The Aristocrat of All Straw Hats 1923 Casa Arcantales Montecristi

[SHARPETOYS]

Here is a 1923 Casa Arcentales Montecristi Panama Hat. The hat was sent from an Ecuadorian Diplomat to the US Secrectary of State. The hat was in a wooden box and has the original pricetag which listed $150.00 dated Feb 1923. The hat was blocked by Graham at Optimo Hat Co of Chicago. He said it was the finest Montecristi he's ever seen. It is the finest Montecristi I've ever seen.

The leather and the ribbon are originals from the box. The weight of the hat is 1 ounce. The weave is so fine that it is hard to count, but the weaves per square inch is in excess of 2800. I counted 42 vueltas. The brim width is 2 7/8 and the crown is 4 1/2 inches.

 

[Magus]

WOW Sharp....amazing hat. Simply wonderful. Do you mind haring the price?

 

[jake_fink]

That is a sweet looking hat.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

An absolutely amazing hat! How did you get your hands on this treasure?

 

[Panamabob]

I'd like to see close photos, too. The story is great, you guys are going to love it.

 

[MG-B]

Wow!

There's really nothing else to say, just "Wow!"

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[SHARPETOYS]

More for the block than the hat...

WOW Sharp....amazing hat. Simply wonderful. Do you mind haring the price?

It was not listed properly on Ebay a year or so ago. I paid around $30.00 for it but I had put in my snipe program a max of $500.00.

The blocking cost me $180.00 because of the value of the hat.

 

[shoeshineboy]

I BELIEVE I BELIEVE !!!

I have seen this this hat and it is truly amazing....it weighs the same as about 2 or 3 tissues...thats it...the weave is so fine that it looks like linen...you truly can not tell that it is straw....no way....

With what I have seen in modern panama hats nobody can weave a hat like that, they are going more for the quickly made hats instead of the "works of art" like the truly master weavers of years gone by....

While I was visiting with Roger a few weeks ago, I had received a wonderful education about both fedoras and panamas...

mark the shoeshine boy

 

[fedoralover]

The buy of the century without a doubt. I was wondering if you were ever going to show us pics of that hat. It looks great on you too.

fedoralover

 

[Tomasso]

Congratulations! The hat is truly sublime. And, with a fascinating provenance, to boot. Enjoy.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

That is the very best hat I have ever seen, period. Thanks very much for sharing it, Sharpetoys! Unbelievably fine. Will we ever see its like again? Doubt it. In any case, it's great to see it here!


.

 

[Zach R.]

Bleh, 7 3/8s, eh? Its an all-right hat.

...if only it were but a size larger then it would be the perfect Montecristi

 

[feltfan]

What the peasants wore

That is an incredible hat. Incredible that such a work of art
was made to be a hat at all! Thanks for sharing it. Love to
see a closeup of the weave.

For those who want something of similar vintage to compare,
here is what I believe is a Panama of a similar vintage, similar
"Optimo" style. This is a Stetson with a logo that Marc, in
another recent thread, leads me to believe is teens to twenties
(would have been my guess too). No where near as fine,
but probably the finest I have (let's not talk about the one
that went under a moving car).

The hat (yeah, it needs a cleaning):

The liner logo (to add to our online catalog):

The soft sweatband (note the 7 5/8 size tag):

The weave (sorry for the blur) at top:

Much as I like this hat, it's a crude basket compared to Sharpie's
piece of art. I hope people can appreciate his hat more for seeing
what "normal" looked like.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Feltfan, what a fine hat! Whew!

My guess from the logos is that it is even older than the '20s. The intricate black-and-white detailing on the lining's logo -- it really looks just like an engraving -- is typically found in hats of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, up to the early 'teens. The sweatband's stamping is quite detailed as well. I'd wager that your hat was made around 1910, no later.

Where on earth did you find it? Am I reading the size tag right: 7 5/8? Wow!

.

 

[feltfan]

Feltfan, what a fine hat! Whew!

My guess from the logos is that it is even older than the '20s. The intricate black-and-white detailing on the lining's logo -- it really looks just like an engraving -- is typically found in hats of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, up to the early 'teens. The sweatband's stamping is quite detailed as well. I'd wager that your hat was made around 1910, no later.
.

Glad you enjoyed it, Marc. It is historically interesting,
though as I say, might as well be made by a kid when you
compare it to Sharpie's. It's not a comparable fine weave,
but it is of its (and perhaps sort of Arcentales') time.

It is interesting to note the way the "H" in "John" (Stetson) widens at
the bottom in both the liner and the sweat which, along with
the non-standard serif, looks kinda Arts and Crafts. Here's another
view of the liner logo, without flash. Less washed out, but a touch blurry:

But enough about my bucket. I want to see more of Sharpie's.

Ps: I note you edited your post while I wrote my response! I found
it on eBay and paid around what Sharpie paid for his. It was a while back and
the picture was impossibly blurry. I figured a vintage Panama Optimo in 5/8 was worth
tossing the dice.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

One more interesting thing about yours, before we go back to Sharpetoys': Your panama was made when the U.S. was in the middle of finishing the Panama Canal. And the digging of the canal, of course, is why we call hats from Ecuador "panamas".

.

 

[besdor]

Panama Hats

Those are two of the nicest straws I've seen in a long time . A big problem with vintage atraws is that they tens to be brittle if not storaged properly. I have an old Dunlap panama from the 1930's that I'm now tempted to send to Art to reblock after seeing those two .




Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[scotrace]

Nice!

Nice hat, Sharpetoys - you could easily forget that one was on your head. I bet that one doesn't get forgotten at the movies!

 

[NewMexExpat]

... I paid around $30.00 for it ... The blocking cost me $180.00 because of the value of the hat.

I found it on eBay and paid around what Sharpie paid for his.

How do you two sleep nights? Wonderful stories and hats; the best thread I've seen here.

Congratulations, and Thank You,

-Mark

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Casa Arcentales... Guayaquil, Eucador

When I got the hat this was a small part of the package.



ARCENTALES COMPANY

Is the same company that made FDR Montecrist Panama hat

Upon the death of my parents, I inherited many of these items, including a straw-colored linen Panama hat with black band made by C. A. Arcentales, Ecuador, with his name ?¢‚Ǩ?ìFranklin D. Roosevelt?¢‚Ǩ? embossed in gold letters on the interior sweat band. I was told by my mother that Mrs. Roosevelt had told her that this particular hat had been worn by Franklin Roosevelt at the Teheran Conference in 1943.