The Cavanagh Club

[ManofKent]

Richard, excellent! Short brim and higher crown, rare! Looks good on you!

Thanks - I can see this rapidly becoming a favourite.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Cavanagh Opera Hat owned by Frank T. Stack

Been meaning to post this for a while.

This is a Cavanagh Opera Hat from right around 1928-1930 or so. Has the "Cavanagh Make" imprint. 5 1/2" crown. Size 7 1/2, though there are no tags visible anywhere, due to the way Opera hats are constructed.

This particular hat is very special, as it was owned by Frank T. Stack, longtime superintendent of C&K/Hat Corporation of America before leaving in the early-1940s to start his own hat company, Stack Hats. Frank Stack was also a four-time mayor of Norwalk. This hat, along with some other HCA hats, comes courtesy of Pat Stack, Frank's last surviving son. This one is the oldest of the bunch. Sadly, all of his father's Stack Hats were gone a long time ago, along with his dad's favorite grey Homburg, a hat for which he was apparently well known, and a proper silk topper. I'm just grateful to have these.



Brad

 

[hatsRme]

Absolutely OUTSTANDING, Brad. Obviously, Mr. Stack understands exactly who's who in the world of hat historians! You are truly a "keeper of the Flame" of all hat things. Congrats, sir!!

 

[ManofKent]

Great piece of history Brad.

 

[Joshbru3]

1950's Cavanagh 40? No longer a size 7 1/4 LO.....

I just recently bought this one....and its quite interesting. Originally I thought it was a Cavanagh Western based on the pictures, but it turned out to be a little different. Apparently, this hat used to be a size 7 1/4 LO and is NO LONGER. It is now a size 7 because someone or some hatter in the past "renovated" the hat and I put renovated in quotes, because the "renovation" was done pretty poorly. The felt body is absolutely PERFECT though. It looks like the renovator took the original sweatband out, tried to shrink the hat and re-block it to a size 7. They didn't do a very good job because on the bottom of the brim, you can see where some internal crown felt was fulled out into the brim section and not sanded. The felt body was not ironed enough so it didn't shrink properly to the new block by the brim break.

There is a very faint outline of a 2 inch ribbon mark on the outside of the crown, so I am fairly positive that this hat had a 2 inch ribbon at one time. When the sweatband was sewn back into the hat, the rear stitching was cut in order to shrink the sweatband size. The rear seam is now taped. The hatter used a sweatband machine to sew the original sweatband back into the hat and used two different stitch patterns. Unfortunately, they did not line up the sweatband reed and the brim break line so the sweatband dips below the break line. It needs to be removed and resewn. The sweatband is a beautifully wide and high quality sweatband that was used on other HCA 40 quality hats I have owned.

There is NO evidence that this hat EVER had a Cavanagh edge. There are no markings on the sweatband to indicate that the hat ever had a Cavanagh edge and I am very certain the sweatband is original to the hat. Currently the brim measures 3 inches wide, but since the brim was elongated by 1/8 of an inch or so when it was downsized, I suspect the original brim length was 2 7/8. The hatter gave the brim a VERY deep flange and the brim is slightly stiffer than the crown.

I am unsure what to do with this hat. The felt molds beautifully like clay and feels EXACTLY like other HCA 40 quality hats I have owned so I am fairly certain it is a 40 series hat. The felt body is absolutely immaculate, so I do not know if I should re-sew the original sweatband and leave it as-is, re-block the hat with a taller crown and trim the brim, or sell it as a 7 1/4 body that has to be re-blocked and trimmed.


Here are some pictures......

 

[Joshbru3]

1950's Cavanagh 40? No longer a size 7 1/4 LO.....(cont...)

 

[splintercellsz]

Interesting find!

 

[Chepstow]

Very nice Josh! I am sure you will find the right way for the hat!

 

[ManofKent]

Josh - that's in superb condition.

 

[Purplesage]

Cavanagh Hundred

2" snapdown brim with Cavanagh Edge and 5 3/8" open crown depth. Classic lines and tight pinch in front.

 

[bloc]

Got my first Cavanagh today! So happy to finally get to see that famous edge at close quarters.

 

[ManofKent]

bloc - nice cavanagh. I've got one very similar in a slightly darker grey. Is there a model name?

 

[bloc]

Thank you. Where would I find that?

 

[ManofKent]

Bloc - mine is printed on the sweat.

 

[bloc]

On the sweat it says Cavanagh in gold on one side and on the other Droddy's, Beckley, W.Va. I presume Droddy's was the shop that sold it. I googled and found a Debbie Droddy in Beckley, W.Va who could be a relative of the former shop owners but no other info so I guess the shop is long gone.

So no model name that I can see. What model is yours?

 

[ManofKent]

'Louis' - http://www.thefedoralounge.com/show...gh-Club&p=1661753&highlight=louis#post1661753

 

[Brad Bowers]

John Cavanagh (center), president of The Crofut & Knapp Co., on vacation in Miami, FL, along with attorney Dudley Field Malone (left) and E.F. Sullivan (right), Chairman of the National Democratic Committee in New York city. Taken January 31, 1926. Photo by Underwood and Underwood. Recent eBay acquisition.



Brad

 

[Huertecilla]

To share and kick this thread up:

Bought a Cavanagh today, original box and all.

From what I gather from Brad's treasure trove of shared information it is end fifties/begin sixties?

It has only 'Cavanagh Edge' on the sweat band, no plastic cover.
As it features no model name, I have dubbed it 'Homdora' as personal relativation.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Nice find! It is a snap-brim hat. The front of the hat is meant to snap down. Cavanagh Homburgs have bound edges and a curl. This hat has no curl, just the natural curved flange from the Cavanagh Edge process.

Brad

 

[Huertecilla]

Nice find! It is a snap-brim hat. The front of the hat is meant to snap down. Cavanagh Homburgs have bound edges and a curl. This hat has no curl, just the natural curved flange from the Cavanagh Edge process.

Brad

Thanks Brad, snap brim it will be.

Am I correct in the period?