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That's good to hear. Not sure about the sweat band. This logo and stitching seem a long way from the glory days.
Odd that you have snow and we were at 70-deg-F yesterday. Stay warm!
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The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD
- Thread starter Dakota Ellison
- Start date
That's good to hear. Not sure about the sweat band. This logo and stitching seem a long way from the glory days.
Odd that you have snow and we were at 70-deg-F yesterday. Stay warm!
- Messages
- 19,001
- Location
- Central California
The sweatband is my biggest disappointment. Not only is the printing low quality, it’s not nearly wide enough for my liking.
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- 17,466
- Location
- Maryland
Matt, Great find! It's been a while for a Echter Borsalino and this one is a fantastic older example. Congrats!After all the fantastic additions to this list in the last days and weeks
I hardly dare to show a simple gray Homburg
Maybe you remember the Borsalino stamp-dated Homburg from Max Eckard, Berlin,
which was too big for me at 7 punti (a salute to Daniele)? This one is its little brother
- at least so small that it fits me perfectly:
Borsalino "Gigiasgu" (never seen) in middle grey "Nizza"
for the German market: sold at Josef Hermann, München
felt matching brim binding + contrasting, frayed crown ribbon
size 6 Punti on the separate size stamp next to the label
brim 5,5 cm; ribbon 4,8 cm; crown 11,5 cm dent/14,5 cm open
A nice early one, Matt. And always satisfying to find a new model.After all the fantastic additions to this list in the last days and weeks
I hardly dare to show a simple gray Homburg
Maybe you remember the Borsalino stamp-dated Homburg from Max Eckard, Berlin,
which was too big for me at 7 punti (a salute to Daniele)? This one is its little brother
- at least so small that it fits me perfectly:
Borsalino "Gigiasgu" (never seen) in middle grey "Nizza"
for the German market: sold at Josef Hermann, München
felt matching brim binding + contrasting, frayed crown ribbon
size 6 Punti on the separate size stamp next to the label
brim 5,5 cm; ribbon 4,8 cm; crown 11,5 cm dent/14,5 cm open
Two exquisite examples, Alan. Now if you could just add a Lontra and a Martora you'd have the quadfecta.
One of the coolest Borsalinos around. Wonderful hat, Mike.
Breathtaking. Every time.
That is a strange looking sweatband. I started collecting with one of those thin felted modern Borsalinos. Nice enough hat (and still a good sweatband), but eventually it moved on.
Posted this in the hat books thread, but since it's all about Borsalino it should be here as well.
Borsalino
Guido Barberis (author)
Hardcover 528 pages
iGrafismi Boccassi Editore 2007
For those interested in everything Borsalino, this is your book. It follows the history of the company in great detail from its founding in 1857 up until its relocation in 1983. The emphasis is not in the product itself, but on the compnay and the men who were in charge of it: Giuseppe Borsalino, his son Teresio Borsalino and finally their nephew Teresio Usuelli.
I have made a translation of this book (well, google did), because it is in Italian. It is a very interesting read and I will freely admit I have gained a considerable amount of admiration for Teresio Borsalino, who provided the rock solid basis for a company that likely has survived to this day because of that. Barberis is not a very accessible writer. He has a tendency to string sentences together with sidetracks and asides into a long and winding maze of words in which he himself sometimes gets lost. And it also seems he starts every other sentence with “In ogni caso..”, “In fatto...” or “Tuttavia..” The photo's and illustration help a good deal to alleviate that.
That being said, Barberis knows his subject very well and has spent some serious amount of time getting to know the company inside and out (if that is even possible, because much of its archives are still scattered). What emerges is a clear picture of what we already knew, namely that Borsalino is a company dedicated both to quality (to a fault) and domination of the hat market(s). A running thread which we also already knew from other books is the more or less constant battle between the workers and the company (not just Borsalino, but all of the manufacturers) about wages and working conditions. Another thread in the history of the company is the constant battles it faced dealing with trade restrictions, import tariffs and the like, which made business extremely difficult for them, relying on exports for half to two thirds of their trade.
The battle between the two Borsalinos gets a good deal of attention as well.
There is a vast amount of detail in this book on how the company and its people operated. It is kind of remarkable though that both this book and the “Omaggio al cappello – La Borsalino di Teresio Usuelli” both concentrate on the company and the family and not on the hats, so the riddle of the model names doesn't get solved (spoiler).
