Stetson late '50s or early '60s employee retirement presentation piece with very weird attributes

[alanfgag]

Nah... just have a small tornado of hat memories orbiting in my brain. Feels good to tie one down.

 

[carouselvic]

Be careful when using the Houston site for accurate information, it is rife with theories offered up as fact. He is a writer who could use a fact checker, but a very nice hat collection just the same.

As for the 7X hat, it is mentioned in the HAT BOX in March 1926.

 

[mmbarnes]

Nah... just have a small tornado of hat memories orbiting in my brain. Feels good to tie one down.

Ha. I bet.

That one in the link certainly is similar. Earlier, though. Presented to John Whichelmann. Interesting name... one I've never heard.

A beauty!

 

[mmbarnes]

Thanks. Good advice. Always best to get a second and third opinion. The more heads the better.

Hat Box was an industry publication, is that right? There isn't a digitized archive anywhere, is there? I gather that by the '60s, it was no longer published.

While not helpful re this hat, I'll bet that it is great fun to read. I love those American Hatter issues on Google Books.

 

[moontheloon]

Be careful when using the Houston site for accurate information, it is rife with theories offered up as fact. He is a writer who could use a fact checker, but a very nice hat collection just the same.

As for the 7X hat, it is mentioned in the HAT BOX in March 1926.

Vic I am curious to hear your thoughts on the brim

the more I look at it the more it just looks like something altered to me

I am obviously no Stetson expert ... but I am working hard to develop my eye ... this is why I ask

I very much look up to gentlemen like you and Alan

 

[carouselvic]

Thanks. Good advice. Always best to get a second and third opinion. The more heads the better.

Hat Box was an industry publication, is that right? There isn't a digitized archive anywhere, is there? I gather that by the '60s, it was no longer published.

While not helpful re this hat, I'll bet that it is great fun to read. I love those American Hatter issues on Google Books.

Vic I am curious to hear your thoughts on the brim

the more I look at it the more it just looks like something altered to me

I am obviously no Stetson expert ... but I am working hard to develop my eye ... this is why I ask

I very much look up to gentlemen like you and Alan

I wouldn't even take a guess without being able to see the hat.

THE HAT BOX was a Stetson employee magazine. I have scanned and posted all I own.

 

[carouselvic]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-hat-box.72708/

 

[mmbarnes]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-hat-box.72708/

Marvelous. Thanks for the link. Reading it should be a lot of fun.

Take it easy.

 

[FedOregon]

You're not going to find an obituary from 1972 digitally online unless you go to an obituary archival website, set up an account & pay a fee. Even then they may not have it online yet because it's now 42 yrs old.

Agreed. You can pay your fees and still come up with zero.

 

[FedOregon]

Hmmm... Maybe I'll just have to travel to Philly and dig into some microfiche.

I can see myself trying to sell that to the lovely bride. Yeah, sure...

That's how my mom did her genealogy. Libraries all over the country. She co-founded the South King County Genealogical Society in Washington state.

The other place you can look is local funeral homes. The main one here in town has records way back to the early 1900's. Problem with Philly is they have ~ 500 funeral home listings online...

My younger brother has researched and put together online pictures of headstones for our family. We went all over the countryside a couple years ago and got photos from local cemetaries and even a couple of the old pioneer cemetaries.

Sometimes you get lucky and run into someone who has already done the work for their family. Other than social security death records and the above posted census I saw nothing else for Mr Stewart. You may get lucky with an online site, and maybe not. If it was for family research, I'd pay the fee and take my chances. It's up to you if you want to lay down more $ for a hat you have in hand.

In any event, you have a wonderful hat with some great history, albeit some is still a mystery. Me, I'd just go with the "prank" history postulated on page 1 of this thread. Taking a theory regarding the custom hat into account... maybe this special hat was put together "Frankenstein" style, as Anthony posted, and all the parts were favorites of Mr Stewart. Maybe he picked the liner, sweat, etc himself and they put it together for him.

Maybe they did this knowing we'd be pulling our hair out trying to figure out what the heck happened with this hat!

Or maybe it's been customized a later date.

If someone ran across my Ruger 45 Colt Montado 50 years from now, a historian would either go nuts or he'd just say... custom work for sure. The base gun is all Ruger, but the birdshead gripframe was never offered on a Montado, the adjustable rear sight is from a j-frame Smith & Wesson snubnose 38, the front sight and base are custom made by Alan Harton of Houston, TX, the ejector rod button is all Colt, the cylinder was given a black powder chamfer and the "clickety-click" pawl was replaced with a free-spin pawl.

