Stetson most expensive hat

[gtdean48]

From Stetson Facebook Posting...
STETSON FACT: in 1954, a $1,500 hat took a year to be created by 43 skilled workers dubbed "the world's most expensive hat" and was kept in a hand-tooled leather case (stewardess is sitting on the case below). The band was made of sterling silver fashioned into a double strand of rope adorned with a solid gold longhorn steer.

This hat would cost about $13,020.67 to make today.

 

[buler]

I posted some newspaper articles on this somewhere. Can't seem to find them. Here is a picture RLK posted in the Stetson Stuff thread....

 

[buler]

Found them further down in the Stetson Stuff thread....

August 20, 1954:

August 31, 1954:

Two from Sept 15, 1955:

[/QUOTE]

 

[TheDane]

What a great story! Oh, would I love to rest a hand on that rodent?

Wonder why it took 43 skilled workers a whole year, though. 43 man-years of work was hardly the case - but it's good marketing copy

Anyway, all details are doubtlessly half past perfectly executed, and the felt probably feels like angel-dusted baby curls!

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

I wonder if those 10 Americans who bought the hat still have it, or their heirs at least?

 

[gtdean48]

I can see 43 workers being involved if you start with the fur selection to make the felt body.
For the year of time, back in the day felt bodies were allowed to age for long periods of time before being worked up into a finished hat.
Given stories from current day custom hatters, I am sure they didn't do just 1 felt blank in case of a slip-up along the way...

 

[TheDane]

@gtdean48: Sure - not to mention resting periods between the different stages in the blocking/finishing process - and it may very likely have been through more than one blocking. The sentence will probably create different images on the personal Technicolor, if the reciever knows about hat production or not, though

 

[Mulceber]

Even adjusting for inflation, that isn't as expensive as some of Optimo's montecristis.

 

[GamaH]

Even adjusting for inflation, that isn't as expensive as some of Optimo's montecristis.

Or Brent Black.

 

[Historyteach24]

Even adjusting for inflation, that isn't as expensive as some of Optimo's montecristis.

This can evolve into a whole other issue all together lol

 

[Historyteach24]

I love the quote from the Scotland newspaper "the 10 men willing to buy the hats come from the wild west area of America". I LOVE IT!

 

[Walt]

So does anyone know if any have ever shown up on ebay/other auction sites or in a museum or for that matter has anyone every seen one of these in person?

Wondering who the oil men/cattle barons were who bought these! That was a heck of a lot of money back then!

 

[RossRYoung]

ISO:

Thought I’d bump this thread with (from what I’ve found) the largest hat Stetson ever made. CB at that, 10” crown and 7” would make me think this would be a contender (less the blingy hatband and case above) for most expensive as well. Really would be nice to get better pics of this extraordinary western.

 

[Yahoody]

Sam Colt, PT Barnum, JB Stetson are classic examples. "The pubic will believe anything if you write it down and tell then the same story enough times."

The original "fake news".

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Sam Colt, PT Barnum, JB Stetson are classic examples. "The pubic will believe anything if you write it down and tell then the same story enough times."

The original "fake news".

Who knows? The Sterling Silver double strand rope hatband with the Sterling Silver Longhorn on the hat at the top of this thread, could have been an Edward H. Bohlin, a Tiffany or some other famous Silversmith of the day. That would add to the expense & cost of the hat tremendously.

 

[Yahoody]

Ah, hu

I wasn't thinking it was the hat band. Silver and gold obviously upped the price more than the hat was worth. It was the "it took 43 skilled workers a whole year" that I find to be nonsense.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Ah, hu

I wasn't thinking it was the hat band. Silver and gold obviously upped the price more than the hat was worth. It was the "it took 43 skilled workers a whole year" that I find to be nonsense.

Stands to reason if Stetson was going to make a "show piece" destined for very few target sales they would have used a silversmith like Bohlin.

I couldn't find a pic of the original Tony Lama gator El Rey's with the diamonds & gold. They were said to be valued at $100,000 when they were stolen. Here are pics of the most recent version from 2011; the El Rey IV, with gold said to be valued at $50,000. It's all the same principal.

 

[Yahoody]

Of course there is a butt for every saddle.

Bowlin's work which sold for less than $1000 recently.

Fritch Brothers Silversmiths
3/8" Sterling Silver (22 Gauge thickness) Handcrafted Hatband with Sterling Silver Buckle set (20 Gauge) with 10K Gold Floral Overlays and lab grown Rubies, Adjustable to fit any hat. $995.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Of course there is a butt for every saddle.

Bowlin's work which sold for less than $1000 recently.

Fritch Brothers Silversmiths
3/8" Sterling Silver (22 Gauge thickness) Handcrafted Hatband with Sterling Silver Buckle set (20 Gauge) with 10K Gold Floral Overlays and lab grown Rubies, Adjustable to fit any hat. $995.

Can you imagine the price of this bottle of Guerrillero Tequila Reposado if the braid & wind string were braided Sterling Silver rope?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Ah, hu

I wasn't thinking it was the hat band. Silver and gold obviously upped the price more than the hat was worth. It was the "it took 43 skilled workers a whole year" that I find to be nonsense.

Certainly not if they were working on just those hats full time. However, if you said it took a master craftsman (let’s say Bob at BSHW), three years to make your hat you could also been referring to the time it took for your hat to come up in his queue rather than three years of nonstop work on the hat. I could also see the start to finish time being a year of waiting for components (silver work etc.). Taking a year with it going through 43 hands sometime within that year seems possible. This is why we have lawyers who take 50 pages to say what should normally take a paragraph: you’ve got to make sure everyone understands the words to mean the same things.