Perhaps the attitude of the company is best summed up by Teresio Usuelli in 1957 when he stated:
"at no cost, under any circumstances, despite any difficulty our predecessors, compatibly with the needs of the moment, have never accepted to lower the quality of the product. It goes without adding that this commitment remains valid for us too, almost as a moral commitment rather than as a commercial rule. In short, it is precisely because our predecessors have always known how to save the quality of the Borsalino hat that we are here today, a hundred years later, talking about it"
Highly recommended. The book is findable at decent prices.
If you're interested in the translation, just let me know in a PM.
Borsalino
Guido Barberis (author)
Hardcover 528 pages
iGrafismi Boccassi Editore 2007
For those interested in everything Borsalino, this is your book. It follows the history of the company in great detail from its founding in 1857 up until its relocation in 1983. The emphasis is not in the product itself, but on the compnay and the men who were in charge of it: Giuseppe Borsalino, his son Teresio Borsalino and finally their nephew Teresio Usuelli.
I have made a translation of this book (well, google did), because it is in Italian. It is a very interesting read and I will freely admit I have gained a considerable amount of admiration for Teresio Borsalino, who provided the rock solid basis for a company that likely has survived to this day because of that. Barberis is not a very accessible writer. He has a tendency to string sentences together with sidetracks and asides into a long and winding maze of words in which he himself sometimes gets lost. And it also seems he starts every other sentence with “In ogni caso..”, “In fatto...” or “Tuttavia..” The photo's and illustration help a good deal to alleviate that.
That being said, Barberis knows his subject very well and has spent some serious amount of time getting to know the company inside and out (if that is even possible, because much of its archives are still scattered). What emerges is a clear picture of what we already knew, namely that Borsalino is a company dedicated both to quality (to a fault) and domination of the hat market(s). A running thread which we also already knew from other books is the more or less constant battle between the workers and the company (not just Borsalino, but all of the manufacturers) about wages and working conditions. Another thread in the history of the company is the constant battles it faced dealing with trade restrictions, import tariffs and the like, which made business extremely difficult for them, relying on exports for half to two thirds of their trade.
The battle between the two Borsalinos gets a good deal of attention as well.
There is a vast amount of detail in this book on how the company and its people operated. It is kind of remarkable though that both this book and the “Omaggio al cappello – La Borsalino di Teresio Usuelli” both concentrate on the company and the family and not on the hats, so the riddle of the model names doesn't get solved (spoiler).
Perhaps the attitude of the company is best summed up by Teresio Usuelli in 1957 when he stated:
"at no cost, under any circumstances, despite any difficulty our predecessors, compatibly with the needs of the moment, have never accepted to lower the quality of the product. It goes without adding that this commitment remains valid for us too, almost as a moral commitment rather than as a commercial rule. In short, it is precisely because our predecessors have always known how to save the quality of the Borsalino hat that we are here today, a hundred years later, talking about it"
Highly recommended. The book is findable at decent prices.
If you're interested in the translation, just let me know in a PM.
- Messages
- 15,072
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
Thank you! Had the Lontra but it was a little large - it went to a good home. Haven't come across a Martora, but the Visone will fill until I get lucky. ;^)
- Messages
- 10,827
- Location
- vancouver, canada
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours Borsalino........I do, but I have no filters.
- Messages
- 15,072
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
This is the first Borsalino I purchased on the vintage market. I've purchased others since. This shop must have been a destination for American tourists visiting Italy after the war... many featherweights with Balbi's store imprint have shown up for sale on U.S. eBay.
- Messages
- 19,001
- Location
- Central California
I can’t recall seeing this sweatband before (NOT my hat):
Last edited:
Never seen one like that before either, Brent. However, it definitely proves that modern Borsa is a size 59
- Messages
- 19,001
- Location
- Central California
Never seen one like that before either, Brent. However, it definitely proves that modern Borsa is a size 59
I think it shows that Borsalino was exasperated at the complaints that their hats don’t fit true to size. I have a modern Borsalino in size 64 that fits great!
I think at the end of their day, it shows Borsalino just didn't care.
crispyfresh
New in Town
- Messages
- 32
Where are the best places to purchase Borsalino Fedoras? The Borsalino website itself never has my size. Thanks.
- Messages
- 19,001
- Location
- Central California
crispyfresh
New in Town
- Messages
- 32
57 hat size.
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Did you see the hat listed in this thread a page or or back (post 9339)? It’s a new with tags Borsalino in 57cm. I’ll look to see if I have others. If you’re interested, please shoot me a PM. I’m not asking anything close to retail on the hat(s).
- Messages
- 15,072
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
A hat rescued from a costume shop... it once had a brim binding that has been removed. The pin is my addition. Perhaps 1940 or a bit earlier.
Even after being vandalised in a previous life it shines like in its glory days. A beauty, Alan.
