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ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
thunderw21 said:
A factory reject!
ImperialStetson007.jpg

Is that a date at the top? (1942?)
 

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
billyspew said:
Good job on that one Scott!

Thanks Bill - it sort of got lost in a plethora of posts last night. I'll move it over to the pre-40 Stetson thread.
 

BobC

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,378
Location
Central IL
ScottF said:
One last project...

This is one Bill sent me. It started off as a 7 3/8 - soaked and scrubbed it, then 're-formed' on a full-size vintage stretcher to 7 1/4 + 1/16.

:eek:fftopic: but I'd like to see that one, Scott, if you get a chance. It sounds like a tool I could use. Did it come from the bay or somewhere else?

Thanks.
 

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
BobC said:
:eek:fftopic: but I'd like to see that one, Scott, if you get a chance. It sounds like a tool I could use. Did it come from the bay or somewhere else?

Thanks.

Hi Bob, Yes - got it off ebay. They go for $150-300. It's great for hat brushing and scrubbing, but I've used it to re-block hats as well (such as the Stetson Fifteen I posted in the ebay thread), just trickier because there's an opening in the middle.

I have re-blocked several hats recently and got this one confused - I did NOT re-block this particular one on the stretcher. The taper was way too straight, so I had to let it air-dry and work it with my hands (and a huge softball I use as a tool) to keep the original shape. That's it on the right - I don't use the small stretcher at all anymore.

Stretchers.jpg
 

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
thunderw21 said:
Don't know. Were they still using the white sweatbands by then? The crest seems to be right for the '40s.

Imperial quality Stetson fedoras are rare, so don't know much about them. But I agree - it looks like early '40s.
 

Mario

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,664
Location
Little Istanbul, Berlin, Germany
thunderw21 said:
Color is blue-ish silver.

ImperialStetson008.jpg


ImperialStetson009.jpg


ImperialStetson010.jpg

I said it before over in the Ebay thread and I'll say it again here: This is such a fantastic hat! Sheer, goregeous beauty in what seems to be immaculate condition. You did very, very well with that one. May you wear it with confidence and pride (and I'm sure you will ;))! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
 

thunderw21

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,044
Location
Iowa
Mario said:
I said it before over in the Ebay thread and I'll say it again here: This is such a fantastic hat! Sheer, goregeous beauty in what seems to be immaculate condition. You did very, very well with that one. May you wear it with confidence and pride (and I'm sure you will ;))! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap


Thanks, I will!
 

Mr. Paladin

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,133
Location
North Texas
thunder21, those are really nice hats. The Imperial Stetson in particular is interesting to me. I thought Imperial was a designation of quality that was fairly modern but I did not know it was also a hat model. I really like it though! :eusa_clap
 

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
Mr. Paladin said:
thunder21, those are really nice hats. The Imperial Stetson in particular is interesting to me. I thought Imperial was a designation of quality that was fairly modern but I did not know it was also a hat model. I really like it though! :eusa_clap

Stetson was really funny about that - I have a 1941 catalog that features "The Premier" western model, but then also mentions Premier quality hats. Very confusing.
 

Big_e

Practically Family
Messages
654
Location
Dallas, Tx
Scott Wood said:
I picked up a few hats here and there around the end of the year and I am slowly breaking them out. Someone had posted about a Sears Roebuck and Co. hat they had received and I had replied, thought I would now post pics along with a sweet little Dobbs stingy. The Sears doesn't seem to want to be snapped down in front:
100_0322.jpg

100_0323.jpg

100_0325.jpg

100_0327.jpg
I love that Sears Stingy, sir!
Ernest
 

Big_e

Practically Family
Messages
654
Location
Dallas, Tx
Scott Wood said:
lol
I was thinking of you Ernest when I gave in to it's propensity for frontal lift;)

Where did you say you lived and when is feeding time for the guard dogs? ;)
Ernest
 

jimmy the lid

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,647
Location
USA
Mr. Paladin said:
I thought Imperial was a designation of quality that was fairly modern but I did not know it was also a hat model.

You are correct in thinking that "Imperial" was a quality designation, Mr. P. It is not a particular model, however. And, in tw21's lid, "Imperial" is used as a quality designation.

As a marketing/quality designation, the "Imperial" inhabited the same price point as the "3X" in Stetson's fedora line. So, for example, you can find "Imperials" that were priced at $15 in the late 40's. It appears that, by the early 50's, the "Imperial" had been replaced by the "3X" at that particular price point.

So, as best I can tell, the "3X" designation in Stetson fedoras began sometime in the very early 50's -- and essentially replaced the "Imperial" designation. [That being said, I believe that "Imperial" was re-introduced in more modern Stetsons, as you suggest, Mr. P.]

As always, these opinions are subject to change as we learn more over time...;)

Cheers,
JtL
 

jimmy the lid

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,647
Location
USA
ScottF said:
Stetson was really funny about that - I have a 1941 catalog that features "The Premier" western model, but then also mentions Premier quality hats. Very confusing.

I'm not so sure that that particular phenomenon is a function of Stetson, as much as it is a function of the retailers responsible for creating particular ads or catalogues (is your 1941 catalogue for a particular retailer, or is it Stetson's own catalogue?)

From what I've seen, retailers commonly used marketing/quality designations as model names in advertising -- particularly where ads were already focused on a particular style of hat. For example, in an ad focusing on Open Road hats, a retailer might call an Open Road at the $20 price point "The Sovereign." Of course, "Sovereign" was a quality designation, but, in context, it was used to distinguish the hat from the other Open Road models being advertised in the same ad.

Cheers,
JtL
 

Mr. Paladin

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,133
Location
North Texas
Jimmy, many thanks for the information on the Imperial designation. I didn't know it was replaced by the 3X mark in the '50s. My modern Stetson Humphrey has the "Imperial Felt" mark on the sweatband and it seems to have some of the nicest felt of any of my modern Stetson dress hats. I wonder what the equivalent X mark of current Imperial felt is?
 

Yimmy

New in Town
Messages
13
Location
Grand Haven, MI
Good morning all! I just wanted to share a secondhand store find that my girlfriend:)D ) made for me this past weekend. It's also my first post. Can anyone tell me more about it? I've searched Portis, and read some interesting things about the company, just don't know much about this specific lid. Have a wonderful day!

784565750_jrxeu-M.jpg


784565853_gEP9U-M.jpg


784565861_Yp5An-M.jpg
 

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