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Stetson 5X Clear Beaver, 1942

Should I wear this hat or keep it as a collector's item?

  • Wear this hat (with care)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Keep this hat safe and display it on occasion

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
  • Poll closed .

Just Daniel

One Too Many
Messages
1,456
The National Recovery Act went live in 1933 and was found unconstitutional in 1935. Those tags are fun to find, and far less common than the OPA (~41-47) and OPS (~51-53) wartime price control tags.

Wonderful hat!


Thanks all, it is a great hat.



interesting, I had it pegged on late 30s with the size tag but will have to check out the NRA reference too
 
Messages
15,089
Location
Buffalo, NY

RossRYoung

Practically Family
Messages
955
Great piece of history. Please add the LOTXXXX stamp if you can get to it.

I knew I forgot a photo, I’ll also add it to the appropriate thread. #6876
E9174D8A-1590-4EE7-AA2B-B01B52F973F5.jpeg
 
Messages
15,089
Location
Buffalo, NY
Fantastic addition - thank you. LotXXXX numbers with dating provenance are so rare and valuable. I have been of the mind that the Stetson XXXXX imprint seen in your hat was a style that originated in the 1940s and continued into the post-war era. Great to have evidence that it dates back at least to the early 1930s. Congratulations on this wonderful time capsule hat.
 

RossRYoung

Practically Family
Messages
955
Fantastic addition - thank you. LotXXXX numbers with dating provenance are so rare and valuable. I have been of the mind that the Stetson XXXXX imprint seen in your hat was a style that originated in the 1940s and continued into the post-war era. Great to have evidence that it dates back at least to the early 1930s. Congratulations on this wonderful time capsule hat.

Thanks so much Alan, I always greatly appreciate your insight and input. I had it pegged at late 30’s early 40s but with the Lot and NRA tag, I’ll feel comfortable saying early 30s. Cheers
 

RossRYoung

Practically Family
Messages
955
5x is back, and it is certainly cleaned up and looking much better. However, the sweat has been replaced. I have a variety of different emotions and reactions to this whole cleaning experience (my first time sending out), as I felt I was left completely in the dark on the progress and the decision to have the sweat replaced. This must have been suspected by the hatter though, because I came back to work and the hat is here with no notice of shipment, nor attempt to collect for the work done. Odd part is, the old sweat still looks perfectly fine to me (though I am no expert) and fits with room over my 60ish cm noggin. I’ll be posting better photos in the comparison thread, I figured it’d be nice to make another CB contribution including this new lid. I’ll be keeping it center fire for now since I think it’s a fitting crease for this early 30’s western. Last photo shows a curious 27 & 31 stamped above the LOTXXXX:
24737FD1-7731-455F-B26E-5A798449BD15.jpeg


FA51CA43-6E48-4DB7-8162-FE6FDC81565B.jpeg
CCE12DF3-A046-4EC2-BAB3-7D22154F5CDB.jpeg
E13375F9-A9FC-45B3-8B1A-9D8EAEBA17C3.jpeg

357BC989-4864-4439-9913-C0C148D6117E.jpeg
 
Messages
11,412
Location
Alabama
5x is back, and it is certainly cleaned up and looking much better. However, the sweat has been replaced. I have a variety of different emotions and reactions to this whole cleaning experience (my first time sending out), as I felt I was left completely in the dark on the progress and the decision to have the sweat replaced. This must have been suspected by the hatter though, because I came back to work and the hat is here with no notice of shipment, nor attempt to collect for the work done. Odd part is, the old sweat still looks perfectly fine to me (though I am no expert) and fits with room over my 60ish cm noggin. I’ll be posting better photos in the comparison thread, I figured it’d be nice to make another CB contribution including this new lid. I’ll be keeping it center fire for now since I think it’s a fitting crease for this early 30’s western. Last photo shows a curious 27 & 31 stamped above the LOTXXXX:
View attachment 259568

View attachment 259573 View attachment 259581 View attachment 259579
View attachment 259578

Ross, the hat looks great. Shame about the sweat and though the leather looks great, they may have felt that the reed tape was too fragile to survive additional stitching. I have a couple of old Stetson’s with that type reed tape, sort of a pale green coated, light canvas and they do break down and sometimes get loose. It happened to my NQ and I was able to save it. Not perfect but wearable.
 

