Pre-soiled hats... heheheh

[Pilgrim]

I've been to the National Western a couple of times since moving here, but it seems like I've always been on vacation when the Greeley and Cheyenne rodeos are on. That's too bad, because they're really great shows. I have managed to catch a couple of concerts at the Greeley Stampede. You see a great cross-section of western hats at those events, although most folks wear their newer, dressier hats rather than their old beaten-up ones.

My daughter's boyfriend worked for a local western wear store that has a big booth at both shows, and he was their "hat specialist" last year. Would you believe that in one day, he sold more than 45 hats by himself? (And yes, I tried to share as much Fedora Loungs info with him as possible.)

He got a chuckle out of one thing - one day during the Stampede, he saw two gents walking by the booth wearing Open Roads. Because of the time he's spent at our place, he knew exactly what they were. He complimented the gents on their hats, and they were flabbergasted that a 19-year-old actually knew what an Open Road was!

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

I used to go to some of the smaller rodeos in the small towns. The participants names were not as notable, but they put on quite a show. Elizabeth, down by Castle Rock used to have one as did Deer Trail out I70. I do miss Denver, but have grown accustom to my new local.

 

[Gary Crumrine]

It seems lots of folks "add value" by distressing their wares. Consider blue jeans and casual jackets in addition to hats.

 

[akaBruno]

A buddy of mine thought he bought an old muzzle loading pistol cheap, once. Turned out to be a distressed reproduction. It wasn't worth a fortune but it was pretty cool.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Pre-soiled hats, that's just plain goofy.

 

[Mark G]

Great hat Bud. I got one that's thirty years old and I just can't bear to get rid of it.

 

[deanglen]

Hasn't distressed furniture been a standard for quite awhile?

dean

 

[akaBruno]

What's distressing about many of such items is that they are meant to defraud the purchaser.

BRUNO

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Great hat Bud. I got one that's thirty years old and I just can't bear to get rid of it.

Thanks Mark, I have had the hat for 15 years or so. I picked it up at a Salvation Army store for a buck. It is at least a pre 60's Resistol. The sweat is brown and the liner is much like a Resistol San Antonio that is from the 40's or 50's. It don't much matter, it is one of my favorites and we have spent many a day working together. No rabbit urine, but there are DNA samples from many a heifer and a coyote or two. It has been stepped on, used to water my horse and motivate when needed. All the while protecting me from the elements. What more could one ask for.

 

[Pat_H]

lol lol lol
What were you doing? Holding the rabbit above your head offering it as sacrifice to the hat gods?

There's got to be a great story behind that.

Aaron

I'll do that, although I'll have to figure out how to upload a photo so it can be posted here.

The story isn't actually all that good. The hat was nearly new, but as it was an outdoor hat (a good beaver felt one), I wear it for everything out in the sticks. I was field dressing (butchering if you will) a rabbit, which had a full bladder. I was trying to avoid it letting go, but failed. The spray was actually on the underside of the brim, which is a weird place for a stain.

It left a series of yellow spots. Over time they faded away. But for awhile, I would be reminded of it when it rained, as rabbit urine really stinks.

Since then, however, it's been exposed to a lot of branding smoke, some blood, horse slobber, my sweat, cow slobber, cow flop, dust, and any other quantity of strange substances, so the rabbit whizz is but an unpleasant memory.

 

[Uncle Vern]

I collect and wear vintage cowboy hats, and I enjoy them, but the truth is that I don't have much money, or I'd be ordering all new hats from great custom hatters and letting them age naturally. I feel the same way about guitars. I admire the "Mark G's" of this world, and I try and do business only with the likes of him--small shop and individual builders who understand the workings of the steel string acoustic guitar, craftsmen who have the ability to give me what I want and have the balls to tell me when something I want isn't going to work. There's a deep pleasure in breaking in a new guiar, listening to it as it fully develops its voice. And it takes time, more than a year. That's part of the process, and I enjoy it.
I get sick of watching these precious little tooty-butt pop singers showing off their over-priced, dinged-up vintage acoustics and electrics, as though the dents and scratches can somehow help convey authenticity. The act of pre-stressing venerable objects isn't merely an aesthetic choice, it's a bogus cultural shortcut.

 

[akaBruno]

It was a good thread while it lasted, eh?

BRUNO

 

[deanglen]

What's distressing about many of such items is that they are meant to defraud the purchaser.

BRUNO

Nice pun.

dean

 

[Baron Kurtz]

what a remarkable thread for such vehemence.

bk

I just realised that the heated posts are all about guitars . . . how odd.

for reference, the only soiled/badly worn hat i own is my baseball cap that was run over by a car within a day of my purchasing it ('twas not pre-distressed). And started out black but the top side faded to brown in the Indiana summers.

bk