The Dobbs Diner...

[rlk]

Whoa, what's the patent number on the reorder tag? I've not seen one printed with that before.

Edit: Enlarging the photo, it looks like John Garvan Cavanagh's patent 2143051 from 1939! I long wanted to see a hat finished by this process, and here one is! Too cool! I always wondered if that process was put to use, as I hadn't seen any references to it until now.

So, that firmly dates it between 1939 and 1944.

Brad

WOW! That Patent is quite a Treatise on hat body finishing. I guess John Cavanagh knew something about making hats. The process seems to work. The hat is softer than usual and very uniform in tone despite very thin felt of the crown. It does have the "plastic"-like quality of Beaver but I don't think it is a mostly Beaver felt. Quite smooth and the bits of crud and dust brushed off with ease leaving a like new appearance. Did they continue to use the process?

 

[jamespowers]

WOW! That Patent is quite a Treatise on hat body finishing. I guess John Cavanagh knew something about making hats. The process seems to work. The hat is softer than usual and very uniform in tone despite very thin felt of the crown. It does have the "plastic"-like quality of Beaver but I don't think it is a mostly Beaver felt. Quite smooth and the bits of crud and dust brushed off with ease leaving a like new appearance. Did they continue to use the process?

We also find that factory hat producers of today should read the patent well as the ones many produce in dark colors are in fact still mottled.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I learned a trick or two myself from that patent, and use them on my hats.

Until your hat showed up, rlk, I had no idea whether the patent was ever put into use or not. Now we have proof, but as to how long it lasted in production, that's anybody's guess.

Brad

 

[Cracker]

Dobbs Fifth Avenue from OFAS.It's a very nice tan color, with a stiff 2.5" raw edge brim and a very stiff crown. The sweatband is kind of wonky, very stiff and looks new. There are no tags or stickers behind the sweat that I can see (it's glued to the liner behind the size tag). I feel like I overpaid for it, though a new Dobbs Savoy will run you another $40. But I had to have it, because I love the color and it came from the men's store where I shopped growing up in the '70s.

I haven't searched FL yet to see if I can date it, but does anyone have a guess as to its age? It feels modern, but I don't know when men's stores generally stopped stamping the sweat. 1970s? 1980s?

 

[Brad Bowers]

It is modern, 1980s to the present day. Probably can't narrow it any more than that.

Enjoy it!

Brad

 

[Dreispitz]

Dobbs Fifth Avenue from OFAS.It's a very nice tan color, with a stiff 2.5" raw edge brim and a very stiff crown. The sweatband is kind of wonky, very stiff and looks new. There are no tags or stickers behind the sweat that I can see (it's glued to the liner behind the size tag). I feel like I overpaid for it, though a new Dobbs Savoy will run you another $40. But I had to have it, because I love the color and it came from the men's store where I shopped growing up in the '70s.

I haven't searched FL yet to see if I can date it, but does anyone have a guess as to its age? It feels modern, but I don't know when men's stores generally stopped stamping the sweat. 1970s? 1980s?

Very fine hat, and the colour suits you well! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[buler]

Dobbs Fifteen Feb 1932

Ad from Colliers, Feb 1932

B

 

[MRM]

Any help on the approx year of this hat?

Hi, my first post!
I just bought this hat today in a thrift store in NYC.
Its my first vintage hat and I absolutely love it - fits like a glove, and the felt is beautifully soft to th touch. Anyway, was wondering if any of you hat buffs could tell me the year, or at least decade of it. Any help, is much appreciated...

 

[MRM]

sorry - and these:

 

[jimmy the lid]

I have become a real fan of the Dobbs Guild Edge lids -- and here is a 1949 ad that provides some interesting info. Note that the price points are $16.50, $20, $40 and $50. As of 1949, apparently the Dobbs 100 Guild Edge had yet to make an appearance. Makes me wonder if the "100" lids for a number of manufacturers first turned up in the early 50's, at a time when the post-war economy was looking up.

Interesting, too, to note that the Dobbs Guild Edge is touted to involve "18 hand operations."

Does anyone have a bead on what the "Individu-Ovals" sizing was all about?

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Brad Bowers]

Does anyone have a bead on what the "Individu-Ovals" sizing was all about?

Haven't run across that term before. It might not have lasted long.

Dobbs started offering a custom-made 100 in 1955, as did Knox. I haven't run across anything yet to indicate they offered a non-custom-made 100 before that. Cavanagh had one for quite a while before 1955.

Great ad, thanks for posting!

Brad

 

[Brad Bowers]

Hi, my first post!
I just bought this hat today in a thrift store in NYC.
Its my first vintage hat and I absolutely love it - fits like a glove, and the felt is beautifully soft to th touch. Anyway, was wondering if any of you hat buffs could tell me the year, or at least decade of it. Any help, is much appreciated...

Welcome to the Lounge!

It's 1980s, give or take a few years either direction.

Enjoy it!

Brad

 

[jimmy the lid]

Dobbs started offering a custom-made 100 in 1955, as did Knox. I haven't run across anything yet to indicate they offered a non-custom-made 100 before that. Cavanagh had one for quite a while before 1955.

Brad -- Do you happen to know whether the Dobbs 100 or Knox 100 were ever offered on anything other than a custom basis?

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Brad Bowers]

No idea. I don't know how it was with Stetson and others, but I can imagine if someone's spending that much money, the hat is probably considered, at least partially, to be custom made.

Brad

 

[Lefty]

Interesting, too, to note that the Dobbs Guild Edge is touted to involve "18 hand operations."

To be fair, not all of those operations were required in the manufacturing process. Some were more for worker morale.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Sign recovered from the Dobbs Factory:

 

[MRM]

Welcome to the Lounge!

It's 1980s, give or take a few years either direction.

Enjoy it!

Brad

Thanks!
Not too old then, but at least it could be as old as me!

 

[Dinerman]

 

[Dinerman]

Dobbs Cross Country

 

[Dinerman]

Dobbs Cross Country 2