The Cavanagh Club

[Dreispitz]

Would that be the Cavanagh Club - Continental Chapter?

Brad

Including Cyprus and Malta

 

[Cigarband]

Including Cyprus and Malta

And Corsica and Crete!lol

 

[RobFedoraField]

application for membership

I'd like to submit my entry, my first Cavanagh hat (and only my 2nd vintage). found t crumpled in side a box for $8 at a odds-n-ends shop.

I gave it a good brushing and creased it. not sure of age, I was thinking '60's? because it does not have the address in the liner, but the liner is stitched in. it's a really heavy felt, but good lord it feels like clay, the sweat looks original, but since there is absolutely no markings on it, I am assuming it was replaced. there are no tags in it what so ever, I've peaked everywhere. aside from 2 tiny moth nibbles and a sweat stain in the liner, the hat is pristine. one thing that is a little disappointing, and I'm not sure how to describe it, but the hat seems out of round. if you look down on the hat and find the true front of the hat, and mark it, then put the hat on, it's off center a little. not sure if that's due to the poor storage or if it was just made "not perfect"

out of the box:

after a little tlc:

one more thing to add, This is my first "stingy" brim, and I've only gotten a handful of compliments on all my other hats. but today, I received 3 compliments on the cavangh. think I'll have to bump it up higher on my rotation!

 

[Levallois]

I posted this on the ebay topic but it belongs here as well. My first Cavanagh won on ebay so I don't have it yet. The photos can't be captured from Activa so I'm stuck posting a (long) link - I love this color but it will be interesting to work into an outfit. Thanks for looking.

John

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=120086&ppid=1122&image=330081898&images=330081898,330081906,330081915,330081926,330081943,330081949,330081961,330081975,330081987,330082001&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

 

[billysmom]

I posted this on the ebay topic but it belongs here as well. My first Cavanagh won on ebay so I don't have it yet. The photos can't be captured from Activa so I'm stuck posting a (long) link - I love this color but it will be interesting to work into an outfit. Thanks for looking.

John

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=120086&ppid=1122&image=330081898&images=330081898,330081906,330081915,330081926,330081943,330081949,330081961,330081975,330081987,330082001&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

Beautiful, John. Should work well with navy or greens, for starters.

Sue

 

[Levallois]

Thanks Sue. I'm a little deflated as Brad Bowers responded to the ebay thread and noted that the ribbon and sweat were replaced. I never noticed. The good news is that it dates to the 1940s and the felt is probably pretty nice. And there is that great rusty red - burgundy color.

John

 

[Brad Bowers]

It's still a fine hat. Those old Cavanagh sweats have a tendency to crumble or worse, so I'm not surprised. I've had to replace the sweatbands in some of my Cavanaghs and Dobbs hats - those that I wear, anyway.

Brad

 

[rlk]

It's still a fine hat. Those old Cavanagh sweats have a tendency to crumble or worse, so I'm not surprised. I've had to replace the sweatbands in some of my Cavanaghs and Dobbs hats - those that I wear, anyway.

Brad

Should still be wonderful felt and suitable for wearing. Does this not have a Cavanagh Edge or am I just missing it(no sweatband to indicate)?

 

[Brad Bowers]

It currently doesn't have a Cavanagh Edge, and we don't know if it ever had one. As wide as the brim looks, it may be a rare raw edge Cavanagh. Without the original sweatband, it's hard to tell.

Brad

 

[Levallois]

It currently doesn't have a Cavanagh Edge, and we don't know if it ever had one. As wide as the brim looks, it may be a rare raw edge Cavanagh. Without the original sweatband, it's hard to tell.

Brad

Brad,

Will it be possible to determine whether the hat had a Cav edge or was trimmed by looking at the edge once I receive it? Thanks!

John

 

[Brad Bowers]

Brad,

Will it be possible to determine whether the hat had a Cav edge or was trimmed by looking at the edge once I receive it? Thanks!

John

Possibly. It depends on how well the cut was made. Any kind of irregularity might indicate it was removed, but if the cut is clean all the way around, there's no way to know. Unless the cut is too clean and sharp -- meaning, it was removed in the recent past and doesn't match the wear of the rest of the hat. You'll have to let us know what you think once you receive it.

Brad

 

[Levallois]

You'll have to let us know what you think once you receive it.

Brad

Will do, and thanks!

