The Brim and The Crown

[Art Fawcett]

Hi Everyone, this is just a post to alert you hat a new book has been published recently as a guide to Custom hatters in the US and Worldwide. I was asked to help but my contribution was minimal. Here is the Amazon link to it. I can't find a website for it yet, maybe Mark will join in with more info.
//www.amazon.com/Brim-Crown-Custom-Hatters-Abroad/dp/0940675226

 

[belfastboy]

Hi Everyone, this is just a post to alert you hat a new book has been published recently as a guide to Custom hatters in the US and Worldwide. I was asked to help but my contribution was minimal. Here is the Amazon link to it. I can't find a website for it yet, maybe Mark will join in with more info.
//www.amazon.com/Brim-Crown-Custom-Hatters-Abroad/dp/0940675226

Order placed....delivery by Jan 11th. I had an idea for my wife and I to get in our motorhome and do a tour of the US to interview and photo document the classic custom fedora makers. It would have been a fun trip......but then this thing called covid intervened.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Order placed....delivery by Jan 11th. I had an idea for my wife and I to get in our motorhome and do a tour of the US to interview and photo document the classic custom fedora makers. It would have been a fun trip......but then this thing called covid intervened.

Great idea for a road trip, and an incredibly understanding wife.

 

[belfastboy]

Great idea for a road trip, and an incredibly understanding wife.

Yes AND I got lucky and have a wife that loves loves loves road trips. I have to promise to stop for regular pee breaks and to be done for the day by 3;30PM latest. Her limit: parked and set up, sitting in our gravity chairs with a gin & tonic by 4:00PM at the very latest. If I adhere to that line in the sand then she is good to go. I know I lucked out.

 

[Bill Hughes]

Hi Everyone, this is just a post to alert you hat a new book has been published recently as a guide to Custom hatters in the US and Worldwide. I was asked to help but my contribution was minimal. Here is the Amazon link to it. I can't find a website for it yet, maybe Mark will join in with more info.
//www.amazon.com/Brim-Crown-Custom-Hatters-Abroad/dp/0940675226

I will definitely get it but will wait a bit to see if it comes out as an iBook.

 

[RBH]

Thanks Art! I got Mike a shop copy for Christmas.
Great info in it and it was great to ''hear'' from you too!!!

Hi Everyone, this is just a post to alert you hat a new book has been published recently as a guide to Custom hatters in the US and Worldwide. I was asked to help but my contribution was minimal. Here is the Amazon link to it. I can't find a website for it yet, maybe Mark will join in with more info.
//www.amazon.com/Brim-Crown-Custom-Hatters-Abroad/dp/0940675226

 

[Art Fawcett]

Thanks Art! I got Mike a shop copy for Christmas.
Great info in it and it was great to ''hear'' from you too!!!

Thanks Rusty, I've been enjoying NOT being in the arena

 

[Mark Elliott]

As the author of The Brim and the Crown, I wanted to jump into the thread that Art started. I spent 11 months researching and tracking down the best hat makers -- dress and Western -- in the US and abroad. I scoured urban metros, small towns, and suburbs. I believe I found the best hatters in 39 states and 19 countries. And what I learned is that the universe of custom hatters is large and expanding. As you know, there is no epicenter of hat making in the US or abroad, but I can tell you this: there are more custom dress hatters in Portland OR, Los Angeles, and New York City than anywhere else in the US; Texas has more custom Western hatters than the Southwest, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain states combined; that regional hatters in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Louisiana, and Montana, are doing extraordinary work; and Austria, Australia, France, Italy, Sweden, and the UK are worth spending a little more on shipping. Why did I write the book? Because the same hatters' names kept popping up again and again, and I just knew there was more talent out there. FYI: The Brim and the Crown is available on Amazon in print and eBook formats. If you need the names of hatters in your area, email me at thebrimandthecrown@gmail.com - Mark

 

[belfastboy]

As the author of The Brim and the Crown: A Field Guide to Custom Hatters & Hat Shops in the US and Abroad, I wanted to jump into the thread that Art started. I spent 11 months researching and tracking down the best hat makers -- dress and Western -- in the US and abroad. I scoured cities, towns, and suburbs; metros and the windswept Plains. I found the best hatters in 39 states and 19 countries, and what I learned is that the universe of custom hatters is large and expanding. As you know, there is no one epicenter of hat making in the US or abroad, but I can tell you this: there are more custom dress hatters in Portland OR, Los Angeles, and New York City than anywhere else in the US; that Texas has more Western hatters than the Southwest, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain states combined; that regional hatters in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, and Montana, are doing extraordinary work; and that Austria, Australia, France, Italy, Sweden, and the UK are worth spending a little more on shipping. Why did I write the book? Because the same hatters' names kept popping up month after month, and I just knew there was more talent out there. FYI: The Brim and the Crown is available on Amazon in print and eBook formats. If you need the names of hatters in your area, email me at thebrimandthecrown@gmail.com - Mark

Mine is on order, scheduled delivery on Tuesday!

