Stetson "The Sovereign Twenty"

[MikeinRome]

Such a beauty!

I am in love with these wide brimmed Stetson 20s. I've got three 20s but only one wide-brimmed (2 5/8) and I am infatuated with it. The smaller brims are also nice (both of mine are 2 1/4) but the smaller crown that comes with it really loses something in translation. The 20 felt just cries out to be expansive.

I start getting nervous about buying a Sovereign Twenty that doesn't have stars in the logo of at least either the liner or sweatband, and I prefer stars in both. And I won't buy one unless it has the older mfg tags. This is because some of these Stetson dress hats start to fall off in quality around the mid 50's, in my opinion, altho others may differ on this point. However, this hat is still high quality felt that could pass for a late 40's hat and is every bit as good as my Dobbs Twenty hats of this period.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I start getting nervous about buying a Sovereign Twenty that doesn't have stars in the logo of at least either the liner or sweatband, and I prefer stars in both. And I won't buy one unless it has the older mfg tags. This is because some of these Stetson dress hats start to fall off in quality around the mid 50's, in my opinion, altho others may differ on this point. However, this hat is still high quality felt that could pass for a late 40's hat and is every bit as good as my Dobbs Twenty hats of this period.

I'm lucky that I've only got one hat with stars at all (on both logo and sweat).

I remember when I first started traveling full time and landed in SE Asia. I could not afford anything more than a dorm room with a fan for accommodation. Then I started making more money and upgraded to my own room with fan. Then I hit the big time and got my own room with AC. After that, I was ruined for anything with a fan, and don't even mention a dorm bed to me!

Sometimes being unfamiliar with better quality is a true benefit.

Having said that, my wide-brimmed 20 is exactly like yours on the inside, whereas my smaller brimmed ones are later models, so maybe it is also the earlier felt that I am in love with and not the wider brim. One of the stingy brims is fantastic, though - I wear it a lot in the colder months and it always attracts compliments. But I can't do anything with the felt because the crown is just too demure. The other stingy is forgettable, unfortunately.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Stetson The Sovereign Twenty. Guessing mid 1950s. 2 ½” brim with a Mode/felted edge. The open crown is 5 ½” tall. Very nice hat with mid-weight or slightly heavier, but it still takes a dry crease and it has a great hand.

 

[Rmccamey]

Another nice one, Brent. A Silverbelly like that in my size has been avoiding me for years.

Stetson The Sovereign Twenty. Guessing mid 1950s. 2 ½” brim with a Mode/felted edge. The open crown is 5 ½” tall. Very nice hat with mid-weight or slightly heavier, but it still takes a dry crease and it has a great hand.

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[BobHufford]

Sneaking in another western: 1940s or early 1950s.

 

[Mcox47]

Been some time since I've seen anything with the Sanger Brothers name on it. Used to be my mother's favorite store in Dallas.

Your time range should be right. Sanger was merged with A. Harris stores to become Sanger-Harris when both companies were bought out. I think that happened in 1960.

 

[BobHufford]

Took a chance on this one with bad photos and was sad to see the moths got to it.

 

[MikeinRome]

Sneaking in another western: 1940s or early 1950s.

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Just bought this great Sovereign Twenty from Bob. Love it!

 

[BobHufford]

Just bought this great Sovereign Twenty from Bob. Love it!

Thanks again Mike! It’s found a great home. Wear it in good health.

 

[hambone71]

I don’t believe I’ve ever posted this one. I’ve had this Sovereign OR for quite some time now. It appears, to me anyways, to be late 50’s or early 60’s. Still has the keyhole size tag but the logo’d liner looks like it may have been a later offering. I do know that the Manila colored size tag is correct to long oval sizes. Maybe one of you gurus can narrow it down to a decade. There are no stickers behind the liner, with the exception of the original $20 price tag, which I still keep behind the sweat.

I have a few vintage Open Roads but this is the only one I have in a cattleman’s crease. It seemed to want this variation of a cattleman, with a shallow center dent and the side dents just a bit tighter toward the front. The felt is fantastic and very soft. Very easy to crease.

 

[Rmccamey]

That's one of those on my wish list.

I don’t believe I’ve ever posted this one. I’ve had this Sovereign OR for quite some time now. It appears, to me anyways, to be late 50’s or early 60’s. Still has the keyhole size tag but the logo’d liner looks like it may have been a later offering. I do know that the Manila colored size tag is correct to long oval sizes. Maybe one of you gurus can narrow it down to a decade. There are no stickers behind the liner, with the exception of the original $20 price tag, which I still keep behind the sweat. View attachment 590872 View attachment 590873 View attachment 590874 View attachment 590875 View attachment 590876 View attachment 590877

I have a few vintage Open Roads but this is the only one I have in a cattleman’s crease. It seemed to want this variation of a cattleman, with a shallow center dent and the side dents just a bit tighter toward the front. The felt is fantastic and very soft. Very easy to crease.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I don’t believe I’ve ever posted this one. I’ve had this Sovereign OR for quite some time now. It appears, to me anyways, to be late 50’s or early 60’s. Still has the keyhole size tag but the logo’d liner looks like it may have been a later offering. I do know that the Manila colored size tag is correct to long oval sizes. Maybe one of you gurus can narrow it down to a decade. There are no stickers behind the liner, with the exception of the original $20 price tag, which I still keep behind the sweat. View attachment 590872 View attachment 590873 View attachment 590874 View attachment 590875 View attachment 590876 View attachment 590877

I have a few vintage Open Roads but this is the only one I have in a cattleman’s crease. It seemed to want this variation of a cattleman, with a shallow center dent and the side dents just a bit tighter toward the front. The felt is fantastic and very soft. Very easy to crease.

