The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[ScottF]

I just got home and look at the Borsalinos I own. All purchased in Italy. One, a modern one I got at the borsalino store in Roma says "made in Italy" the other 3, which I got in small hat shops and are much older (logos on liners) don't say made in Italy. Maybe they started doing that once they began exporting them?

Thanks Aureliano - much appreciated. I'm going to assume this one is made in Italy and go for it.

 

[Aureliano]

You're welcome. In my humble opinion, all borsalinos are made in Italy. That is what you're paying for.

 

[carouselvic]

Borsalinos were not all made in Italy.

 

[cookie]

I am having Rosie Boylan knock me up a dark green Borsalino hood with that plush Borsalino mink felt...watch this space![huh]

 

[Aureliano]

Borsalinos were not all made in Italy.

Can you elaborate?

 

[ScottF]

Borsalinos were not all made in Italy.

That helps.



Could someone please PM me and at least let me know why this is such a hushed topic?

 

[carouselvic]

This breaks the rules but here is a Borsalino that I do not believe ever saw Italy.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ELEGANT-BORSALI...s=65:10|66:2|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

[carouselvic]

That helps.



Could someone please PM me and at least let me know why this is such a hushed topic?

No need to PM. I was not aware anything was hushed. Like Stetson, Borsalino has licensed their name and their hats have been manufactured in countries other than Italy.

 

[ScottF]

No need to PM. I was not aware anything was hushed. Like Stetson, Borsalino has licensed their name and their hats have been manufactured in countries other than Italy.

Okay, I give up. I guess the answer to my original question is that no one has any idea where any Borsalino was made.

 

[Aureliano]

I honestly have never heard of borsalinos being made outside of Alessandria. But then again, I'm not an expert.

 

[Lefty]

Okay, I give up. I guess the answer to my original question is that no one has any idea where any Borsalino was made.

The guy who can give you the best response to your question is probably besdor. He's on this thread sometimes, but you might want to try shooting him a pm.

 

[ScottF]

The guy who can give you the best response to your question is probably besdor. He's on this thread sometimes, but you might want to try shooting him a pm.

Thanks Lefty, Will do.

 

[carouselvic]

Okay, I give up. I guess the answer to my original question is that no one has any idea where any Borsalino was made.

I have ten Borsalino hats and I know where everyone was made. ScottF you are trying to date a hat that you are trying to buy, so you have not posted a photo of it and that's OK. Borsalino has made hats in South America...Bolivia I think,but it might be Columbia. Borsalino was also made in the USA (I believe) but that was for a short time only. I think they also had Europian manufatuers. Please forgive my spelling.

 

[Aureliano]

I PMed Besdor, he sai he'll check the thread.

 

[besdor]

Borsalino hats have been made under license in other countries in the past. In the USa it was Bollman . In Columbia SA it was Colfieltros . Its realy not that hard to tell the difference between the origianl and the other versions. The quality is the first way to see the difference. USA made versions were stiffer and could not say "made in Italy" . The South American versions were trimmed terribly and also could not sat made in Italy. Colfieltros is out of business since 2007 and Bollman lost the license years ago .
As for older hats such as the Fu Lazzaro versions, I know that Borsalino bought out other companies over the years such as Vanzina which was in Pavia Italy .There were also two seperate distributors here in the USA back in the 1920's and they may have had slightly different versions made for each other. I have quite a few Fu Lazzaro Borsalino hats that were definately made by the origial Borsalino company back in the late 1950's . They had different labels for different quility levels.
Many of the Borsalino hats that are in the Museum in Alessandria do not have linings so it is difficult to tell what the quality levels were years ago . If anyone wanted to research what was sold here years ago , you need to finds copies of a magazine called " The American Hatter" It was a trade publication that existed from 1890 until 1937 . It was ads from all of the companies that were wround then and is very useful for dating hats .

Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[Aureliano]

Thank you Steven. That was an amazing post.

 

[ScottF]

I have ten Borsalino hats and I know where everyone was made. ScottF you are trying to date a hat that you are trying to buy, so you have not posted a photo of it and that's OK. Borsalino has made hats in South America...Bolivia I think,but it might be Columbia. Borsalino was also made in the USA (I believe) but that was for a short time only. I think they also had Europian manufatuers. Please forgive my spelling.

Thanks Vic. No, I'm not trying to date a hat - I'm trying to determine how to tell if the hat was made in Italy or not. I asked about the sweatband and the inclusion of the verbage 'made in Italy'. I'm thinking that no one really knows if Borsalino hats that do not include 'made in Italy' means that they were made somewhere else.

I know this is kind of confusing, but picture a Borsalino hat that has the typical Borsalino logo on the sweatband....but does not say 'Made in Italy'. Does this mean anything?

As far as Borsalinos being made in South America, Eastern Europe or the U.S., I would also like to know if it's possible to determine this by looking at a hat. Someone posted here once saying that they had tried out one of the Eastern European Borsalinos - perhaps they were able to identify it as such by some marking, or maybe they just bought it from one of the Bulgarian sellers on ebay, and that's all they meant.

I don't know - trying to learn.

As far as the hat I'm thinking about buying, I already know about how old it is - I am just concerned that it isn't the same quality as an Italian Borsalino.

Regarding the U.S. Borsalinos, I posted (I believe in this thread), asking about Borsalinos made in the U.S., and didn't get a single response. I also tried to stimulate some discussion about the G.B. Borsalinos since we know they merged in 1933, but a few 1960's hats (one dated by Dinerman, another bought by me) have the fu Lazarro description...again, dead silence here.

 

[Aureliano]

Borsalino hats have been made under license in other countries in the past. In the USa it was Bollman . In Columbia SA it was Colfieltros . Its realy not that hard to tell the difference between the origianl and the other versions. The quality is the first way to see the difference. USA made versions were stiffer and could not say "made in Italy" . The South American versions were trimmed terribly and also could not sat made in Italy. Colfieltros is out of business since 2007 and Bollman lost the license years ago .
As for older hats such as the Fu Lazzaro versions, I know that Borsalino bought out other companies over the years such as Vanzina which was in Pavia Italy .There were also two seperate distributors here in the USA back in the 1920's and they may have had slightly different versions made for each other. I have quite a few Fu Lazzaro Borsalino hats that were definately made by the origial Borsalino company back in the late 1950's . They had different labels for different quility levels.
Many of the Borsalino hats that are in the Museum in Alessandria do not have linings so it is difficult to tell what the quality levels were years ago . If anyone wanted to research what was sold here years ago , you need to finds copies of a magazine called " The American Hatter" It was a trade publication that existed from 1890 until 1937 . It was ads from all of the companies that were wround then and is very useful for dating hats .

Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

Hi ScottF

According to what I gather from Besdor's post. Your hat might have been made somewhere else. Not in Italy.

 

[besdor]

An American made Bors would not have a white tip sticker under the lining as the Italian versions do. The tacking of the band is very different as well. If anyone has a picture of a hat , I can tell fairly qulickly where it was made.
As for Easterm Europe , there were never any Borsalinos made there as far as I know.



Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[carouselvic]

Under U.S. law the country of origin must be marked on all things imported. I used to know the exact date, but I have forgotten it.