Pre- 1940s Stetson dress hats.

[feltfan]

5/8ths?? 5/8ths?? Wow. Wish I'd spotted that beauty.
Nice. Not that I wear the bowlers I have now. Will post my
7 1/2 "Standard Quality" Stetson bowler soon.

 

[ScottF]

Here is a big (7 5/8) Stetson bowler Excellent Quality Feather Weight.

B

Is that the oldest 'round label' sweatband stamp we've seen? Appears to be '20s? Maybe they started using the round stamps on bowlers, prior to using it on fedoras?

 

[carouselvic]

US Patent Office shows a first use date of Aug. 1930, filed Sept. 25 1935 and registered Mar. 10 1936.

 

[ScottF]

US Patent Office shows a first use date of Aug. 1930, filed Sept. 25 1935 and registered Mar. 10 1936.

Cool - thanks. I thought that 'curled' sweatband rim was 1920's.

...off Bulerin' today - hope to bring back something interesting to post.

 

[carouselvic]

Both of my The Royal Stetson bowlers still have the "hemmed" sweat, making them post 1935. Hemmed is only what I call it, I don't know if it has a proper name.

 

[ScottF]

Select Quality

Most interesting thing about this one is the 'Finisher' tag with pencilled signature.

Comparing closely with another Select that I'm almost certain is from 1924-26 (due to the $7.50 price tag), I believe this one is just a little bit newer. Both have the tiny circular size tag at the back of the sweat, both have 'v' stitching and taped sweat, both have frayed bow. This one has a rough texture to the sweatband, a little less curl at the top of the sweatband, and the bow isn't as '20s-looking. Another big difference is the bird in the sweatband logo - skinny bird in this one. I haven't seen that fat bird from the other 'Select Quality' in any other quality logos. The felt is very soft and more supple than a '30s 'Standard Quality' of almost the exact same design.

 

[Artie]

Well here's my contribution, a beautiful Stetson Select Homburg. I will leave it up to you experts to tell me how old it is.

 

[ScottF]

Well here's my contribution, a beautiful Stetson Select Homburg. I will leave it up to you experts to tell me how old it is.

The sweatband logo on yours is exactly like the one I just posted, but stamped in black rather than gold. Also has the taped sweatband and the small size sticker. But yours has the texture and stitching (not 'v') of a '20s No. 1 Quality I have. I would go with anywhere from late '20s to mid-30s. It would be nice if we could find a few of these with price stickers under the sweat - so far, just the $7.50 one. They were priced at $7 through 1923, then $8 in 1927.

 

[rlk]

Select Quality sweatband

2-1/2"wide sweatband
Pre-Cleaning:

 

[ScottF]

Thanks for posting the clear pics - that sweatband logo is really a help, as I feel confident yours is a little older than mine, meaning the 'fat bird' came before the skinny one on that logo, which I had suspected...and now I suspect much stronger. Thanks!

 

[Artie]

The sweatband logo on yours is exactly like the one I just posted, but stamped in black rather than gold. Also has the taped sweatband and the small size sticker. But yours has the texture and stitching (not 'v') of a '20s No. 1 Quality I have. I would go with anywhere from late '20s to mid-30s. It would be nice if we could find a few of these with price stickers under the sweat - so far, just the $7.50 one. They were priced at $7 through 1923, then $8 in 1927.

As soon as I have it in hand I'll flip the sweat and see if I find anything interesting.

 

[ScottF]

Stetsonian Extra Quality

This is only the second 'Extra Quality' I've seen - the other is a fedora of Douglas' with the round label. If anyone else has a hat with this label, please PM me - I would like to see pics, etc., for comparison. The label looks familiar - thinking I might have seen it on ebay pics of old derbies?

Brim has the very flat binding, sweatband is turned completely over at top (like an old derby), frayed bow, tiny round size sticker near back of taped sweatband.

 

[ScottF]

Here's a 1920's Stetson box, showing the logos for three of the four dress hat qualities - missing is 'Standard Quality'. These correspond almost exactly to the sweatband stamps on three of the last four hats I've posted in this thread:

('The Boss Raw Edge' logo is the one on Douglas' Western 'Columbia')

 

[ScottF]

1920 Stetson Brochure

Here are links to the larger pics:

1920 Stetson Brochure - Covers
1920 Stetson Brochure - pp.1-2
1920 Stetson Brochure - pp.3-4
1920 Stetson Brochure - pp.5-6
1920 Stetson Brochure - pg.7

...and the smaller images

 

[buler]

Thanks for taking the time to scan and post Scott!

B

 

[rlk]

Great stuff, Scott, thanks. Any price point/quality designations appearing on the soft hat styles?

 

[ScottF]

Great stuff, Scott, thanks. Any price point/quality designations appearing on the soft hat styles?

My pleasure. Unfortunately, no. I'm learning more about the various 'quality's by handling hats, but most of the pricing info I have found for dress hat qualities (3X, 'Excellent', 'Extra', and 'Select') has been from the period near the end of the depression, when prices fluctuated more. One thing I am fairly certain about is that the 'Standard Quality' designation didn't come about until the the '30s (early to mid). The others had been around for much longer. 'Select' and 'Excellent' disappeared about the time 'Standard' originated, but 'Extra' stayed a bit longer. Most of the catalogs (such as Millers, Denver Dry Goods, etc.) only carried a small selection of Dress Stetsons, generally the 'Standard', and Montgomery Ward stopped carrying Stetsons by 1920, so while it's easy to find the Western price-breaks, dress hats are tough prior to 1940.

And even the felt/design within 'quality' designations is erratic. I've had three 'Select's now - one was fairly cheap felt, but a nicely constructed hat. Another is much nicer - like early 'Royal Deluxe', but a touch thinner. The final example is thicker like a modern Akubra Heritage quality, but even nicer. So perhaps the felt for each quality level changed over the years, or maybe it was purely a price-break and you got nicer felt if not bound-brim?

...this forum is generally the slowest loading website I visit.

 

[Dinerman]

 

[ScottF]

Very cool hat - have we ever seen one of these before?

 

[Dinerman]