Stetson Austral....THE ORIGINAL

[hatophile]

Great Hat!

 

[Joshbru3]

Congrats Josh! Very cool Stetson. I'd eyed that thing a few times myself. I'm glad you got it.

What a splendid old Stetson, Josh, and a great tale to boot!
It was meant to be yours, but are you really sure it isn't a size 7-1/2? lol

Josh, great story on a great hat! Glad it ended up where it did, and glad you posted it here. As being still rather new to hats (less than a year collecting), I actually had no idea there WAS an "original" Austral, happy to hear of the heritage with that name (you may recall I have one of the current maker hats by that name). And I have to say, the crown of the new one looks very much like your original, glad to see they didn't change everything (yes, it's wider and flatter in brim).
Thanks for sharing this beauty and it's history with us!

Congrats! That is a very fine hat and a wonderful story to go with it.

Josh, Great pickup! Looking forward to more detailed photos.

Sweet!

Fantastic hat, and a great story. I've got one that looks pretty similar.

Josh, your enthusiasm in tracking down special hats is commendable.
This one looks to be a special find, sitting there under everyone's nose for a long time. Enjoy!

Josh your hunch paid off. Great research on the hat.

This is awesome. They ought to have kept the same specs for the modern Austral. That slight flange looks almost like it could be lightly snapped down if you so desire, no? An almost perfect western/urban hybrid, IMO.

Great Hat!

WOW!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! I'm ecstatic with all the wonderful words regarding the Austral. Like I commented to Art, the story is really one of the best parts about vintage hat collecting, and collecting in general. I have been trying to get a Vintage Western style Stetson forever now, but it seems like every time I throw out a bid on EBAY, I always get outbidded. T Rick, I really like the new style of the Austral, but whats interesting is that the Modern version looks to be of western weight and VERY stiff. The original Austral not only has that slight flange to the brim, but the felt is really not much thicker than a standard weight fedora of the period. I now have two Early Clear Nutria hats and each one of them have stiff crowns, but the level of "stiffness" is completely different from modern Stetson Westerns. Because the Austral only has a 4 1/2 inch crown, its meant to wear open crown or with very minor "dimples" on the top of the crown as shown in the original 1916 advertisement and Dinerman's example. Even though the hat is meant to wear open crown, you could still put a crease in the crown if you wanted and it would stay without any steam. I know I've said it a million times, but the early shellac that was used in the early Stetsons is just nothing short of wonderful. When steam hits the hat, the 100 year old shellac softens right up and allows you to put any kind of crease you desire and then within a very short amount of time it stiffens right up. Its literally the perfect amount of stiffness and NOT cardboard like. Bowlerman, I most definitely agree that Stetson should have kept the same specs for the new Austral. Even though the only noticeable difference is the brim size, the slight flange made it very distinguishable from the Boss of the Plains. The original boss of the plains had a 4 1/2 - 5 inch open crown and a 3 1/2 inch very flat, non bound brim. It seems like for the Modern Austral, Stetson wanted to combine features of the Boss of the Plains and the Austral. The modern version features a bound 3 1/2 inch edge, a 4 1/2 inch crown, and very flat campaign style brim. They should have made one in rabbit fur felt instead of Buffalo. I've never felt Buffalo felt, but I'm sure Buffalo makes a better Steak than it does a hat. You could "snap" the original brim if you wanted, but it doesn't look right because it has such a slight curve to the flange, that the brim is flat for most of the way and only really curls towards the end. Its most definitely made to wear "up-brim." Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY FOR THE WONDERFUL COMMENTS. I TRULY APPRECIATE IT!!!!

 

[Joshbru3]

Fantastic hat, and a great story. I've got one that looks pretty similar.

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Dinerman, those hats could be brothers! Very cool! It seems that yours is a bit more of a grey color than mine. The picture of my Austral was taken in the morning so the color is a bit darker than it really is, but I would say that the true color is a lighter shade of olive/tan. I notice that yours is a NO.1 quality. I wonder what the price difference was between a version made in Clear Nutria and No.1 quality? What do you think the top of the line felt would have been for this model? A 3X quality?

As a side note, I notice that on your hat, most of the mothing is on the crown and not the brim. Its interesting because mine is the same exact way. The brim has almost no mothing at all, where the crown has the majority of all that is on the hat. I wonder if this has to do with the amount of stiffener applied to the brim verses the crown, or possibly this is just a coincidence.

