The Dobbs Diner...

[winter_joe]

 

[winter_joe]

 

[winter_joe]

Alsp looking for an accurate date on this fine lid

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Just picked up this Dobbs from Etsy. Waiting for delivery. What is "Cushion-Aire"?

 

[Brad Bowers]

Alsp looking for an accurate date on this fine lid

Patent date means it's after 1939, but the factory label means it's 1940s, mid-'40s, most likely, though I'm surprised there's no OPA tag. That could mean it's '41-'42, or later after '47. However, I don't think the roundel was used in the liner that late. There were a lot of willful violations of the OPA price ceiling, which could explain the lack of a tag (and the very few HCA examples we have could support this conclusion). The higher $12.50 price also leads to believe that it's mid-'40s, as in 1941 $10 would buy you a hat with a Cavanagh Edge, so the price seems excessive for a bound edge. Beautiful hat, though!

The box, if you were wondering, is not original to the hat, as it's a modern box. At least someone thought to pair a Dobbs box with a Dobbs hat!

Just picked up this Dobbs from Etsy. Waiting for delivery. What is "Cushion-Aire"?

Cushion-Aire refers to the chevron-embossed sweatband, designed to offer comfort and increased air circulation. Also a fine hat!

Brad

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Professor, based on this tag, liner, and Cushion-Aire sweatband do you have an approx date range for this hat?

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

The follow up to my Etsy purchase: this is a Dobbs Cushion-Aire with a Guild Edge. I bought the hat thinking it was a little big. The seller said the opening was 8" x 6.5". I figured it was 7 3/8, so it would need to be sized down, but it would be a really nice hat in the end. On the contrary, it happened to be too small, a 7 1/8. Though, it's on the fence, so I can wear it with moderate comfort.

I'm not sure of the age or model, but I am very happy with the quality of this hat. It was obviously in storage for a while; when it shipped to me it was covered with dust and it smelled of a musty basement. The odor wasn't offensive, just noticeable. It wasn't bad, really. My previous post showed the listing pictures. Again, moderately dirty; it needed a cleaning. So, I spent some time brushing, steaming, dry sponging, brushing, and repeating the process until it looked like a proper hat. I also ironed down the brim a little more flat, but with a slight turn up at the back.

The end result really blew my mind. It turned out fantastic! The felt is extremely soft, dense, and very smooth. There are no major blemishes, rips, or moth damage. Inside, the liner is clean, and the Cushion-Aire sweatband is nice and supple. I also like the additional liner between the sweatband and the satin liner and felt to keep sweat from soaking through to the felt. Here are the specs:

Model: Dobbs Cushion-Aire
Color: Medium to charcoal gray (didn't come out well in the pics)
Size: 7 1/8
Crown Height: 5 1/2" OC
Brim Width: 2", Guild Edge
Ribbon Width: 2"

On with the pics...

I absolutely LOVE this pic... :thumb:

Thanks for reading about my hat!

 

[Brad Bowers]

Very nice! It's a '60s hat. Cushion-Aire just refers to that style of comfort sweatband. The hat would have a different model name, probably lost to history.

Brad

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Thanks for the info, Brad. The tag had a $20 price. Would this make the model a TWENTY?

 

[Brad Bowers]

Probably not. Dobbs hats named after their price would have "Twenty," or "Thirty," "Thirty-Five," "Forty," and so on stamped underneath the coach logo on the sweatband. Even though it was priced at $20, it would have had a different model name. All C&K/C-D/HCA hats had model names for use in advertsing and catalogs, but were rarely printed inside the hat anywhere unless it was a specific model name that the company wanted to keep around for a few years, in which case they usually registered the trademark and printed it in the hat. The same was true for Stetson and other major manufacturers, too. Most model names weren't use more than a season or two, so it wasn't worth the extra cost to print it in the hat somewhere. It sucks for us collectors, though, as it would be nice to apply a model name to every hat we have.
Brad

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

That makes a lot of sense. I do like the straight lines along the crown on the sides and also the front and back!

 

[Rabbit]

Dobbs Twenty 5 5/8" x 2 5/8" black w/ cavanagh edge (late 40s to early 50s)

I steamed this Dobbs back to open crown and brushed it thoroughly from veritable attic condition; the felt was tired and covered with dust - it came out minty. The felt just needed some reactivation of the shellac to bring it back to life. It's a dress weight felt and will now hold any dry crease and pop back to open crown without any remnants of creasing.

Open crown:

With deep center dent:

With deep diamond crease:

Liner with oilskin cover:

 

[hatophile]

Superb!

 

[m0nk]

Beautiful! It reminds me of the black hat William Powell wore at times in The Thin Man movies...

 

[delectans]

Lovely Twenty, Nik, and outstanding effort in restoring it to its original state. These Dobbs Twenty fedoras are a paragon and among my favorites. On first glance I thought your example was a dark blue color, like mine from earlier in this thread. Congratulations!

 

[Rabbit]

Beautiful! It reminds me of the black hat William Powell wore at times in The Thin Man movies...

Exactly my thoughts, m0nk. That's what the hat looks like when worn.

Oh, and I completely forgot to post a pic of the reorder tag. Coming up soon.

Edit: Here's the tag and a shot of the store imprint:

 

[Rabbit]

Lovely Twenty, Nik, and outstanding effort in restoring it to its original state. These Dobbs Twenty fedoras are a paragon and among my favorites. On first glance I thought your example was a dark blue color, like mine from earlier in this thread. Congratulations!

Thank you, Al. I quite agree, the felt quality on these is outstanding. The cleaning procedure reminded me of my very first ebay vintage hat, a Resistol Kitten Finish Beaver Twenty, which to this day is the highest quality felt among my heavier felts from U.S. hatmakers. Without exaggerating in the least, I spent half an hour brushing the hat, raising copious amounts of dust from the felt. It came out minty just like the Dobbs. The Dobbs, however, wasn't nearly as dusty. The dust was mostly on the surface of the felt, and the crown was very much out of shape and "tired".

 

[EggHead]

Rabbit, that is one nice Dobbs!

 

[JonnyO]

Vintage Shop Find

Hello everyone, I'm new to these boards as well as a new fedora owner. I purchased this Dobbs Fifth Avenue at a local vintage shop a few days ago and it appears, from my small amount of knowledge, that this hat does not have a name outside of the brand name. There are no logos or markings on the sweatband, the sweatband itself isn't even leather. I was hoping someone could help me fill in the blanks. Thank you!
It has a 1.5" over welt brim, 1.75" ribbon and bow, and a center dent crown.

 

[tomb1013]

Rabbit a very nice Dobbs!.