RossRYoung

Practically Family
Messages
955
Ross, the hat looks great. Shame about the sweat and though the leather looks great, they may have felt that the reed tape was too fragile to survive additional stitching. I have a couple of old Stetson’s with that type reed tape, sort of a pale green coated, light canvas and they do break down and sometimes get loose. It happened to my NQ and I was able to save it. Not perfect but wearable.

Thanks BB, I appreciate the insight and comments. I just wish I had the option to leave as is if I knew it meant the sweat was getting replaced. A bummer but I’ll get over it, might even look into getting the original stitched back down the road.
 
Messages
15,089
Location
Buffalo, NY
5x is back, and it is certainly cleaned up and looking much better. However, the sweat has been replaced. I have a variety of different emotions and reactions to this whole cleaning experience (my first time sending out), as I felt I was left completely in the dark on the progress and the decision to have the sweat replaced. This must have been suspected by the hatter though, because I came back to work and the hat is here with no notice of shipment, nor attempt to collect for the work done. Odd part is, the old sweat still looks perfectly fine to me (though I am no expert) and fits with room over my 60ish cm noggin. I’ll be posting better photos in the comparison thread, I figured it’d be nice to make another CB contribution including this new lid. I’ll be keeping it center fire for now since I think it’s a fitting crease for this early 30’s western. Last photo shows a curious 27 & 31 stamped above the LOTXXXX:
View attachment 259568

View attachment 259573 View attachment 259581 View attachment 259579
View attachment 259578

Great to see again. Who did the restoration work?
The numbers above the LOTXXXX on the left reference the sweatband width (2”). Not sure on the right - often the number 81 appears. Sometimes on older hats the words “stiff” or “soft” were stamped, either the character of the leather or the type of hat...
4DFF9A9E-9467-4680-A6E0-14ECB1607E60.jpeg
 

RossRYoung

Practically Family
Messages
955
Original work was done at VS, and the experience was not ideal. I understand the volume of their business inhibits the ability to have a 1on1 with each customer. Though I did give explicit details into what I wanted, which included saying please disregard the LO if it involves changing anything original to the hat, the sweat was replaced and the ribbon was flipped to move a stain towards the back of the hat.

After almost 3 years, several inquiries, several conversations & cross country moves (for each of us), our very own @Jesse John was able to do what literally no other hatter would touch… taking this incredibly rare hat back to it’s original form! Seeing his journey from east coast photog to AZ hatter in under a year has been awesome, but getting him to complete this nearly 3 year journey for me was the perfect finish! Thank you again, Jesse!

0E55D8AF-3E34-46FA-BB5F-781A535B1739.jpeg
BACAD9E7-6119-4584-9383-73B46B84E27F.jpeg
58FEEC5D-A714-4149-8ACA-94493A146D52.jpeg
 

Jesse John

One of the Regulars
Messages
242
Location
Tucson, Arizona
Original work was done at VS, and the experience was not ideal. I understand the volume of their business inhibits the ability to have a 1on1 with each customer. Though I did give explicit details into what I wanted, which included saying please disregard the LO if it involves changing anything original to the hat, the sweat was replaced and the ribbon was flipped to move a stain towards the back of the hat.

After almost 3 years, several inquiries, several conversations & cross country moves (for each of us), our very own @Jesse John was able to do what literally no other hatter would touch… taking this incredibly rare hat back to it’s original form! Seeing his journey from east coast photog to AZ hatter in under a year has been awesome, but getting him to complete this nearly 3 year journey for me was the perfect finish! Thank you again, Jesse!

View attachment 525610
View attachment 525612
View attachment 525611
Appreciate the challenge and the opportunity to work on such a rarity. Glad it meets your expectations my friend!
 

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