The Dobbs Diner...

[Purplesage]

VVL Twenty Comparison

Brad I think the brown VVL with the reddish brown ribbon is an early 50s model if the VVL made it's debut in 1952. It has all the characteristics of a 40s fedora with the wider brim and the high untapered crown. Additionally, the ribbon looks like an older Dobbs style than the mid 50s which makes me think this particular liner was in use in the early 50s. I think the dark brown VVL is probably mid 50s or newer. All of the vintage VVL ads I've seen seem to be from the mid 50s or newer. I haven't seen an ad showing when the VVL was initially introduced.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Brad I think the brown VVL with the reddish brown ribbon is an early 50s model if the VVL made it's debut in 1952. It has all the characteristics of a 40s fedora with the wider brim and the high untapered crown. Additionally, the ribbon looks like an older Dobbs style than the mid 50s which makes me think this particular liner was in use in the early 50s. I think the dark brown VVL is probably mid 50s or newer. All of the vintage VVL ads I've seen seem to be from the mid 50s or newer. I haven't seen an ad showing when the VVL was initially introduced.

It very well could be that the liner dates as early as 1952. I don't have a firm date for either the beginning or end of its usage. As far as I can remember without going back through all the pages of this thread, I'm pretty sure it was used for Dobbs Twenties and hats higher in price. The lower-priced hats all seem to have the simple crest without the lions. Usually, the fact that a Hat Corporation of America hat resembles an earlier style is no indicator of age, since you could still get hats with the same crown height and brim width in the 1960s as you could in the 1930s. However, if a hat is a specific model, it makes it a bit easier to date.

Here are a couple of ads for you, one from September 1952, and the second from August 1953. The one from 1952 only shows a narrow ribbon, but was that the only option? We don't know. The ad from 1953 seems to show there were at least two ribbon options, and, of course, there's your wider ribbon. The other possibility, which I consider unlikely, is that VVL is not a necessarily a model designation, but rather a felt quality that could be found in a variety of shapes and styles. These ads seem to indicate, though, that the VVL was a specific model.



Brad

 

[Purplesage]

Thanks Brad. You probably could get a Dobbs into the 60s with a similar brim width and crown height as say a hat from the 30s but generally wouldn't that have to be something special ordered since by then the crowns had gotten smaller and tapered and the brims were generally shorter.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Purplesage, I have no idea if they were offered as a catalog item or were special order only, and don't have any catalogs from the '50s and '60s to know for sure. The majority of ads we run across all show the latest styles, and so we can follow the fashion trend of lowered and tapered crowns and narrower brims as manufacturers tried to entice younger men to wear hats in those two decades. Cavanagh clientele, and Knox, to a certain extent, were often an older crowd who still preferred those older styles, and so I believe that Cavanagh, at least, offered older styles on a regular basis. Dobbs was always meant for a younger crowd, but it's possible they also kept a couple of older syles available for order each year. I wish I had the information to give a definitive answer.

Brad

 

[ofcoursemyhorse]

Seller had this listed as being from the 50's but it looks a bit older than that to me.

 

[Brad Bowers]

It is. The roundel in the liner tip was used starting in the 1930s and lasting until sometime during WWII. This looks to be 1930s. Nice catch!

Brad

 

[jlee562]

OK, here are some shots of my blue Dobbs Twenty:

Outdoors (kinda out of focus...whoops):

Interior:




Pictured with my Optimo Dillinger, they share a similar DNA:


So I'm guessing late 50's early 60's? It's got a nice, classic blockshape.

 

[dh66]

That one is a real beauty, JLee562

Ofcoursemyhorse, I love the color of that one.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mr. Speakeasy]

I got this hat a little while ago and was wondering if i could get a better idea of how old it is, I was guessing it was early 40s, possibly late 30s
what do you guys think?

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

OK, here are some shots of my blue Dobbs Twenty

Really nice hat, Jared! Is that blue on blue or black [ribbon] on blue?

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

I got this hat a little while ago and was wondering if i could get a better idea of how old it is, I was guessing it was early 40s, possibly late 30s
what do you guys think?

Brad will weigh in pretty soon. I like the un-reeded sweatband. I'm guessing this hat is early '40s, judging by the stitched seam that joins the sweatband together.

 

[jlee562]

Really nice hat, Jared! Is that blue on blue or black [ribbon] on blue?

Thank you, kind sir! It's indeed blue on blue.

 

[ofcoursemyhorse]

Thank you, kind sir! It's indeed blue on blue.

Love that blue dobbs. I think blue is easily my favorite color in a fedora.

 

[ofcoursemyhorse]

I did this horribly, but after writing the phrase Blue Dobbs. This is all I could picture in my mind.

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Great! Thank you for inserting that in to my head!! Now each time I wear MY blue Dobbs it will remind me of this grimace. Crumbs!!!


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[Brad Bowers]

OK, here are some shots of my blue Dobbs Twenty:


So I'm guessing late 50's early 60's? It's got a nice, classic blockshape.

Indeed, late-'50s to about 1960.

I got this hat a little while ago and was wondering if i could get a better idea of how old it is, I was guessing it was early 40s, possibly late 30s
what do you guys think?

It is a 1940s hat, based on the sewn sweatband seam. I've only encountered one sewn sweatband seam from the 1930s on a Dobbs. The factory label inside should tell us for sure, if you feel it's safe to look at without damaging the leather or sweatband stitching.

Both fantastic hats, gentlemen!

Brad

 

[ofcoursemyhorse]

How nice is it when fate briefly smiles our way. After jealously admiring Jlee's lovely Blue Dobbs, this popped up on ebay. So I promptly swooped in and grabbed it.

 

[EliasRDA]

Some of you may have seen my post over in the Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats. etc thread (pg 230, 5th post down).. any idea what time frame that hat may fall into?
The seller called it vintage but didnt give a year so may not have known, or maybe they did & didnt want to kill the price.

Thanks

 

[Brad Bowers]

Some of you may have seen my post over in the Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats. etc thread (pg 230, 5th post down).. any idea what time frame that hat may fall into?
The seller called it vintage but didnt give a year so may not have known, or maybe they did & didnt want to kill the price.

Thanks

Saw it over there. It's 1960s, up to 1972.

Brad

 

[EliasRDA]

Heheh, yeah, its vintage then, over 50 y/o but not as old as I would have liked. Hmm, okay then, seems its making a choice easier for me then.
Thanks Brad, appreciate it.