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Stetson 3X Mode Edge

jimmy the lid

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Brad Bowers said:
That being said, my usual caveat about the Mode Edge applies: There's always the possiblity that it's not a Cavanagh Edge at all, but a Stetson Re-enforced Edge, which doesn't require welting and sewing. I haven't yet proven it one way or the other.


If I remember correctly, Brad -- the questions arose over the true nature of Stetson's Selv-Edge, not the Mode Edge. Am I right on that? Certainly, in terms of apperance, it seems like the Mode Edge really is the Stetson counterpart to the Cavanagh Edge. Thoughts?

Cheers,
JtL
 

jimmy the lid

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HarpPlayerGene said:
Yeah, I hesitated to put too many pix because I thought it might not be on topic with the title but Jimmy has started an interesting series of comparisons, so here's another couple of shots.

By all means, post away! I think it's great when a thread about a particular hat leads to a larger discussion of related topics. :)

Cheers,
JtL
 

Brad Bowers

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jimmy the lid said:
If I remember correctly, Brad -- the questions arose over the true nature of Stetson's Selv-Edge, not the Mode Edge. Am I right on that? Certainly, in terms of apperance, it seems like the Mode Edge really is the Stetson counterpart to the Cavanagh Edge. Thoughts?

Cheers,
JtL

You're right, the original Selv-Edge could be either a Cavanagh or a Re-enforced, since the Selv-Edge name roughly coincides with Stetson's patent, give or take a year, but also coincides with the expiration of the original Cavanagh patent.

A question still remains in my mind, though, if the Mode Edge is just the Selv-Edge renamed, or is it the Cavanagh process, and named to distinguish itself from the earlier Selv-Edge process?

Still on my long list of unanswered questions.lol

Brad
 

Dreispitz

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Brad Bowers said:
You're right, the original Selv-Edge could be either a Cavanagh or a Re-enforced, since the Selv-Edge name roughly coincides with Stetson's patent, give or take a year, but also coincides with the expiration of the original Cavanagh patent.

A question still remains in my mind, though, if the Mode Edge is just the Selv-Edge renamed, or is it the Cavanagh process, and named to distinguish itself from the earlier Selv-Edge process?

Still on my long list of unanswered questions.lol

Brad

If I remember right, the principle of the Cavanagh Edge is that the edge is an intended part of the felting process. Are there other similar edges that are are felted or similarily welted, a posteriory to the felting as a part of the finishing process? This would be a significant diference.

The question is, if, and to what extend such a process did exist abd if it applies to one of the discussed hats or others?
 

Brad Bowers

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Dreispitz said:
If I remember right, the principle of the Cavanagh Edge is that the edge is an intended part of the felting process. Are there other similar edges that are are felted or similarily welted, a posteriory to the felting as a part of the finishing process? This would be a significant diference.

The question is, if, and to what extend such a process did exist abd if it applies to one of the discussed hats or others?

The are other patents that build on the sucess of the Cavanagh process, and most of them are just variations on his theme, where they are still done in the felting process. One that differed was done with a special iron invented by Frank Stack, of Hat Corp., which crimped a beaded edge on a hat, simulating a felted edge.

However, the process I'm talking about was invented for Stetson by George MacKinnon, and involved special equipment that created a thickened edge during the blowing-in process with the cone. Here is the patented machine:

MacKinnon.jpg


Stetson called this the "Re-enforced Edge," in their first marketing of it in 1932. Did it become the Selv-Edge by 1933? I don't know.

It looks more subtle in the diagram, and could account for what we see on the later Mode Edge.

Regardless, of all the patents out there, nothing was quite as successful as the original Cavanagh process, and that's what we see throughout the decades. (With the possible exception of the MacKinnon patent.)

Brad
 

Dinerman

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1952- and it has both the old style Stetson crest (on the sweatband) and the new style (on the liner). Helps pin the transition date down a bit.
 

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