Shudde Bros. Hatters in Houston

[brogue]

Would appreciate comments from anyone on this company, including both their repairs and their new hats. It seems they're a hat factory. I wonder how their hats measure up. Thanks.

 

[brogue]

Their place is in a seedy little section of Houston and is quite rundown.

Thanks for the response. I wish I owned property in that seedy section just west of downtown Houston. Then I'd build townhouses like all the other gentrifiers are doing.

I thought the place was great to visit. They were willing to do a hat repair while I waited. The store looked like it hadn't been redone in 50 years, which was a plus in my book.

 

[bluesmandan]

So I bought a hat online, and it's a vintage Shudde Brothers hat. I "think" that it is a rebranded Stetson Open Road, but I don't really know. I can't find a lot of information on these hats. It has nice thin very bashable felt. It has a liner with plastic on top (like older hats did).

It came with a really nice sweatband that I have messed up and am trying to replace right now. When I was reshaping the hat with steam, some steam hit the sweatband and it shriveled up in that spot like a raisin... I've never known leather to do that before, so I'm wondering if it is some kind of early "pleather". It sure looks and feels like leather, though.

So I picked up some leather scraps from Michael's and actually found some that is the same color as the hat, and then I picked up some laminated cloth from Hobby Lobby, and I'm working on making the new sweatband right now. Any tips on how to "properly" do it? Some of my hats have some fancy piping at the bottom... I don't think I'll be able to replicate that...

 

[g.durand]

bluesmandan--there are a lot of folks around these parts that advise keeping steam away from leather sweatbands. It looks like you may have proved their point. That looks like a really nice hat, although it's not an Open Road. Open Roads came with a bound brim and a thin grosgrain ribbon, sewn with a bow, unlike the brim and ribbon treatment on yours. Without seeing the interior of the hat or the original sweatband, it's difficult to say who may have manufactured it. Shudde Brothers did re-brand Stetson hats, and this looks like one of the many of western-style hats Stetson turned out, but Shudde Brothers may have had other sources of unbranded hats.

As far as the sweatband, that is such a nice looking hat that if it were me, I would send it to one the fine custom hat makers discussed here on the Lounge and ask them to professionally sew in a sweatband made just for that purpose. Shudde Brothers is still in business and I think Neil Shudde still does hat refurbs, so that may also be a possibility. It would be worth the small investment, and it will make your hat not only more comfortable but more valuable if you ever decide you want to sell it.

 

[T Jones]

It may be a Stetson but it's not an Open Road. It's still a nice looking hat though. You'd be better off buying a new sweat instead of trying to make your own. JW Hats sells very nice quality sweats for around $5 a piece, (cheaper per sweat if you buy them by the dozen).

 

[RJR]

That's a nice hat,have a quality sweatband put in it.I'd probably contact Shudde and have them do it.They might have records on it.

 

[g.durand]

That's a nice hat,have a quality sweatband put in it.I'd probably contact Shudde and have them do it.They might have records on it.

RJR--you may be right. My brother in Houston bought a Shudde Bros. branded '50s Stetson 5X on eBay, took it to Shudde Brothers for some work, and Neil Shudde recognized his initials on the hat from a refurb he did in 2001.

 

[bluesmandan]

Well, against others' advice I went ahead and made my own sweatband and sewed it in. It's 2 layers... a layer of leather with a layer of waterproof laminated cloth underneath (between the leather and the felt). I made the laminate just a little wider than the leather so it would stick up a little bit... I saw that in another hat somewhere and liked it... and I made the sweatband extra wide, too, just to try it out... I figure it will give extra protection to the hat.

 

[Landman]

Looks like you did a very nice job on the sweatband. The liner looks like the one Shudde used in the late 50's and early 60's. They did a lot of refurbishing for Stetson. If it is a refurb the original sweatband you removed will have "RENSH" stamped on the back of it. Can you take a picture (front and back) of the original sweatband you replaced? I'm just curious. I have a few Shudde hats and really like them.

