Stetson 3X Beaver - possibilities?

[Tony in Tarzana]

Another one from eBay. I won this a week or so ago, and it just showed up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8427080916

It has a 5-1/2" crown (open) and a 2-7/8" brim. It looks like it had a cattleman's crease at one time. It's in really nice shape, and based on the fact that the sweatband is brown and very soft, and the size tag reads "1/2 Mid Oval" (no "7") and that the liner is sewn in, I think it may be old enough to be a decent lid.

I think this hat has possibilities. I'm planning on sending my Open Road to Art Fawcett to be cleaned and blocked (LBJ style), and I'm tempted to send this one along as well for some of his magic touch. Any ideas?

 

[photobyalan]

That hat has almost unlimited possibilities. Could be blocked into almost anything. Me, I'd just pinch it into a fedora and wear it. It looks pretty good on you just the way it is.

That one doesn't look very old; maybe 10 years, if that. 3x is a decent felt, though, and should give you plenty of service.

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Tony, this is the perfect hat to try to block yourself. Just get the tea kettle going, steam the crown, and shape it into the fedora you desire. I think a Bogart style would look great...KC

 

[Rick Blaine]

NUTS!

%^*&%$%^%#$!- is what I am thinking.
How could've I missed that one?

Ton' , that is a peach !

sky's the limit w/ that 'un
be sure to hit us w/ some photos when you decide...

Yours, green with envy,

Rick

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

My home town

Tony,

Soooo weird!! Your hat was sold from a shop in my hometown (Roswell) in S.E. New Mexico. I don't know of that particular store....and NO.... I was born about 5-6 years after the aliens crashed.

If it's from New Mexico I can almost guarantee you it did have a Cattleman's crease at one point. Very nice and enjoy.

 

[feltfan]

I'd have to agree with photobyalan that I'd hand bash
it and wear it. That's a nice hat as is. It can play Open
Road (clearly its intended style) as happily as fedora.

I'd disagree with photobyalan that it's only 10 years old.
To judge from the classic logo on the brown sweat, as
well as the tag type, liner plastic, etc, I'd guess 1950s.
That is a nice hat.

 

[Pilgrim]

Wow! For the price, you got one big, sweet deal. The hat looks great!

Personally, I like a professional bash better than a quick one, but I don't think I could resist wearing it with a quick bash for the time being!

 

[tonyb]

Glad to see you got that hat at the right price.
As to its vintage--that brown sweatband and Stetson logo stamped thereon says "older," as feltfan observed, but, to my eyes, the cowboy-and-his-horse liner top doesn't. A couple of my ORs have the same sweatband but older-looking liner styles; and another one has a brown sweatband but the embossed Stetson logo is of a (maybe) newer style and it has the same liner as yours. Weird thing is, the (probably) newer one is every bit the equal (and perhaps the better) of the older ones, which runs contrary to the general view of the breed. But then, even the newer example is probably at least 30 years old. The crown hasn't tapered, the felt has a real nice "hand," etc. All three of them have wind strings, which also says "older." And all three of 'em are way, way better than any OR (or similar offering from J.B.S.) made in the past 20 or so years, at least any that I've ever seen up close.
It's possible, I suppose, that your liner was replaced at some point in its life. Maybe the Roswell library could determine if that retailer is still in business and, if not, when they folded the tent.

 

[tonyb]

Oh .... and that one appears to be in real nice condition, so let's hand the Bargain of the Week baton to you.

 

[J.B.]

...(Roswell) in S.E. New Mexico...after the aliens crashed...

Make certain you line this lid with tin-foil.

Big Time!!!

...so let's hand the Bargain of the Week baton to you.

Not so fast... It could be a radio beacon for the little buggers to home in on to come back and re-claim their hat?! (I heartily recommend changing your nick to "Ernest in Encino" for the next few months...) :whistling

...oh, and um...

NICE HAT!

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Thanks, folks. I knew I wouldn't need to point out the Roswell connection.

I'm thinking fedora for sure, and I just watched "Another Thin Man" a couple of nights ago, and have a hankering for a light colored wide brimmed high straight crowned version.

How 'bout a wider ribbon, some more curl to the brim, perhaps a bound edge?

And I'm starting to like the center dent unpinched crown. Sort of a pseudo-Homburg style.

Then again, I was watching "Larceny Inc (1942)," see, and it starred Edward G. Robinson, see. He had a Homburg, see, but it had a definite pinch, see? Yeah.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

OK, gave it a quick bash with cold water. We're having 100+F days here in the San Fernando Valley, and until my Cuenca shows up, this hat with its light color, broad brim, relatively thin felt and high crown will be my hot weather hat.

When the Cuenca from PanamaBob arrives, I'll probably send this one out for a re-style. Until then, here it is.

 

[Rick Blaine]

VERY SHARP....

... indeed, Tony. I think you nailed it, I wouldn't change a thing.
We are hovering around 90 for a high here in E. TN & I just can't get away with felt any more 'til fall except in the very early am ... ah, to experience heat without humidity... you lucky Califorinos ...

Regards,

Rick

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Thanks! I wore it to work this evening and got some nice compliments, and it was fun showing the Roswell label. Wouldn't it be funny if the hat was from 1947, too?

Summer isn't the best time for felt, it's true. This one, though isn't bad, the felt is nice and thin, and the high crown provides some air space above my scalp. The center dent helps as it doesn't "hug" my scalp like a c-crown. The nearly 3" brim is just the ticket when the sun beats down, and the hat's southwestern style fits the season perfectly.

Still, I end up taking it off when I'm in the shade, waving it around a bit so that the perspiration evaporates and cools off, and it's much cooler when I put it back on.

And low humidity is wonderful. I reccomend it highly.

 

[shoeshineboy]

i don't know what you are looking for...

....but I like what you did here...very nice looking the way it is....however Art can do a bunch of this to make it look very different, too.

your choice, but I really like what I see...

mark the shoeshine boy

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Roswell the hat

I'm just goin' with the flow. The hat (now named "Roswell") will tell me what it wants to be.

 

[shoeshineboy]

NOW THE PREVIOUS OWNER WANTS IT BACK !!!!!

HE IS READING YOUR PAYPAL RECEIPT TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU LIVE !!!!


mark tssb

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

No way that guy wears a 7-1/2! lol