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The Dobbs Diner...

Joshbru3

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,409
Location
Chicago, IL
Two More ads.....

1942 Dobbs Dawn Grey Envoy

1942DobbsDawnGreyEnvoy.jpg


1942 Dobbs Jolly Rounder

1942DobbsJollyRounder.jpg
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
Dobbs early 1950s 5 3/4" x 2 3/4"

Got this one in January and forgot to post it here. The felt is quite something. Very malleable, medium weight. The pics don't render the color accurately; it's actually a lighter medium grey with a slight greenish undertone and nearly matching ribbon.

Original auction


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Mystic

Practically Family
Messages
882
Location
Northeast Florida
Nope, not long at all, as there isn't much in the way of variation.

This embossed and slanted style was used from 1908 until sometime around WWII. Let's call it Phase 1:
Stamp.jpg


There are very slight differences in the exact shapes of the letters and depth of embossing over the years, but I don't know that we have enough information to necessarily pin down any changes due to differences the dies.

By the late 1940s the word Dobbs was stamped in gold, typically on a textured sweatband, and this lasted until the early 1950s.
DobbsGoldStamp.jpg


The changeover to Phase 3 occurred in the early 1950s, and featured the Golden Coach. It has lasted until the present day.
Dobbs25-3.jpg


The later logos do not feature as deep of a stamping as the earlier ones, nor the crisp gold edges. This example is from 1970:
1970Dobbs.jpg


Phase 4, if we want to mark it as a separate phase, is a revival of Phase 2 by the mid- to late-1960s. This example is from 1968:
1968Dobbs.jpg


Brad

I have seen a blue liner label like the red one in the bottom photo.

Are these labels specific to mid to late 60's ?
 

Brad Bowers

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,187
Don't recall ever seeing a brown or green label. Did these colors signify anything?

Possibly, such as Lee Hats did, but I don't have enough evidence to conclude anything. I've only recently begun adding '60s-'70s hats to my collection.

Brad
 

Mystic

Practically Family
Messages
882
Location
Northeast Florida
Possibly, such as Lee Hats did, but I don't have enough evidence to conclude anything. I've only recently begun adding '60s-'70s hats to my collection.

Brad

I would think that if the different label colors were to mean anything to the buying public it would be made known in Dobbs advertising.

Although there probably wasn't too much fedora advertising going on in the late 60's.

red, blue and even green would be good color choices for adding appeal to a hat's liner appearance, but, brown seems like an unlikely choice for adding eye appeal.

As the quality of hats began to go down, it would make sense that companies would go the "eye appeal" or make strictly cosmetic changes to hats.
 

Brad Bowers

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,187
Dobbs Double Life

I've been wanting to see a Double Life firsthand, to see what all the fuss was about a double-layer brim. The brim is folded back under itself and glued to the inside of the crown.

The Double Life was first introduced in the Fall of 1955. I can find no records of it after 1970.

DL1.jpg


DL2.jpg


DL3.jpg


DL4.jpg


DL5.jpg


MilwaukeeSentinel-9-29-1955.jpg



My Doulbe Life is probably right around 1965/66, based on the price of $18.50 and the inflation of Double Life prices from 1961 to 1968, as seen in these ads. There is no Union label on the back of the size tag, so it's possible it came out of the Winchester, Tennessee factory.

The brim is really thick, as you can imagine. The different stylings of the brim as portrayed below are very similar to how the Cavanagh Edge was described in early C&K advertising. My hypothesis is the Double Life brim was created as a chepaer substitute for a brim that behaved in a similar way to one with a Cavanagh Edge.

ToledoBlade-11-7-1961.jpg
PittsburghPostGazette-11-12-1968.jpg


Brad
 
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Brad Bowers

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,187
Deerstalker

This one is strictly for fun. This Dobbs Deerstalker is probably from the 1970s, maybe the 1980s. I can't imagine it being any later than that, based on the $10 price. Interesting that the Union size tag is a Large, but it's really a size 7 3/8. I guess I can always go as Sherlock Holmes for Halloween sometime. A few years ago I missed out on a Cavanagh Deerstalker, but comparing it to these photos, they are the exact same hat.

Deerstalker1.jpg


Deerstalker2.jpg


Deerstalker3.jpg


Deerstalker4.jpg


Brad
 

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