I think you are right-on with the age of the hat. Probably near the end of the run. This era has been hit and miss for me, but some have been very nice.

 

[hambone71]

Thanks, Brent. This one has been a hit for me. One of my better quality felts. I just need to wear it more.

I think you are right-on with the age of the hat. Probably near the end of the run. This era has been hit and miss for me, but some have been very nice.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I don’t believe I’ve ever posted this one. I’ve had this Sovereign OR for quite some time now. It appears, to me anyways, to be late 50’s or early 60’s. Still has the keyhole size tag but the logo’d liner looks like it may have been a later offering. I do know that the Manila colored size tag is correct to long oval sizes. Maybe one of you gurus can narrow it down to a decade. There are no stickers behind the liner, with the exception of the original $20 price tag, which I still keep behind the sweat. View attachment 590872 View attachment 590873 View attachment 590874 View attachment 590875 View attachment 590876 View attachment 590877

I have a few vintage Open Roads but this is the only one I have in a cattleman’s crease. It seemed to want this variation of a cattleman, with a shallow center dent and the side dents just a bit tighter toward the front. The felt is fantastic and very soft. Very easy to crease.

Oh yeah, more JBS 20 action!!

Gorgeous hat Phil - very attractive interior!

So the latest model 25 I have (the only 25, actually) has a thin, black sweatband. I reckon that’s gotta be the end of that run and I’ve seen 20s with the same so I’m assuming the 20 and 25 lines ended around the same time (but that’s totally an assumption).

The latest model 20 I have has the same liner as you show here and also a brown sweatband, but the band is thin instead of wide like yours. That hat has noticeably inferior felt compared to the earlier three 20s I have.

I am hypothesizing that yours is two stages from the end - it goes from wide brown sweatband with this liner to thin brown sweatband with this liner to thin black sweatband.

Of course, I could be way off the mark on this theory as well.

I don’t know when the line ended but I’m guessing mid 60s. I’ve read this entire thread before but I don’t remember there being much historical discussion. That was some time ago though and my memory was never so good to begin with - I should reread it.

Here are photos from eBay of what I take to be a late model 20 - my late model 25 looks exactly like this and I assume this is the end of the line for these models.

 

[hambone71]

Oh yeah, more JBS 20 action!!

Gorgeous hat Phil - very attractive interior!

So the latest model 25 I have (the only 25, actually) has a thin, black sweatband. I reckon that’s gotta be the end of that run and I’ve seen 20s with the same so I’m assuming the 20 and 25 lines ended around the same time (but that’s totally an assumption).

The latest model 20 I have has the same liner as you show here and also a brown sweatband, but the band is thin instead of wide like yours. That hat has noticeably inferior felt compared to the earlier three 20s I have.

I am hypothesizing that yours is two stages from the end - it goes from wide brown sweatband with this liner to thin brown sweatband with this liner to thin black sweatband. That’s just a hypothesis and the yellow keyhole tag throws me off a little because I associate that with earlier models.

Of course, I could be way off the mark on this theory as well.

I don’t know when the line ended but I’m guessing mid 60s. I’ve read this entire thread before but I don’t remember there being much historical discussion. That was some time ago though and my memory was never so good to begin with - I should reread it.

Here are photos from eBay of what I take to be a late model 20 - my late model 25 looks exactly like this and I assume this is the end of the line for these models.

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That’s helpful information, Nathan! The felt quality along with the logo and sweat make me think mid to late 50’s. It’s the liner itself, with the little logos all over it, that throws me off. I have other 50’s era Stetsons with the yellow card stock keyhole size tag that indicates long oval. I’m going to assume late 50’s.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

That’s helpful information, Nathan! The felt quality along with the logo and sweat make me think mid to late 50’s. It’s the liner itself, with the little logos all over it, that throws me off. I have other 50’s era Stetsons with the yellow card stock keyhole size tag that indicates long oval. I’m going to assume late 50’s.

Yeah, I assume the same. I reckon it’s useful for online shopping to avoid the thin brown bands - like I say, mine with the thin brown sweat band has noticeably inferior felt.

I didn’t realize the yellow keyhole tag is specifically long-oval, but it makes sense. I thought it marked an earlier time than the black and white keyhole size tags. Thanks for pointing out it’s for long-oval

Here is the thin brown sweatband, the Sovereign debossing has less room around the edges:

Wide brown band has more space:

I only show that because it can be hard to tell online how wide a sweatband is.

(Edit: I should also note that my thin brown sweatband does not have the initials sprinkled around the liner like yours does, so that could also be a distinction to look for but I’m not as convinced about that as I am about the sweatband width.)

 

[StoryPNW]

After reading through this thread and looking at all the terrific hats I feel fairly confident that my $20 John Batterson is likely a sibling, if not a twin of the Sovereign 20. It has wonderful felt, a 6" open crown, a 2 5/8" felted edge,a 2" ribbon and a $20 price tag. I hope you all dont mind, I thought I would add it here.

 

[wsmontana]

Here is a stingy Mode Edge Sovereign 20. No size tag but it is a bit loose on me so likely a 7 1/2. Interesting ribbon with darker thread stripes — not sure if this was intentional or a defect.

 

[Mighty44]

Here is a stingy Mode Edge Sovereign 20. No size tag but it is a bit loose on me so likely a 7 1/2. Interesting ribbon with darker thread stripes — not sure if this was intentional or a defect.


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That’s one of the coolest stingies ever.

 

[wsmontana]

That’s one of the coolest stingies ever.

Thanks David!