The Dobbs Diner...

[Mustang]

Okay, I have two guesses, Vic and Mustang.

Vic my feeling is that your sweet find is from somewhere in the mid 60's.

Mustang I'd bet that yours is a touch later, late 60's to early 70's.

But BOTH you gents please remember, I was wrong once before...

Thanks! It's great to know there are people out there who still admit when they were wrong...that one time. It keeps ya humble.

 

[vmtrevino2]

Hello everyone!

Can anyone tell me how old this hat is and what it might be worth? Size 7 3/8

Thank you sir

Okay, I have two guesses, Vic and Mustang.

Vic my feeling is that your sweet find is from somewhere in the mid 60's.

Mustang I'd bet that yours is a touch later, late 60's to early 70's.

But BOTH you gents please remember, I was wrong once before...

 

[gtdean48]

But only ONCE.

He was just slightly mistaken.....

 

[guitarmasta12]

Here's my mid 40s Dobbs homburg. My first homburg and my 12th hat. Black with navy ribbon and bow. Came out of shape. What hay dosent? I hand shaped her and she's looking good.

 

[carouselvic]

 

[alanfgag]

Some good Dobbs vibrations happening... :eusa_clap

 

[guitarmasta12]

Indeed. My Dobbs Above this one has almost the same lable

 

[Ordinary Guy]

Very nice guys

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

Here's my mid 40s Dobbs homburg.

Great hat. I like homburgs, and I love Dobbs hats! Good job working the hat back into shape.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Brad Bowers]

I recently won these on eBay, thinking they were ads cut from a printed source, but imagine my surprise when I discovered they are original artwork, most likely from Robert A. Holmes' advertising department at Crofut & Knapp. The time frame is 1917 to perhaps early-1927, though more likely early-1920s.

I'm not sure whether they were used in newspapers or magazines, or what was their intended audience. They may have been mockups, but I don't yet know enough about the early-20th century advertising process to be sure. The first one is ink and perhaps charcoal, with some white grease pencil. The second one is ink. Most C&K/Dobbs ads of this style also included a bit of descriptive text, and these don't have that. It's possible they may have been for generic advertising cards to be sent out to national retailers, but the address wasn't normally included on those. Another oddity is that on the first piece, "Company" is spelled out, instead of abbreviated. This is a rarity in the company advertising. I wish I knew the artist, but they aren't signed.



This name and address is on the back of the large ad, but a quick Google search has not yielded any information. It could be the artist or just somebody in the approval process. Who knows?


Brad
~The Hatted Professor

 

[RBH]

Very nice Brad! What is the artist name?

 

[Brad Bowers]

Thanks, and I wish I knew! Neither one is signed that I can see, though the second one may have a hidden signature in the boutonniere. The name on the back of the first one looks like R. Panckis or perhaps Panski to me, but I've no idea if that's the artist.

Brad
~The Hatted Professor

 

[Dinerman]

Dobbs Fifty


Dobbs West


Dobbs Double Life- the brim on this one wraps around under itself and back up into the crown, where it's sewn under the ribbon and sweatband, creating a double thick brim and a seamless edge.

 

[John Galt]

Great Hats! Love the double life. I have two. They are eminently shapable - easily tweaked on the fly to almost any shape.

 

[DOGMAN]

Dobbs Rainbow.

 

[1mach1]

Dinerman, Dogman, great finds!

 

[RJR]

+1

 

[foamy]

Brad Bowers: I'm inclined to believe that the first illustration is a layout or comp for client review, to get approval before the final is executed. I get that impression because the typography is not as "polished" and consistent as it might be if that were to be a final rendering. Also, the sketch is just that—a sketch that doesn't quite look enough like the final product/hat to be considered for publication. If it were final art, the hat would be proportional and all of it rendered in ink and/or gouache.

Compare it to the second one where the type is dang-near perfectly rendered and the silhouette is precise. This one was most likely for production/print.

Back then (and until the late eighties and early nineties) art directors and advertising/bull pen artists had to be able to draw and execute great typography by hand.

I don't know what you paid, but these were a good snag. Old advertising art and mechanicals can be hard to find these days—particularly of that vintage.

Dogman: That Rainbow hat liner is the Katz P.J.'s!

 

[Brad Bowers]

Brad Bowers: I'm inclined to believe that the first illustration is a layout or comp for client review, to get approval before the final is executed. I get that impression because the typography is not as "polished" and consistent as it might be if that were to be a final rendering. Also, the sketch is just that—a sketch that doesn't quite look enough like the final product/hat to be considered for publication. If it were final art, the hat would be proportional and all of it rendered in ink and/or gouache.

Compare it to the second one where the type is dang-near perfectly rendered and the silhouette is precise. This one was most likely for production/print.

Back then (and until the late eighties and early nineties) art directors and advertising/bull pen artists had to be able to draw and execute great typography by hand.

I don't know what you paid, but these were a good snag. Old advertising art and mechanicals can be hard to find these days—particularly of that vintage.

Thanks for the enlightenment, foamy. I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Brad Bowers]

Dobbs Cross Country Postcard - 1933

Here's a Dobbs postcard from 1933 that I recently picked up.

This is a model I wish Hatco would revive in some sort of a Dobbs Classics line, as is being done with Stetson. Alas, it will never happen.



Brad
~The Hatted Professor