
Thank you for the input Stefan. All makes sense and seems to fit.
 

Mean Eyed Matt

One Too Many
Messages
1,142
Location
Germany
Well, I'll add my 2 cents. First of all: it's a nice looking hat, Joe, so a good catch. I have been wondering about the G.A. Dunn and Dunn&Co sweatbands and liners and I agree mostly with Matt, that the different names don't conclusively tell us something about the age of the hat. I do think though that the G.A. Dunn was more prevalent in the pre-war years for sure and gradually the Dunn&Co took over. The reason for this is that Dunn&Co didn't make hats themselves, but sourced them from various manufacturers from Stockport (like T&W Lees) and Denton. A likely explanation for the different names being used in the same decade is that the hats came from different manufacturers. Some may have had stock of the older sweatbands and liners and some already worked with the newer ones.
The liner and sweatband on this hat both suggest an earlier hat. The later ones have a far more simple liner design. I'm leaning towards forties. The idea that this was once a different hat and most likely a homburg seems plausible to me. The crudeness of the brim edge is not like Dunn at all: their hats are always

Stefan, thank you for your Explenation: different sources sounds very conclusive to me!

And by the way, my first guess for this Dunn was 40s too, but just a feeling. So good to hear your expertise also comes to this conclusion.
 

PanosChris

Practically Family
Messages
977
Thank you Matt for the well wishes. Much appreciated

Probably similar to JC Penney and Co rebranding as Penney’s in the 50s All the big brands shortened their names over time for marketing purposes.

It makes sense that over time whoever was making the hats used different components like sweats and liners as rebranding took place.

when I saw the sellers photos I thought I could see the glare of a plastic liner cover which had me thinking 50s hat. However in hand I realized it was a sort of sticker that only covered directly over logo. Haven’t seen this really on any of my US made hats. Other than Sometimes a logo sticker on unlined hats.

The sweat is very soft supple and thin. Doesn’t feel like a 50s/60s sweat. The logos I don’t think look like the really old ones (20s or older). But again that was based on the stuff I saw in the threads.

So it kinda leaves me to think 30s to 40s. Kinda a wide window I know. and I may not even be in the ballpark :D

either way I really do like the hat.. but pre war would be very cool.

This brand is way outside my experience zone... so all I had to go by was those posts. Maybe someone with more experience in UK and European hats could provide more insight like @steur @PanosChris
Thank you Matt for the well wishes. Much appreciated

Probably similar to JC Penney and Co rebranding as Penney’s in the 50s All the big brands shortened their names over time for marketing purposes.

It makes sense that over time whoever was making the hats used different components like sweats and liners as rebranding took place.

when I saw the sellers photos I thought I could see the glare of a plastic liner cover which had me thinking 50s hat. However in hand I realized it was a sort of sticker that only covered directly over logo. Haven’t seen this really on any of my US made hats. Other than Sometimes a logo sticker on unlined hats.

The sweat is very soft supple and thin. Doesn’t feel like a 50s/60s sweat. The logos I don’t think look like the really old ones (20s or older). But again that was based on the stuff I saw in the threads.

So it kinda leaves me to think 30s to 40s. Kinda a wide window I know. and I may not even be in the ballpark :D

either way I really do like the hat.. but pre war would be very cool.

This brand is way outside my experience zone... so all I had to go by was those posts. Maybe someone with more experience in UK and European hats could provide more insight like @steur @PanosChris
Joe, my condolences.
I don't have anything to add to what Matt and Stefan said, I am not so into UK hats either. My gut feeling for that one is also 40s and early post war. But is quite hard to say for sure since as mentioned, many EU makers reused the old materials and reproduced the old styles. It could have helped seeing the hat in its original form (before the brim modification), but not always. Regardless, is a great catch, especially at the price ;) Congrats
 

bowlerman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,294
Location
South Dakota
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Picked up this Knox Player at an outlet. The felt and blocking are wonderful. There are some minor defects. The button cord wind trolley is sewn too high where it is anchored, but I don’t really care. However the veneer on the sweatband crumbles off easily. Anyone know how to remedy that? Or maybe I’ll just scrape off as much as I can from the veneer so that my head doesn’t get covered with brown speckles each time I wear it.
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Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
View attachment 333150 View attachment 333151 View attachment 333152 View attachment 333153 View attachment 333154 View attachment 333156 Picked up this Knox Player at an outlet. The felt and blocking are wonderful. There are some minor defects. The button cord wind trolley is sewn too high where it is anchored, but I don’t really care. However the veneer on the sweatband crumbles off easily. Anyone know how to remedy that? Or maybe I’ll just scrape off as much as I can from the veneer so that my head doesn’t get covered with brown speckles each time I wear it.
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Good looking Knox, Jeff. Until I came to the inside photo I was sure it was vintage.

I’ve had a couple modern Stetsons with that same sweatband issue. Every time I wore them I’d have flakes of the surface of the sweatband in my hair and on my forehead. I sold one of them and had the sweatband replaced on the other.
 
Messages
10,839
Location
vancouver, canada
View attachment 333150 View attachment 333151 View attachment 333152 View attachment 333153 View attachment 333154 View attachment 333156 Picked up this Knox Player at an outlet. The felt and blocking are wonderful. There are some minor defects. The button cord wind trolley is sewn too high where it is anchored, but I don’t really care. However the veneer on the sweatband crumbles off easily. Anyone know how to remedy that? Or maybe I’ll just scrape off as much as I can from the veneer so that my head doesn’t get covered with brown speckles each time I wear it.
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I love the rumpled nature of the Shark's Gill ribbon work....it has a wonderful lived in, insouciance about it.....not the perfectly put together look of a new custom gill. It appeals to my rumpled nature.
 

bowlerman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,294
Location
South Dakota
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Good looking Knox, Jeff. Until I came to the inside photo I was sure it was vintage.

I’ve had a couple modern Stetsons with that same sweatband issue. Every time I wore them I’d have flakes of the surface of the sweatband in my hair and on my forehead. I sold one of them and had the sweatband replaced on the other.

I love the rumpled nature of the Shark's Gill ribbon work....it has a wonderful lived in, insouciance about it.....not the perfectly put together look of a new custom gill. It appeals to my rumpled nature.

I really like the rumpled look too! I gave it a good steaming and removed the trolley. I decided to see if I could sponge off the sweatband finish. It seems to have worked beautifully. Of course the band now has no stamps, but I don’t really care. It will be interesting to see how the sweatband functions without the finish.
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
I didn’t plan on buying this Hückel Chasidko Super, but the hat was offered for what some people pay for a cup of coffee. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it.

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The hat is what it is, but I love the ranch in the background. It’s bordered by National Forest on two sides and it’s tucked well off the beaten path and miles from a paved road.
 
Last edited:

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
Something else entirely. I don't care much for boaters I'll freely admit, but this one I needed to own.
Borsalino boater. Size 56 with the brim at 5cm and the crown at 9cm. Excellent condition. The owner was born in 1896 and it was sold to me by his daughter. Hard to tell the age. Borsalino didn't make boaters themselves of course, so this was sourced. First time I've seen a Borsalino boater though.

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Wow, Stefan
 

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
Excellent find. Should go in Max's Unusual Hat thread.
Yeah! I hadn't thought of that. Will you please post it there, @steur ?
I just posted this Stetson 150 sold to me by @BobHufford .
It is tagged 7 1/8, but it fits me perfectly, and I am a 58.5. It doesn't seem to have been stretched or resized. I can't rember if you commented on that, Bob
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