Stratoliner Pin, could it be original?

[Cane Rod Maker]

I got this Stratoliner Pin, and I am comparing it to a reproduction pin which I have. This pin looks aged and I am just curious if I have an original. Any opinions?

The dark line in the top of the pin is not visible except for in the photo; you'll also see there was some red paint on the engine cowl.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

That's certainly the pin most people (including me, when I still had a Stratoliner) use on their Stratoliner bow.

However, i've always had my doubts. A Stratoliner has 2 engines on each wing, being the major worry. Therefore the plane this pin represents is not a Stratoliner! Given the length Stetson went to with the marketing and production of this hat - all the images and drawings they used had 2 engines on the wing, for example - would they really have released it with a pin with only one engine. It just never squared the circle for me. But the true believers are certainly out there.

bk

 

[gtdean48]

... Therefore the plane this pin represents is not a Stratoliner! Given the length Stetson went to with the marketing and production of this hat - all the images and drawings they used had 2 engines on the wing, for example - would they really have released it with a pin with only one engine. It just never squared the circle for me. But the true believers are certainly out there.

bk

I have a print ad that the only picture of a full airplane besides the tail section of the plane being boarded, is a 2 engine example, right above the man in the Stratoliner & very obvious. Also, I've looked closely at all my Strat print ads & they all look like 2 engine pins to me. I don't think Stetson was that much of a stickler for such details. I'm sure Rusty knows...

 

[Zemke Fan]

Actually, Fred H. knows. BK is right about one side of the argument. However, the balance of the argument lies on the other side. You do indeed have an original STETSON / TWA Stratoliner pin. However, there are at least two other variants of the pin of the correct 4 engine design. I sell reproductions of those. One has the B-307 flying towards the front of the hat (my preference), while the other flies towards the rear. There's a VERY old thread around here where this was debated ad infinitum.

BTW, I will pay $150+ for a PRISTINE Stratoliner hat box. It's one of only a few items missing from my Stratoliner collection.

 

[jimmy the lid]

I think it's fair to say that this topic has been pretty well beaten to death in the Stratoliner Society thread: see, especially, posts #137 -- 177 (although there is a lot of back and forth on the Strat pin earlier in that thread, as well). Here's a post I made showing a close-up of the pin on Patty Stetson's Strat:

FWIW, the pin on Patty Stetson's hat is the DC-3 TWA pin. Here is the close-up:

Cheers,
JtL

 

[RBH]

Actually, Fred H. knows. BK is right about one side of the argument. However, the balance of the argument lies on the other side. You do indeed have an original STETSON / TWA Stratoliner pin. However, there are at least two other variants of the pin of the correct 4 engine design. I sell reproductions of those. One has the B-307 flying towards the front of the hat (my preference), while the other flies towards the rear. There's a VERY old thread around here where this was debated ad infinitum.

BTW, I will pay $150+ for a PRISTINE Stratoliner hat box. It's one of only a few items missing from my Stratoliner collection.

By the way Fred, do you still have that fine Stratoliner you aquired a few years ago?

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Thanks for the information on the pin. Much appreciated.

Actually, Fred H. knows. BK is right about one side of the argument. However, the balance of the argument lies on the other side. You do indeed have an original STETSON / TWA Stratoliner pin. However, there are at least two other variants of the pin of the correct 4 engine design. I sell reproductions of those. One has the B-307 flying towards the front of the hat (my preference), while the other flies towards the rear. There's a VERY old thread around here where this was debated ad infinitum.

BTW, I will pay $150+ for a PRISTINE Stratoliner hat box. It's one of only a few items missing from my Stratoliner collection.

 

[Zemke Fan]

By the way Fred, do you still have that fine Stratoliner you aquired a few years ago?

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