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Side By Side/ Hat Comparisons

triple-d

A-List Customer
Messages
420
Location
Arkansas
Great Toppers Alan..............you have a very nice collection!! I do appreciate you sharing them as you do!!
 

Daniele Tanto

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,217
Location
Verona - Italia
The photographic set (the garden near my office) is still available after the flood.
This is the issue to complete the "fuzzy" chapter of Italian hats with the sun on the long hair.
Comparison is between two browns. A Guerra and a Barbisio
ok7ms5.jpg

On right Barbisio, on left Guerra 1855.
The Barbisio is beaver and Guerra is marked fur felt.
ix9qnm.jpg

2nhp5z6.jpg

There is a slight difference in shape. The crown of Barbisio is more full and Guerra is very italian style oriented.
bdqe6h.jpg

2w3z12r.jpg

The ribbon is dark brown in the Guerra (4 cm. high) and more chocolate in the Barbisio (4.5 cm. high)
Crown is around 10 cm. low point, slightly higher in Barbisio and brims are 5 cm. both.
ok7ms5.jpg

Felt is very similar at the touch, a little bit more soft in Guerra, the long haired finishing is excellent in both.
Hope for a better weather.... this could be their last month around Verona and suburbs :)
 
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Short Balding Guy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,871
Location
Minnesota, USA
Daniele; Thanks for the posts. Interesting long haired felts. I do not have any "fuzzy" felts and have been watching with interest to the posts showcasing this feature.

Best, Eric -
 
Messages
15,073
Location
Buffalo, NY
great pictures Daniele... I'm reminded of visiting Castellana Grotte on a school trip with my daughter some years ago (she was ten). Our Italian hosts were all wearing fur coats against the late winter cold. The Buffalonians were all in t-shirts. It was 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit.
 

Daniele Tanto

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,217
Location
Verona - Italia
Alan you were in the deep south of Italy. Apulia is in some parts really tempered in other more cold during winter. It is very different from here, the North and completely different from Buffalo. I put on my phone the daily weather of Buffallo since you post the storm during late fall with the first and abundant snow, so I can see how freeze you are.
On the other hand in summer the parts change like in a ballet. Foggia, north of Castellana, is one of the warmest town in Italy.

Thanks for the appreciation to everyone.
I do my best as retired photographer to set up a photographic set with nothing. This is the challenge!
 
Messages
15,073
Location
Buffalo, NY
The Felted Edge

For my money, a beautiful bound brim edge from Borsalino is the cat's meow... but I thought I would have a closer look at some felted edges to improve my attitude on yet another a bleak and snowy day in Western NY.

imperial.jpg


The oldest felted edge in my collection - circa 1939, $15 Stetson Imperial with mode-edge, a felted edge that is faintly there.

intrigue.jpg


Another Stetson mode-edge a decade later, 7X Clear Beaver Quality upbrim - high quality hat with a meatier edge.

knox20.jpg


Knox 20, custom-edge.

knox40.jpg


... and its costlier cousin, the Knox 40.

pellermure.jpg


Private label fifteen for Peller & Mure, Buffalo... 1950s, perhaps Biltmore.

disney40.jpg


Disney's forty dollar hat.

borso1.jpg


A Borsalino felted edge, one of two.

borso2.jpg


Borsalino two of two. Borsalino's bound and welted edges are among the most beautifully crafted brims I've handled. The softly finished felt seems a challenge for the felted edge.

stack.jpg


Frank Stack silver beaver 50, which is made by Maclachlan. Impressive.
 
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Messages
15,073
Location
Buffalo, NY
The finest example of a felted edge that I have seen is in this Knox One Hundred - no longer in my collection for a closer view.

knox100.jpg


And to close, a Cavanagh from the late 1950s. I would like to handle an earlier high end hat from Cavanagh. If you have one, please share!

cav.jpg
 
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Messages
17,466
Location
Maryland
Fantastic comparison! I actually have a late 1940s early 1950s TONAK with a felted edge. I always assumed it was an over welt but close inspection revealed otherwise.

14853932735_faac8eb64a_c.jpg


14667362059_3fecb1ecd2_c.jpg
 

seabass

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,161
Location
nor cal
Excellent Photos Alan & Info
Wonderful colors & close up view of those edges
Steve & Daniele Excellent as well !
 
Messages
10,524
Location
DnD Ranch, Cherokee County, GA
Here is a side by side of a vintage Royal Deluxe Stratoliner & modern Premiere Stratoliner (2 models of the latter).

The vintage has a 2 inch sweat with a 5 1/2 inch open crown
IMG_20150326_191535_868.jpg

The most recent modern Silverbelly Premiere (came in 150th Anniversary box) has a 1 5/8 inch sweat with a 5 3/4 inch open crown
IMG_20150326_191522_074.jpg

My first purchased Mink Premiere has a 1 3/4 inch sweat with a 5 3/4 inch open crown
IMG_20150326_191503_155.jpg

Side by side vintage & SB Premiere
IMG_20150326_191307_477.jpg

Side by side 2 Premieres
IMG_20150326_191330_801.jpg
 

tommyK

One Too Many
Messages
1,789
Location
Berwick, PA
Thanks for the new and old comparison. A vintage "Royal Deluxe" Stratoliner is a rare treat as well. Seems most were just "Royal".
 
Messages
10,524
Location
DnD Ranch, Cherokee County, GA
The felt on the vintage is lighter than the Premiere but feels tighter & better hand (dead felt for sure).
The Mink Premiere is heavier than the Silverbelly, some due to the wider sweatband but also the felt feels heavier.
The vintage has been in an original Stratoliner box so its flange is more cupped than Premieres, so brim seems thinner but measures just as wide when flattened.
I have some vintage Royal Strats that seem to be more on par with the Premieres. The vintage Royal Deluxe is a notch above them all if not a few notches...

I also prefer the sweat in my first Premiere over this one with script Premiere Stratoliner markings.
IMG_20150326_191513_006.jpg
 
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Messages
10,524
Location
DnD Ranch, Cherokee County, GA
Nice comparisons. Would you say the SB Premiere is worth the $$$?

At the discounted price, $160, I'd say it is close.
If it had the Royal Deluxe sweatband of the earlier Premiere Strats, I'd say yes.
IMG_20150326_191833_552.jpg


The script Premiere Stratoliner sweat is a step backwards & a little disappointing to me when I got it.
I also was disappointed the liner didn't have Royal Deluxe crest like I saw in 2015 catalog.

I don't know all the supply chain costs wrapped up in it from felt body coming out of Longview to final assemble in Garland, but I'd think this should be a $150-$160 hat, definitely not $225. Especially not knowing the felt composition....
 
Messages
15,073
Location
Buffalo, NY
Thanks for sharing these Tom.

For the life of me, I can't understand why they've opted to use a staple gun to attach the ribbon to the hat body... a very noticeable and wrong place to remove skilled hands from the process IMO.
 

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