 

[Bill Hughes]

As the author of The Brim and the Crown: A Field Guide to Custom Hatters & Hat Shops in the US and Abroad, I wanted to jump into the thread that Art started. I spent 11 months researching and tracking down the best hat makers -- dress and Western -- in the US and abroad. I scoured cities, towns, and suburbs; metros and the windswept Plains. I found the best hatters in 39 states and 19 countries, and what I learned is that the universe of custom hatters is large and expanding. As you know, there is no one epicenter of hat making in the US or abroad, but I can tell you this: there are more custom dress hatters in Portland OR, Los Angeles, and New York City than anywhere else in the US; that Texas has more Western hatters than the Southwest, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain states combined; that regional hatters in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, and Montana, are doing extraordinary work; and that Austria, Australia, France, Italy, Sweden, and the UK are worth spending a little more on shipping. Why did I write the book? Because the same hatters' names kept popping up month after month, and I just knew there was more talent out there. FYI: The Brim and the Crown is available on Amazon in print and eBook formats. If you need the names of hatters in your area, email me at thebrimandthecrown@gmail.com - Mark

Do you anticipate it becoming an iBook?

 

[Mark Elliott]

Yes the iBook should be available at the end of the month.

 

[Bill Hughes]

Yes the iBook should be available at the end of the month.

Still has not become an iBook. But I’ll keep checking.

 

[Mark Elliott]

Hey Bill. Thanks for keeping the faith. Actually, the eBook version of my book has been available on Amazon for a few weeks now.

 

[Frunobulax]

I think the eBook would be preferable. One of the hard-copy drawbacks is a lack of an index, so a searchable book would be more easily navigated.

 

[Mark Elliott]

Hi Frunobulax. I considered an index, but chose to do alphabetical, state-by-state, country-by-country listings for their efficiency. If you get (ir download) the book, you’ll see how quick it is to locate hatters and shops.

 

[Frunobulax]

Thanks for the reply, Mark. I have had the book for several weeks. As the hatters are organized by region/state, you need to figure out what region your state might be in and where it is in the book, then find your state, and look for a hatter. I have not found a way to efficiently look for a hatter in, say Tennessee by looking up the state in an alphabetical listing; I first have to find that region in the book, and there are no references in the ToC to indicate what page that region is on - you have to flip back and forth to find it's in "Mid-Atlantic States" on pp. 69, then you can find Tennessee. You can't just turn to the "T"s and find it.

Cross-referencing in an index for hatters would also be helpful. I may have the name of a hatter but not know where they are located. So I can't just look up "Peters Bros." and find them in Texas, I'd have to page through the entire book to find them in the section arranged by geographic region.

It's an interesting book with some good information in it, I just find the navigation a bit cumbersome.

 

[Mark Elliott]

That’s verrrrry helpful. I guess I didn’t think through the navigation problem as carefully as I thought. I’m curious: did the book introduce you to the witk of hatters other than the ones you knew?

 

[Frunobulax]

I've approached the book by reading it from the beginning to the end, so yes, I've learned about quite a few hatters I wasn't aware of. You can gain a lot of knowledge from it. I think the specialty sections are very useful, though I'll never be in the market for reenactor headgear.

I found the plot hard to follow and only limited character development, though.

 

[Bill Hughes]

Hey Bill. Thanks for keeping the faith. Actually, the eBook version of my book has been available on Amazon for a few weeks now.

Yes but I am a Mac Man so prefer iBooks. I'll hold out a bit longer before buying from Amazon.

 

[dkstott]

As the author of The Brim and the Crown, I wanted to jump into the thread that Art started. I spent 11 months researching and tracking down the best hat makers -- dress and Western -- in the US and abroad. I scoured urban metros, small towns, and suburbs. I believe I found the best hatters in 39 states and 19 countries. And what I learned is that the universe of custom hatters is large and expanding. As you know, there is no epicenter of hat making in the US or abroad, but I can tell you this: there are more custom dress hatters in Portland OR, Los Angeles, and New York City than anywhere else in the US; Texas has more custom Western hatters than the Southwest, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain states combined; that regional hatters in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Louisiana, and Montana, are doing extraordinary work; and Austria, Australia, France, Italy, Sweden, and the UK are worth spending a little more on shipping. Why did I write the book? Because the same hatters' names kept popping up again and again, and I just knew there was more talent out there. FYI: The Brim and the Crown is available on Amazon in print and eBook formats. If you need the names of hatters in your area, email me at thebrimandthecrown@gmail.com - Mark

I was at DelMonico Hatter recently and they've got a copy on display in the store.