 

[bluesmandan]

Ok, here's a couple pics of the old band. No RENSH stamped on it anywhere. I've read that Shudde rebranded Resistols as well as Stetsons... I wonder if there's anyway to tell what this is...

 

[bluesmandan]

Oh, a further note: the way I messed up the original sweatband was by steaming the brim. I steamed the top and bottom, and when steaming the bottom some of the steam slipped up into the crown opening and got the sweatband. I'll be sure to ONLY steam the top side from now on, and not the bottom, that way it won't happen again.

 

[majormoore]

They were a hat company that made 1000's of hats, at one time they had almost 80 people working in the building in downtown Houston, the sewing dept was upstairs .
I would say that they did not buy hats from other hat companies and have their name stamped in them. They bought their hat bodies and built their own hats, pretty sure they made a version look a like Open Road, sort of like all custom hatters do

Just my two cents, I know that Joe Peters and Neal Shudde were really good friends and Joe an I talked a lot about things in the years leading up to his passing, and Shudde Bros was one that we spoke a lot about

Shudde Bros was a great company

Major Moore

 

[jhe888]

Shudde, as Majormoore said, made a lot of hats. I always assumed they got the bodies from elsewhere, but they made the hats. Shudde made some very nice hats.

I have a gorgeous Montecristi from them my father-in-law bought. It has a crazy tight weave and is as light as a feather. The only problem is that it is about three or four sizes too small for me.

It was sad when the old Shudde Brothers store and factory near downtown Houston closed.

 

[bluesmandan]

Shudde Bros. is a company I had never heard of before. The stories about them are interesting. I particularly like that they made hats for the Duke.

I like the hat that I've found. It looks good, and is very lightweight. Might be the thinnest and lightest felt I've ever seen in person. Not that I've handled many real vintage hats at all, but all the same, it's very high quality I think. I'll be looking for more. It's about 1.1 mm in thickness. For comparison, my modern Borsalino is about 2.1 mm and my Beaver Brand is around 2.6 mm thick. 1.1 mm is pretty thin to my eye.

 

[HudsonHawk]

They were a hat company that made 1000's of hats, at one time they had almost 80 people working in the building in downtown Houston, the sewing dept was upstairs .
I would say that they did not buy hats from other hat companies and have their name stamped in them. They bought their hat bodies and built their own hats, pretty sure they made a version look a like Open Road, sort of like all custom hatters do

Just my two cents, I know that Joe Peters and Neal Shudde were really good friends and Joe an I talked a lot about things in the years leading up to his passing, and Shudde Bros was one that we spoke a lot about

Shudde Bros was a great company

Major Moore

Shudde Brothers still has retail store, but as far as I know they don't make hats anymore. In 2007, Neal donated the business, inventory and all, to a place called Brookwood, which is a residential community for adults with disabilities.

 

[bluesmandan]

Did Shudde only make hats in one color? All I've been able to find is tan hats made by them. No browns? No blacks? No other colors?

 

[HudsonHawk]

Did Shudde only make hats in one color? All I've been able to find is tan hats made by them. No browns? No blacks? No other colors?

They made hats of all colors (my wife has a black one), but lighter colors were quite popular down here in south Texas, so they obviously made a lot of them.

 

[bluesmandan]

They made hats of all colors (my wife has a black one), but lighter colors were quite popular down here in south Texas, so they obviously made a lot of them.

Well, that's good to know. I didn't want to hunt in perpetuity for something that didn't exist! I'd love to see a picture of that black hat...

 

[HudsonHawk]

Well, that's good to know. I didn't want to hunt in perpetuity for something that didn't exist! I'd love to see a picture of that black hat...

Well, I don't know that it'll be easy. I'll try to get a pic of the wife's. She hasn't worn it 20+ years.

 

[bluesmandan]

What size is it?