The Bowler or Derby Hat

[DNO]

After months of looking longingly at the great bowlers in this thread, I finally lucked out. On my way home from an antique market yesterday I dropped into a Goodwill...and there it was. Sitting in the showcase was this spotless bowler. It was a Dunn & Co hat and it was in my size...7 3/8. It fit well.

It doesn't look as if it has much age but I finally have a bowler. Won't mention the price but, frankly, I've had hamburgers that cost more!

My wife isn't too keen on it, but I love it. Makes me want to call everyone 'guv'.

 

[bowlerman]

Man! That is a beauty, and you really wear it well IMO. nice going!

 

[DNO]

Man! That is a beauty, and you really wear it well IMO. nice going!

Thanks guv! That's a real compliment coming from you!

Finding something like this in a Goodwill always makes me wonder about its history. How did it get there? Who owned it and why was it discarded?

 

[newturnofphrase]

After months of looking longingly at the great bowlers in this thread, I finally lucked out. On my way home from an antique market yesterday I dropped into a Goodwill...and there it was. Sitting in the showcase was this spotless bowler. It was a Dunn & Co hat and it was in my size...7 3/8. It fit well.

It doesn't look as if it has much age but I finally have a bowler. Won't mention the price but, frankly, I've had hamburgers that cost more!

My wife isn't too keen on it, but I love it. Makes me want to call everyone 'guv'.

Magnificent find, Guv. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's from the mid 80s or 90s. The sweatband looks like it's still genuine calfskin, but it looks like a step on the way to being one of the heavy reconstituted bonded-leather ones they use on all the hats nowadays. Dunn & Co went bankrupt in 96, and it's probably from earlier than that, likely the 80s. Beautiful hat, and for what you paid for it, quite a find indeed!

 

[DNO]

Magnificent find, Guv. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's from the mid 80s or 90s. The sweatband looks like it's still genuine calfskin, but it looks like a step on the way to being one of the heavy reconstituted bonded-leather ones they use on all the hats nowadays. Dunn & Co went bankrupt in 96, and it's probably from earlier than that, likely the 80s. Beautiful hat, and for what you paid for it, quite a find indeed!

Ta! The sweatband is wonderfully supple...must be calfskin. I figured it was probably '80's or so. Perhaps some toff picked it up to wear at the Queen's Plate...wore it once, put it in a closet and forgot about it. Eventually it went off to Goodwill, and thence to me! Serendipity.

 

[scottyrocks]

Great find, goovnah! It looks right at home on you.

 

[DNO]

Great find, goovnah! It looks right at home on you.

Ta, yer lordship!

 

[99benzman]

HaHa... every time I see a Beaver out in the wild (there are a few by me), I turn to my friends and say "That would make a nice hat!"

When I was a kid I used to trap nutria with my grandfather in Delacroix Island Louisiana. We would raise the orphans and make them pets but I never could figure out why once they reached about 35 lbs they would disappear...If I knew then what I know now I would be sitting on a huge collection of top quality hats.

 

[randooch]

Great find, goovnah! It looks right at home on you.

Absolutely! Serendipity, indeed. :eusa_clap

 

[randooch]

Here's a peculiar thing. This Stetson derby is on Etsy for $65. Has anyone seen a sweatband seam on the side of the hat, rather than in the back? That sure looks like the case here. The liner could be turned 90 degrees, but the oval appears normal. What the . . ?!

 

[Brad Bowers]

I've got a 1906-09 Crofut & Knapp Derby with the seam on the side, as well as a 1929 Cavanagh Derby like that. I think it's a stylistic holdover from the nineteenth century, but it probably started off with some practical purpose.

Brad

 

[randooch]

Thanks for the information, Brad. I'd buy this one if it were my size, but it's only 22 1/4 around. It would make a fun rehab project.

 

[newturnofphrase]

Here's a peculiar thing. This Stetson derby is on Etsy for $65. Has anyone seen a sweatband seam on the side of the hat, rather than in the back? That sure looks like the case here. The liner could be turned 90 degrees, but the oval appears normal. What the . . ?!

Until very recently (the last two decades), all Lock & Co standard bowlers featured a similar side-seam. I asked them about it, but they didn't respond. Here's my lock bowler from 1982:

Edit: also see mercuryfelt's post on page 66:

 

[scottyrocks]

Can you feel the seam on the side? It looks like it would annoy me.

 

[newturnofphrase]

Can you feel the seam on the side? It looks like it would annoy me.

No I can't feel it, as it sits above the ear. However the lack of a back seam makes it more difficult to determine front and back by feel, without flipping the hat over and looking.

 

[Joshbru3]

1900s Chamois Derby

The sweatband is not marked "The Fray" but it has the exact same pattern and color as other sweatbands that were marked.

 

[Joshbru3]

1900s Chamois Derby (cont...)

 

[Brad Bowers]

Love it! Can't quite read the depth of the crown. Is it 5 1/2"? Looks about that, at least!

Brad

 

[Joshbru3]

Love it! Can't quite read the depth of the crown. Is it 5 1/2"? Looks about that, at least!

Brad

Thanks, Brad!! The crown actually measure 5 3/4 inches tall. Its got that great round crown that seems to only be found on the early derbies. The few that I own from the teens, twenties, and thirties have flatter topped crowns. Some with a slight bell curve as well.

Late 1890's Howard Derby (Tall Round Crown)

Late 1890s Early 1900s Champion Hat Derby (Fairly Tall and Round Crown)

Early 1900's Chamois Derby (Tall Round Crown)

Verses

Teens Stetson Select Quality Derby

1920's Dobbs Derby

My favorite style is most definitely the earlier high crowns with round profiles.

 

[Chepstow]

Josh, great comparison and stunning collection of Derbys!