Superior Felts

[Ace Quick]

Does anyone know anything about this hat company? My mom picked up a nice black hat at a Goodwill most likely, but I have no information about the company itself. Google searches only yeild old newspaper ads. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tomasso]

Some photos (sweatband particularly) would help.

 

[buler]

My first hat ever was a "Superior". Not sure if it's the same as what you have seen. I've only seen one other hat with this liner. Pics of my hat in this thread -> Superior Hat

B

 

[alanfgag]

Wow... what a great bump, B.

 

[alanfgag]

Ace Quick, I have a feeling your hat might be related to this one. Other than that, can't tell you much.

 

[Ace Quick]

Ace Quick, I have a feeling your hat might be related to this one. Other than that, can't tell you much.

Yes, Alan, it's like that one. At least the label is. The reorder tag info is still good, but there's nothing legible on the band other than the imprinted words Custom Edge. I've absolutely loved wearing the hat and would love to have more. Guess that's probably not possible.

 

[alanfgag]

I've absolutely loved wearing the hat and would love to have more. Guess that's probably not possible.

Oh yes... it is possible.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Yes, Alan, it's like that one. At least the label is. The reorder tag info is still good, but there's nothing legible on the band other than the imprinted words Custom Edge. I've absolutely loved wearing the hat and would love to have more. Guess that's probably not possible.

I'd like to see the "Custom Edge" imprint. It was a registered trademark of Hat Corporation of America, which could mean that your hat was made by them. Or, it could be a name they used and were probably forced to discontinue use of due to trademark infringement.

Brad

 

[Ace Quick]

 

[alanfgag]

Interesting... looks like a HCA tag with an Xed out sweatband. Can you read anything else behind the overprinting in addition to Custom Edge?

 

[Ace Quick]

I did find the custom edge logo that HCA used online and it does seem to match what is imprinted in the hat, so I'm assuming, maybe, that HCA purchased Superior Felts much the same as they did other hat companies of the time? And would that mean that the block number is also HCA? I noticed I didn't see that block number in the list on the HCA block numbers thread.

 

[alanfgag]

The overprinted sweatband makes it look more like an HCA inventory overage that was offloaded and sold through a job lot arrangement. I would doubt that Superior Felt made hats.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I agree with Alan on this. It is an HCA hat resold as something else. That type of factory label is seen on later, 1960s+ HCA hats, and I suspect that it might even be from the 1970-1972 era of manufacturing at the Winchester facility, after the Norwalk factory closed.

I did some digging on the Superior Hat Company, but there's not a whole lot out there. I've found no specific connection to HCA. The earliest mention is of the dissolution of a Superior Hat Company in 1909, possible following a legal judgment against the company. They had a shop in South Norwalk that was closed in the spring of 1909, though it's not clear if it's a retail shop or a finishing shop. The next reference to a Superior Hat Co. is a petition in bankruptcy filed against them in 1922. Their address is listed in New York City. I've no idea if these two companies are related.

The first reference I can find of a Superior Hat Co. in St. Louis is from 1928, where they were the plaintiff in a lawsuit and were awarded a judgment for hats purchased from them by a retailer. This means Superior may be a manufacturer, or just a finisher, or, as I suspect, a wholesaler (jobber).

In 1948, the Superior Hat Co. was merged into the Caradine Hat Co. of Missouri, along with a bunch of other related companies, all incorporated in Missouri: Fitwell Hat Company, Richard VanLier, Inc., Alfred O. Lake & Company, Independent Hat Corporation, William T. Christmas & Company, the Cardinal Hat Company, and the Helmet Corporation of America. Caradine's primary business throughout the first half of the twentieth century was as importers and finishers of palm leaf and grass straw hats, mostly as Harvest Hats (wide-brimmed and airy straw hats for outdoor work in farming or gardening.) All of these other companies were to cease to exist upon the merger, subsumed into Caradine, but at least Superior Hats appears to have lived on as a brand within the new company.

And that's all I've got.

Brad

 

[alanfgag]

I would guess that this mark Superior Felts is not related to the early Superior Hat Company... but just my guess.

 

[Ace Quick]

Yes, I would agree. The research I have put in has just yielded newspaper ads from late 1800's, but mostly 1920's and 1930's that specifically state Superior Felts.

 

[Brad Bowers]

It's possible I jumped down the rabbit hole, but considering there are zero references I found anywhere online, including ads, for a "Superior Felts" brand, it was the closest viable option.

Brad

 

[alanfgag]

Yep... I searched and also found nothing. Judging from the look of the sweatband print over, it doesn't have the feel of a lasting endeavor.

 

[Ace Quick]

ok so I found something else imprinted. It says Flying something on the left side of the stamp that says Custom Edge. I can just make out the flourished F then the lyi and nothing past that. Then on the other stamp there's an imprinted border and I see the word store.

 

[alanfgag]

ok so I found something else imprinted. It says Flying something on the left side of the stamp that says Custom Edge. I can just make out the flourished F then the lyi and nothing past that. Then on the other stamp there's an imprinted border and I see the word store.

One side would have had the store imprint, the other the brand imprint. Does the imprint look anything like this Knox Flying Cloud?

 

[Ace Quick]

One side would have had the store imprint, the other the brand imprint. Does the imprint look anything like this Knox Flying Cloud?

Holy crap that's it. Same placement and all. So what does this mean exactly?