Stingy 1930s

[mayserwegener]

Note the missing side dents but do not take this (or any single feature) to denote a 30s fedora.

I have a 1952 Habig fedora that also doesn't like side dents. The felt on both hats are on the thicker side but of very high quality. My point is that they were most likely made with this in mind.

 

[tonyb]

When I first came across this '50s vintage (I think) lid ...

... it had a brim about 2 1/2 or 2 5/8ths inches wide and a moderate crown. But it was dirty and misshapen and had significant moth damage, including quite conspicuous damage at its overwelted brim edge. So I cleaned it up as best I could (don't look too closely, please) and while reblocking it I turned some of the brim material into crown.

In the process I managed to rip the felt. So I "repaired" that inch-long or so tear with first-aid tape inside and out and positioned it so the bow would cover the mess, and I went with a long pleated bow so that the tape on the outside of the crown would be less likely to "telegraph" through.

The brim is cut down to just a whisker over 2 inches. I'll flange it again, to give it a bit more swoop.

Inspiration for this style comes from those great Knapp Felt magazine ads dating from 1929 and '30.

It's far from "as new" condition, but it's a presentable lid. And I got maybe 10 or 15 bucks into it, including the replacement sweatband and ribbon. This is why I seek out those godforsaken old hats, the ones that can be had for the price of lunch at Harry's Hash House. They're great learning material, and they might be made into something a self-respecting person would actually be seen wearing. And if not, well, I ain't out much.

 

[Mario]

Well, Tony, that's a great piece of work - and outright ingenious, too.

I love the look of the hat as it is now. And you're spot on: The moment I first looked at it I had to think of those beautiful Knapp-Felt ads. Way to go, Tony! :eusa_clap

 

[dhermann1]

I think also the 30's hats had more of a snap. William Powell's hats in the early Thin Man movies exhibit this.

 

[Garrett]

well done Tony :eusa_clap

 

[Flatch]

Semi-stingies, "Mad Love," 1935 (and really good movie, if you've not seen it):

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bmfOw7n-H4[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bmfOw7n-H4

 

[kaosharper1]

Deep bash and dents

I have a 1952 Habig fedora that also doesn't like side dents. The felt on both hats are on the thicker side but of very high quality. My point is that they were most likely made with this in mind.

My Art Fawcett was made to copy the Sam Spade hat in the Maltese Falcon. It has a 6" crown and a deep bash. Because of the deep bash it can't have deep dents, but little, shallow ones above the top of the crown which is also like Bogie's. I've wondered if the deep bash does limit somewhat the size of the dents you can have.

 

[mayserwegener]

My Art Fawcett was made to copy the Sam Spade hat in the Maltese Falcon. It has a 6" crown and a deep bash. Because of the deep bash it can't have deep dents, but little, shallow ones above the top of the crown which is also like Bogie's. I've wondered if the deep bash does limit somewhat the size of the dents you can have.

With the 30s Hückel I posted it doesn't matter. It is a combination of felt thickness and conditioning. I am pretty sure this was intended and the hat was meant to be worn without side dents.

 

[Garrett]

The average/most popular brim width during parts of the '20s and the early '30s was 2 1/4" to 2 1/2". Not quite stingy, but close.

In the mid '50s the '30s style of hat came back for a short time. Here's a mid '50s Stetson Royal Stetson with a 2 1/4" brim and 5" straight-sided crown. Bow in back.


James Cagney was well known for wearing feisty looking short-brimmed hats.

Cagney's hat in this shot reminds me of the two johnnyphi stetson standards that Golden Earache and myself own:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=38289

 

[Mario]

Last night I watched a Jimmy Cagney movie on the telly, "The Crowd Roars" from 1932, which sported a lot of great shots of Cagney and others with some truly gorgeous hats (and in which Cagney handled his hats by the crown all the time!). The story? Ah, yes, I believe the film actually had one, but...

Anyway, I just came across those two Cagney hat images. File under 'In quest of the tall crown and the narrow brim'... Love 'em!

This one is a real killer!

Center dent? Call it the canyon crease!​

 

[Dinerman]

 

[GoldenEraFan]

I saw on another thread that someone posted pictures from a 1942 Apparel Arts catalog here on Fedora Lounge and it showed a page explaining that men who attend sports activities prefer smaller brimmed fedora's.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

These type of hats are also good for those of...diminutive stature!

 

[Mario]

Dinerman - those are two great hats. What make are they?

 

[High Pockets]

These type of hats are also good for those of...diminutive stature!

That's why he wore that monster! I never even thought about him being short!

*note to short self*; "Need taller crowns...."

 

[babs]

I'm thinking (as a newb / no-expert) that even back then men picked brims and crowns based on build. Cagney was a little guy with fairly narrow build, so I'm thinking it was personal choice or choice of the pro's that handled his wardrobe, to go with a stingy brim so not to overwhelm the shoulders..

That plus I don't think there were any single dominant brim sizes back then any less than there are today. Except there may have been a more popular size/style over others for certain parts of those decades possibly.

maybe? My undedumacated hypothesis.

One thing's for sure.. They certainly had some serious imagination for the development of these hats all around the world in the late 1800's through the early 1900's.. along with the rest of fashion.

What's cool.. There's pictures of all the Masters of the lodge going back to the turn of the century at my Masonic Lodge on the wall. It's a cool chronological look at the evolution of men's suits, all the way back when the collars were flipped up, and the tie was on the OUTside. wow.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... I don't think there were any single dominant brim sizes back then any less than there are today. Except there may have been a more popular size/style over others for certain parts of those decades possibly.

Bingo. You're absolutely right. :eusa_clap


.

 

[Chinaski]

The taper's not from the blocking, though. That's what happens to a high crowned hat with a straight sided block (no taper), when you put in a deep center crease. Apparent reverse taper when viewed from the side, apparent taper when viewed from the front. You can seea lot of it in the spanish american war campaign hat thread

This is quite interesting, Dinerman. Without the deep center crease would you still see the apparent reverse taper? I agree with Mario, in that it's a great look. If this is a distinguishing feature of the 30's I'm a fan of 30's styled hats.

 

[Mario]

I agree with Mario, in that it's a great look. If this is a distinguishing feature of the 30's I'm a fan of 30's styled hats.

Absolutely. I think the hat fashion(s) of the 30's really stood out. I've been looking for a bright grey/white colored hat, with narrow brim and tall crown in my size for ages, but to no avail (yet). Something like that bright hat Cagney is waring in the first photo... It's already out there, waiting for me to pick it up. I know it is!

 

[Dinerman]

Dinerman - those are two great hats. What make are they?

The fuzzy one's Brill Brothers, the other one is an NRA tagged Knox.