It's 32 caliber Lil' brother is similar... with a few distinct differences.

My Stratton western is now an outback hat, like nothing Stratton ever made....

And maybe, like MrsFed often says, I'm full of hot air.

 

[RJR]

That's how my mom did her genealogy. Libraries all over the country. She co-founded the South King County Genealogical Society in Washington state.

The other place you can look is local funeral homes. The main one here in town has records way back to the early 1900's. Problem with Philly is they have ~ 500 funeral home listings online...

My younger brother has researched and put together online pictures of headstones for our family. We went all over the countryside a couple years ago and got photos from local cemetaries and even a couple of the old pioneer cemetaries.

Sometimes you get lucky and run into someone who has already done the work for their family. Other than social security death records and the above posted census I saw nothing else for Mr Stewart. You may get lucky with an online site, and maybe not. If it was for family research, I'd pay the fee and take my chances. It's up to you if you want to lay down more $ for a hat you have in hand.

In any event, you have a wonderful hat with some great history, albeit some is still a mystery. Me, I'd just go with the "prank" history postulated on page 1 of this thread. Taking a theory regarding the custom hat into account... maybe this special hat was put together "Frankenstein" style, as Anthony posted, and all the parts were favorites of Mr Stewart. Maybe he picked the liner, sweat, etc himself and they put it together for him.

Maybe they did this knowing we'd be pulling our hair out trying to figure out what the heck happened with this hat!

Or maybe it's been customized a later date.

If someone ran across my Ruger 45 Colt Montado 50 years from now, a historian would either go nuts or he'd just say... custom work for sure. The base gun is all Ruger, but the birdshead gripframe was never offered on a Montado, the adjustable rear sight is from a j-frame Smith & Wesson snubnose 38, the front sight and base are custom made by Alan Harton of Houston, TX, the ejector rod button is all Colt, the cylinder was given a black powder chamfer and the "clickety-click" pawl was replaced with a free-spin pawl.

It's 32 caliber Lil' brother is similar... with a few distinct differences.

My Stratton western is now an outback hat, like nothing Stratton ever made....

And maybe, like MrsFed often says, I'm full of hot air.

Nice Rugers.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Maybe they did this knowing we'd be pulling our hair out trying to figure out what the heck happened with this hat!

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting. "Okay guys, Dick Stewart is retiring soon and we need to make him a hat. Now, Dick's gonna' die someday and this unique hat will probably end up in the hands of some collector who will question it's unusual construction, so let's not make it easy on him."

 

[FedOregon]

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting. "Okay guys, Dick Stewart is retiring soon and we need to make him a hat. Now, Dick's gonna' die someday and this unique hat will probably end up in the hands of some collector who will question it's unusual construction, so let's not make it easy on him."

LOL

 

[Redfokker]

Nice Rugers.

+1

 

[Redfokker]

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting. "Okay guys, Dick Stewart is retiring soon and we need to make him a hat. Now, Dick's gonna' die someday and this unique hat will probably end up in the hands of some collector who will question it's unusual construction, so let's not make it easy on him."

 

[mmbarnes]

Spent a fair portion of my Sunday closely reading a number of issues of the Hat Box. My hope is that maybe Mr. Stewart's name will show up somewhere in one of them. No such luck yet.

Regardless... reading them is a wonderful glimpse into the Stetson business during the period. I am finding information on the amount of materials used (and where they were sourced from) and market development particularly fascinating. But the tidbits about the occurrences in the lives of the employees... marriages, births, deaths, vacation activities, etc. are just wonderful. It's nice to get a feel for the people who made the product.

Thanks again for the link, Vic.

 

[moehawk]

Just a thought rolling around in my head...
Maybe the hat's construction symbolizes his time spent with the company...the high crown and 7X reflect the style and best quality Stetson made when he started, and the brim and the 100 liner represent the same for the year when he retired.
Like I said...just a thought

 

[mmbarnes]

Just a thought rolling around in my head...
Maybe the hat's construction symbolizes his time spent with the company...the high crown and 7X reflect the style and best quality Stetson made when he started, and the brim and the 100 liner represent the same for the year when he retired.
Like I said...just a thought

That IS a very cool thought. Intriguing...

NICE!!!

 

[moehawk]

That IS a very cool thought. Intriguing...

NICE!!!

I try to think out of the hat box...
...
...
My drummer must be grabbing a coffee.

 

[Frunobulax]

Sorry, I was using him. Here ya go.