Post New Hats Here!

[alanfgag]

Hi Dan,

I don't know if the shop predates Arthur Stevens tenure there which began in the mid 1930s and continued until just before his death in 1990. Here is a nice little NBC news spot on Stevens and his shop in the later years. I will look under the sweatband when I get home later, but I am guessing this hat to be 1940s or later.

 

[danofarlington]

How'd you date that? Can't see much to base anything on?

I own a vintage Stetson optimo style Panama hat of similar weave size. My local hatman, who is 75 or 80 years old and has seen the hats over the decades, estimated that mine was 1920s. Seeing newsreels of that time I agree, because optimos were big then. Alan's hat style is similar to mine, and I infer his to be 20s or latest 30s also. I just don't see the popularity of optimos into the 40s. This is not to say they weren't made then. I am just calculating the odds to be 20s or 30s.

I will never be a hatband scholar. I don't want to take the time to know the stuff about that. I am a believer in eyeballing hats and making guesses as to their age. Critics will point out that you can't be sure doing that. I counter by saying that if you saw a decade-by-decade progression of hats, you would note styles changing and popularities varying. I do not subscribe to the proposition that you can't know anything by looking at the hat. I think you can.

 

[Lefty]

I own a vintage Stetson optimo style Panama hat of similar weave size. My local hatman, who is 75 or 80 years old and has seen the hats over the decades, estimated that mine was 1920s. Seeing newsreels of that time I agree, because optimos were big then. Alan's hat style is similar to mine, and I infer his to be 20s or latest 30s also. I just don't see the popularity of optimos into the 40s. This is not to say they weren't made then. I am just calculating the odds to be 20s or 30s.

I will never be a hatband scholar. I don't want to take the time to know the stuff about that. I am a believer in eyeballing hats and making guesses as to their age. Critics will point out that you can't be sure doing that. I counter by saying that if you saw a decade-by-decade progression of hats, you would note styles changing and popularities varying. I do not subscribe to the proposition that you can't know anything by looking at the hat. I think you can.

I do the same thing with women. As I walk through any public space, I don't look at the woman herself, I look at her outward appearance - her clothing and accessories. Let's say the woman I see is wearing a paisley skirt. This tells me that she's a hippy, and was probably in her teens or twenties in the late 60s to mid-70s. She might be a teenager now, but who wants to learn to guess age based on something like a face, and it's pretty unusual to see a paisley skirt these days.

I'd like to see a photo of your optimo, as I'll go out on a limb right now and say that your hatter is wrong.

 

[danofarlington]

I do the same thing with women. As I walk through any public space, I don't look at the woman herself, I look at her outward appearance - her clothing and accessories. Let's say the woman I see is wearing a paisley skirt. This tells me that she's a hippy, and was probably in her teens or twenties in the late 60s to mid-70s. She might be a teenager now, but who wants to learn to guess age based on something like a face, and it's pretty unusual to see a paisley skirt these days.

I'd like to see a photo of your optimo, as I'll go out on a limb right now and say that your hatter is wrong.

I'm photo challenged, so can't do it. Well, the hatter may be wrong, you may be wrong, I may be wrong, all of these are distinct possibilities. Somebody's wrong when they make different guesses as to the true age of a hat. On the other hand, it doesn't matter what anybody says, I believe there is a lot of solid ground on roughly dating styles by looking at them. For me to be un-persuaded of that I would need to see a lot of convincing evidence. I just don't buy that you can't know anything about them that way.

 

[billyspew]

I'm photo challenged, so can't do it. Well, the hatter may be wrong, you may be wrong, I may be wrong, all of these are distinct possibilities. Somebody's wrong when they make different guesses as to the true age of a hat. On the other hand, it doesn't matter what anybody says, I believe there is a lot of solid ground on roughly dating styles by looking at them. For me to be un-persuaded of that I would need to see a lot of convincing evidence. I just don't buy that you can't know anything about them that way.

I don't think anyone has said that you can't know anything, it is more that a style is a particular piece of a large puzzle that needs to be put together to accurately guess. Using Lefty's analogy, it would be like guessing someone's age using a silhouette. There are many other factors that absolutely need to factored in.

Anyway I digress, Alan, nice Optimo, the weave does indeed look nice, look forward to seeing the others.

Bill

 

[fmw]

Dan, I was raised in Havana as a child. That was in the 1940's and early 50's (prior to the 1956 revolution.) No question that the Optimo style was the most popular among Cuban men in those days. I would estimate half the panama hats I saw (and every man wore Panama hats) was an Optimo. I wouldn't normally pay much attention to hat styles as a kid but you can't miss the ridge down the center of the Optimo crown. The style may have died in the U.S. in the 1930's but certainly not everywhere.

I still remember the look of my grandfather coming home from the office in the evening wearing linen pants, white linen guayabera, optimo panama hat and sunglasses. He usually had a Partagas protruding from his mouth. The Optimo panama was a normal part of mens fashion in those days on that island, at least.

 

[bolthead]

beautiful.

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks, Bolt.

And thanks for the notes on the new optimo. FMW, I enjoyed visualizing your grandfather from the description. I spent some time cleaning and shaping this hat tonight. It perked up quite nicely. I'll try to shoot a couple of pictures in the morning.

cheers,
Alan

 

[Aureliano]

Carbon 14 and the dating fuss is over! lol lol lol

 

[clay_in_nj]

Been shopping on eBay . . .

Perfect for springtime in the Rockies. Banana Republic fur felt to go with my Tilley safari jacket.

 

[delectans]

Welcome to the lounge, Clay. Beautiful ensemble and lovely image. I really like some of Tilley's travel clothing.

 

[danofarlington]

Carbon 14 and the dating fuss is over! lol lol lol

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

I wish I had thought of that line.

 

[bolthead]

Welcome to the lounge, Clay. Beautiful ensemble and lovely image. I really like some of Tilley's travel clothing.

What He said, also.....love the Avatar. +1

 

[alanfgag]

Here is my Hand the Hatter montecristi after cleaning and steaming... before being sent off for carbon dating.

 

[delectans]

Looks sharp, Alan. Which lab are you planning to use?

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks!... I used google to search and found this dating service.

 

[billyspew]

Here is my Hand the Hatter montecristi after cleaning and steaming... before being sent off for carbon dating.

Wonderful Alan. The patina whatever the age is perfect on that. Wear it well and wear it often.

 

[delectans]

Thanks!... I used google to search and found this dating service.

lol You might not get your lid back if you went with THAT lab!

 

[Alex]

Awesome Old Optimo Alan

 

[casechopper]

Size 8 long oval Resistol Diamond Horseshoe rancher from ebay in color Platinum. This has a 4" brim. They both fit pretty loose and I've got paper towels in the front, back and sides to make them fit. I'm not sure whether I should keep them or put them up for sale. I'd be interested to know what you're opinion is of the fit.

The brim edge seems to have a bit of a curl.
Any info about these would be nice to know. The felt feels nicer than a 4x and a 6x that I have though the brim has that typical modern western stiffness.