 

[hatophile]

Josh,

You need now a buckskin jacket, high top cowboy boots, and a Sharps carbine. You'll really look the part then.

 

[Joshbru3]

Josh,

You need now a buckskin jacket, high top cowboy boots, and a Sharps carbine. You'll really look the part then.

LOL, well last time I was in Texas, I promised myself that I would buy a really nice pair of cowboy boots this year. I've always wanted a Carbine and I think my father has a old buckskin coat that might fit me.....

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Totally from (highly fallible) memory, I seem to recall that the (Stetson) No. 1 Quality was just that: No. 1 (and no 3X would improve on that). I must immediately add that a "Clear Nutria", in my mind, is always something very special. I really don't want to open sterile discussions by commenting in this way, though, and wish to add that your hat is a fabulous piece of historic wear. Personally, I tend to the "squeeky clean" like-new looking hats, but I admit such an old, fully weathered and subjected to considerable wear and tear hat has that "something" nothing new can possibly ever match. Congratulations!
Paul

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

AND, I went back to look at the second picture in this thread, the unbashed crown, and it struck me how this hat has exactly the same crown as my Stetson campaign hat. Which is nutria, and a real tough hat, which I only wear in winter and when rain is more probable than not...

 

[HatsEnough]

A Sharp's carbine, eh? You know how much them things cost? I've paid less for cars!

 

[Justin B]

EMF actually makes a decent reproduction of the Sharps business rifle in 45-70 for under $1400 retail, which means you can probably pick one up for around a grand if you try hard. I love me some historic rifles and pistols....which reminds me, I owe Josh some pictures of some historic old western hats I've got.

 

[HatsEnough]

EMF actually makes a decent reproduction of the Sharps business rifle in 45-70 for under $1400 retail, which means you can probably pick one up for around a grand if you try hard. I love me some historic rifles and pistols....which reminds me, I owe Josh some pictures of some historic old western hats I've got.

Back in the 80s I had a Sharps carbine military model. Wish I never sold it.

 

[Joshbru3]

Totally from (highly fallible) memory, I seem to recall that the (Stetson) No. 1 Quality was just that: No. 1 (and no 3X would improve on that). I must immediately add that a "Clear Nutria", in my mind, is always something very special. I really don't want to open sterile discussions by commenting in this way, though, and wish to add that your hat is a fabulous piece of historic wear. Personally, I tend to the "squeeky clean" like-new looking hats, but I admit such an old, fully weathered and subjected to considerable wear and tear hat has that "something" nothing new can possibly ever match. Congratulations!
Paul

AND, I went back to look at the second picture in this thread, the unbashed crown, and it struck me how this hat has exactly the same crown as my Stetson campaign hat. Which is nutria, and a real tough hat, which I only wear in winter and when rain is more probable than not...

Thank you very much, PabloElFlamenco! These old Nutria hats are extremely tough. Whats interesting is that as tough as they are, they seem to be very finely finished and extremely high quality. Traits that don't always come through with modern Stetsons.

 

[Joshbru3]

The detailed pictures....

 

[Joshbru3]

The detailed pictures....(cont)

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Re: the Austral. So "The Fray" is not a model designation? Does it just refer to the sweatband?

bk

 

[Neophyte]

I think it refers to the ribbon. Anyway, fantastic shot, Joshbru, and it looks great on your noggin'. It's the stuff jealousy is made of lol.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

There is no taper to the crown of the hat at all, makes it appear much higher then it probably is, and all the age just makes that hat all that much nicer. I was thinking that hat may be the "daddy" of all the hats so far!

 

[feltfan]

I think it refers to the ribbon. Anyway, fantastic shot, Joshbru, and it looks great on your noggin'. It's the stuff jealousy is made of lol.

The Fray is the sweat band manufacturer. Note that the logo says, "Improved Sweat".
There is a thread dedicated to this feature (to which this hat should be added).

Extremely nice and interesting hat. I have also never seen a "corrected" reorder sticker.
The hat is nice and clean, too.

And aaaaahhhhh that Clear Nutria.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Wow Josh the cleaned up great. This must be the crowning jewel of your collection.

 

[hatophile]

Josh, in that last pic, you give the aura of some of those old cowboy photos, staring into the camera as if to stave off a stampede. That hat is most definitely an incarnation of the BOTP. I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[Sam Craig]

Ditto
The first thing I thought when I saw the 'after' shots was Boss of the Plains!

Stetson history, man!

Congrats,

Sam