The Dobbs Diner...

[TheDavel]

Can you get a photo of the O.P.S. price tag?

Ah... So, there may be a flaw in my understanding...

There's a pic in the original that seemed, to me, to be the OPS interior price tag (example attached here from The Hatted Professor site that led me to believe it was one, and the original from above). I thought it was just that the wording at the top of 'my tag' was cut off.

This is exactly why I asked if anyone saw issue with my thoughts...

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Ah... So, there may be a flaw in my understanding...

There's a pic in the original that seemed, to me, to be the OPS interior price tag (example attached here from The Hatted Professor site that led me to believe it was one, and the original from above). I thought it was just that the wording at the top of 'my tag' was cut off.

This is exactly why I asked if anyone saw issue with my thoughts...

Your price tag does not seem to be an O.P.S. Label. I’d say your Thirty is the descendent of the Twenty adjusted for inflation. Enjoy your nice hat and welcome to the Lounge.

 

[Blare]

Ah... So, there may be a flaw in my understanding...

There's a pic in the original that seemed, to me, to be the OPS interior price tag (example attached here from The Hatted Professor site that led me to believe it was one, and the original from above). I thought it was just that the wording at the top of 'my tag' was cut off.

This is exactly why I asked if anyone saw issue with my thoughts...

A reasonable assumption considering that example of the OPS tag was almost identical to the regular price tag of the time.

This hat though is interesting as it has some strong styling cues of a 1960s hat.. but The sweat and embossing give it some 50s vibes. The manufacturing tag without the crown height points to a 60s hat as well…. Though there is some wiggle room there I think. My guess and you can take it for what it’s worth (not much ) would be a very late 50s hat. Could just as well be later 60s with a bit of a throw back sweat as a selling point to justify the Thirty price tag.

all in all I agree with Brent’s opinion of “Twenty adjusted for inflation“. You are correct though that you don’t see too many Thirty… I think the reason may be that by the time the “Twenty” became the “Thirty” they may have realized the old pricing/naming convention was a losing battle

welcome to the lounge… enjoy your cool new hat…. with the degree of effort you put in to learn about this one… I suspect it will not be your last…. Especially with the enabling crowd around here.

 

[Blare]

I got this hat a few weeks ago, and it is the one that made me want to create an account here and post. The reason is because, even on The Hatted Professor site (as well as here!) I haven't yet found one quite like this listed anywhere. I figured that it could come in handy for someone else one day. (Keep in mind that I'm very much new to these things, too, so I'm one of those guys that has read about 15,000 forum posts in the past few weeks, and I would have loved to have found this post!)

Dobbs Thirty hats seem to be really rare? Twenty hats can be found all over the place, it seems... I found this one at an antique store near Ocala, FL. Normally, Florida antique stores are basically barren of old hats. As someone else commented that I saw in another forum thread: Most people sell all their stuff when they plan on retiring to Florida. When I saw this one, it was in really rough shape. It seemed that the only way anyone had ever held it was by the crown. I didn't see any damage, though, and the price was right (only $60). It helped that it felt terrific, and FAR nicer than the cheapo stuff I'd been wearing for years because I was ignorant of the stuff available from years past!

It really is a nice, nice hat. Seriously.

When I got it home, I looked up what I saw on the hat, which got me to both this site, and The Hatted Professor site. Going by what I saw with the liner, it seemed it might be a '60s model (from a pic and comment on The Hatted Professor site, which was cool, and all) and walked away, but then I saw the OPS tag inside the sweatband (finally recognizing what it was! I thought it was just a price tag like my a few of my others!!) and it was a bit of a shock when I realized what it was... So, this is a '51 - '53 model. Neat! Well, I believe it is. Is there anything that anyone sees that would cause this to be untrue?!?!?!


This thing is STILL very dusty and poofs when brushed. Hey, I'm workin' on it as time goes by. Haha. But, I'm not really up for giving it a 'bath' yet... It is in great condition and looks fantastic once it was cleaned up and shaped a bit...



Finally, thank you ALL for the incredible amount of information that is supplied on this site in general. I've made some pretty spiffy purchases over the last few weeks thanks to the knowledge gleaned from the enthusiastic posts on this site.

For some reason I keep coming back to your hat. Another observation… the pattern on the edge of the sweatband is very similar to what they did on their Forty.

 

[TheDavel]

The comment (above) about suspecting that it would not be my last hat was already relegated to shedding light on the past. Yep... Too late, even at that time! I have four Dobbs hats now (and a few other brands), the others being a green tweed job that I got while in the US Northeast, and the other a cheaper model fedora... All pretty recent purchases, really... But... I'm posting about the nicer ones...

This one is a Twenty that I got about a week ago. It is a 7 1/8, or so it states, but I think it was on a diet over the past decades. It is a little snug in comparison to my Thirty and the "cheapo" late-60s/early-70s Dobbs Fedora (which is still pretty nice!!!) that I also have... All three are the same labeled size, but this one just needs to be broken in again...

The reason this one is being posted is basically as a commentary on the Thirty that I posted yesterday. From the inside tag/sweatband it seems to be early '60s (based on what I've observed in the wilds of the Internets). There was no price tag on this one when I got it (to differentiate it from the one on the Thirty), and the quality of that Thirty just seems... Nicer (not even taking into account aesthetics, like the stingier brim - 1.5in - on this one)... The Thirty just seems to have come from an earlier batch (to me)...