 

[Levallois]

Well, I got it and I now know what all the fuss is about with the Cavanagh brand. What a hat! Light, thin, and soft yet strong. Beautiful russet (rusty) brown - not as much red as I thought but that's ok. I measured the brim every half inch for the entire circumference and it is spot on at 2 3/8-inch the whole edge - no irregularities at all. Edge is exactly the same color as the rest of the hat - no differential aging. So either a great cut job of a Cavanagh edge (why would somone cut off a Cav edge) or it never had one. We'll never know unless someone can decode the tag numbers. Either way I couldn't be happier - wonderful lid. Thanks for the comments and observations!

John

Lousy photo - a little too brown from the real color - but you get the idea.

 

[billysmom]

Well, I got it and I now know what all the fuss is about with the Cavanagh brand. What a hat! Light, thin, and soft yet strong. Beautiful russet (rusty) brown - not as much red as I thought but that's ok. I measured the brim every half inch for the entire circumference and it is spot on at 2 3/8-inch the whole edge - no irregularities at all. Edge is exactly the same color as the rest of the hat - no differential aging. So either a great cut job of a Cavanagh edge (why would somone cut off a Cav edge) or it never had one. We'll never know unless someone can decode the tag numbers. Either way I couldn't be happier - wonderful lid. Thanks for the comments and observations!

John

Lousy photo - a little too brown from the real color - but you get the idea.

Wonderful color, John! They are really special.

Sue

 

[Levallois]

Thanks Sue!

I was wondering if anyone - Brad Bowers or others - have been studying the "to duplicate" code letter and numbers on the tags under the sweats on Cavanaghs? Mine is B 93486.

Thanks!

John

 

[Brad Bowers]

Thanks Sue!

I was wondering if anyone - Brad Bowers or others - have been studying the "to duplicate" code letter and numbers on the tags under the sweats on Cavanaghs? Mine is B 93486.

Thanks!

John

I've thought about it from time to time, creating a database with the reorder/model number and everything, but not seriously. I'm just not sure there is any information it can give us. It doesn't seem like a number that's decipherable.

Brad

 

[Levallois]

This seems simplistic and pushing the data to the extreme, but after looking at seven examples of the number, the only thing that I can see is that they appear to be sequential - it seems like older hats (based on determinations from the way they look, price tags, etc.) have smaller numbers - there is a bowler with a 4-digit number and several old hats (also mostly bowlers) with low 5-digit numbers, later looking hats (1940s) like mine with high 5-digit numbers and a recent Cavanagh with a 6-digit number. This very small sample suggests the numbers are specific to the hat; similar to a serial number on a rifle rather than the first two numbers identify the brim size, the next two the edge treatment, the next two the year of manufacture, etc. The letters are a mystery going from "B" to "W" but could they be a color code? It might be interesting to collect numbers and see if they order chronologically?

John

 

[rlk]

Is there a price tag? I did see one other raw edge with a $15.00 tag rather than the usual $20.00 or $25.00.

 

[Levallois]

There is a white tag but it has faded out. All you can see clearly is a 19121 on the top. So it is of no help.

Any comments/opinions on the possibility that the "to duplicate" numbers are individual serial numbers and chronological? Am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Thanks!

John

 

[Brad Bowers]

Interesting hypothesis, but I suspect that's not the case. If we consider the numerals to be serial numbers, then going with four, five, and six digits, we come up with 1.1 million hats, which is probably far smaller than the number of Cavanaghs sold over three decades. If we factor in the letter as part of the number, then we get over 67 million possible numbers just with the five-digits-plus-letter alone.

Somehow, I don't think any pre-computer-age company is going to maintain a hand-written database of millions of serial numbers of hats, when there really isn't a need to identify individual hats. The number is most likely a model number that is associated with a book or catalog that lists the relevant production information pertaining to the hat. That would entail only a few thousand entries, rather than millions.

The number might be coded to specify things like block number and height, brim width, ribbon, edge treatment, color, and so on, but without a suitable sample size or finding that holy grail catalog, I don't think we'll be able to decipher it. I also don't think the date would be coded into the number, as there is really no need to know when a hat was produced.

A model number would perhaps give you a range of production years for a particular model, if the company kept track of the information. As you've noted, the change from four to five to six digits will give us a general idea of production date relative to another hat, but nothing more specific than that.


Brad