This was an ebay hat ($30), and it came in looking better than the pics, which is always nice. I'm lucky enough to have a some-what small head and the body build of an adolescent spider monkey, so I can get away with the stingier stuff, it seems. Though, this one really does scream "'60s" when you're wearing it... This isn't a bad thing!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

A nice Dobbs Panama in the Open Road style. Size is 7 3/8 or 59cm and the brim is 2 7/8” wide.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Old (1930s or ‘40s?) Dobbs homburg. The felt is thin and absolutely wonderful, but it’s stained and there is slight moth damage. The size is 7 1/4. The sweatband is soft, thin, and supple. It’s a project hat and needs a home. I bought it just to save it.

 

[Blare]

Old (1930s or ‘40s?) Dobbs homburg. The felt is thin and absolutely wonderful, but it’s stained and there is slight moth damage. The size is 7 1/4. The sweatband is soft, thin, and supple. It’s a project hat and needs a home. I bought it just to save it.

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Very cool

 

[Rmccamey]

A nice Dobbs Panama in the Open Road style. Size is 7 3/8 or 59cm and the brim is 2 7/8” wide.

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I'd like to find one of those in my size. Very nice, Brent.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I'd like to find one of those in my size. Very nice, Brent.

Thanks, Randy. I wouldn’t mind finding one in my size either.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This is NOT my hat but I thought it would add something to help with dating Dobbs hats.

Dobbs Leisure Light Cavanagh Process from 1938:


EDIT: the seller accepted my offer so it is my hat now. No way it’s going to fit but it’s a piece of history with some provenance.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

This is NOT my hat but I thought it would add something to help with dating Dobbs hats.

Dobbs Leisure Light Cavanagh Process from 1938:


EDIT: the seller accepted my offer so it is my hat now. No way it’s going to fit but it’s a piece of history with some provenance.

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I suspect it's a bit older than that. Bon Ton Ivy sweat that is not sewn at the seam, a frayed bow, and the patent dated 1913. I don't think that hat, box, and sales slip go together as $2.79 seems too low for a Dobbs soft felt hat even from the 1910s/20s/30s. @DaveProc posted quite a few ads for Leisure Light but I didn't find any that matched that price when I was trying to date it.

I reached out to the seller this morning but was disappointed to find out how small it was. For the price I considered it possibly for my boy but decided to pass. Curious to see what you end up finding behind the sweat.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I suspect it's a bit older than that. Bon Ton Ivy sweat that is not sewn at the seam, a frayed bow, and the patent dated 1913. I don't think that hat, box, and sales slip go together as $2.79 seems too low for a Dobbs soft felt hat even from the 1910s/20s/30s. @DaveProc posted quite a few ads for Leisure Light but I didn't find any that matched that price when I was trying to date it.

I reached out to the seller this morning but was disappointed to find out how small it was. For the price I considered it possibly for my boy but decided to pass. Curious to see what you end up finding behind the sweat.

You did it the right way. I made the offer and then asked about size. I don’t think anyone will wear it, certainly no one in my home, but I’m glad to have it in the collection all the same.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

You did it the right way. I made the offer and then asked about size. I don’t think anyone will wear it, certainly no one in my home, but I’m glad to have it in the collection all the same.

There's a lot going on with that hat with all those interesting details. Definitely a rare piece that will make a very nice addition to your collection even given the size. I didn't do an exhaustive search but I didn't find anything quite like it on here.

I was very tempted to BIN but at this point I'm trying to keep a one in one out policy. So far I'm doing good. I didn't really want to take up a slot with a hat I couldn't wear. I'm glad a fellow Lounger got it and look forward to seeing more of it soon.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

There's a lot going on with that hat with all those interesting details. Definitely a rare piece that will make a very nice addition to your collection even given the size. I didn't do an exhaustive search but I didn't find anything quite like it on here.

I was very tempted to BIN but at this point I'm trying to keep a one in one out policy. So far I'm doing good. I didn't really want to take up a slot with a hat I couldn't wear. I'm glad a fellow Lounger got it and look forward to seeing more of it soon.

I wasn’t expecting the seller to accept my offer. The seller said they would be listing more hats in the next week or two so….

 

[Blare]

W

This is NOT my hat but I thought it would add something to help with dating Dobbs hats.

Dobbs Leisure Light Cavanagh Process from 1938:


EDIT: the seller accepted my offer so it is my hat now. No way it’s going to fit but it’s a piece of history with some provenance.

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what a cool little piece of history. nice catch Brent.

Jonathan… do you know how common it was for bon ton Ivey on felt hats? I feel like I’ve only maybe seen this once before. Can’t remember. Also the black thread on this process gives it a different look over the white I usually see on boaters.

 

[BobHufford]

Jonathan… do you know how common it was for bon ton Ivey on felt hats?

I have one on a Boy Scout hat ...

 

[TheOldFashioned]

W

what a cool little piece of history. nice catch Brent.

Jonathan… do you know how common it was for bon ton Ivey on felt hats? I feel like I’ve only maybe seen this once before. Can’t remember. Also the black thread on this process gives it a different look over the white I usually see on boaters.

Aside from boaters I've only ever seen it on stiff felt hats (bowlers/derbies), but my experience and sample size is rather limited.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

7 1/8 Dobbs Golden Coach. 2 5/8” wide crim and 5 1/4” open crown. This hat has some miles on it and it shows.

The felt is pleasantly soft and has a slight heathered look to it.

 

[M Hatman]

Old (1930s or ‘40s?) Dobbs homburg. The felt is thin and absolutely wonderful, but it’s stained and there is slight moth damage. The size is 7 1/4. The sweatband is soft, thin, and supple. It’s a project hat and needs a home. I bought it just to save it.

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With the plain slant impressed Dobbs on the sweat and the patent from 1940 (and the $10 price tag), you have a early to mid-40's hat there.....NICE!