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The hats of our fathers

Messages
11,408
Location
Alabama
Eric's pic prompted me to repost this from Families of the lounge. My maternal grandfather, and the inspiration behind my hat wearing, and I outside his home. I think I'm around 3 yoa when this was taken. That's a Dobbs on his noggin, the only dress hats he wore.
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Michael R.

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,889
Location
West Tennessee USA
Eric's pic prompted me to repost this from Families of the lounge. My maternal grandfather, and the inspiration behind my hat wearing, and I outside his home. I think I'm around 3 yoa when this was taken. That's a Dobbs on his noggin, the only dress hats he wore.
View attachment 50674

My Paternal Grandfather , and Great Grandfather (I never saw , except in pictures) inspired mine , and I look just like them both . Scary almost .
That's a Great Picture and memory . My Grandfather and GGF raised cattle and horses , loved a Good Horse , I guess I got that from them , too .
You and everyone Posting here make me want to go through the old Photo Albums and take pictures . Simple people , like me , who enjoyed joking around .
I miss my Grandfather , and think about him often , almost daily .

My mom and dad, not long before Pearl Harbor:

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Great Picture and Hat Blackthorn ! Beautiful Stylish Couple , Nice Hat !
 

Kirk H.

One Too Many
Messages
1,196
Location
Charlotte NC
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My Maternal Grandfather (on the right as you are looking at the photo). He was born in 1908 and grew up in the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky. During the great depression he followed the "Hill Billy Highway" up to Ohio and worked for Proctor and Gamble. This photo was taken sometime in the 1930's according to my Aunt.
 

Michael R.

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,889
Location
West Tennessee USA
20150724_001857_zps37uvo9iq.jpg

My Maternal Grandfather (on the right as you are looking at the photo). He was born in 1908 and grew up in the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky. During the great depression he followed the "Hill Billy Highway" up to Ohio and worked for Proctor and Gamble. This photo was taken sometime in the 1930's according to my Aunt.

Great Place to grow up . My Great Uncle did , too , he became an exec at Proctor and Gamble , was in Cincinnati . Small world ! Great Picture ! Nice smile !
 

Kirk H.

One Too Many
Messages
1,196
Location
Charlotte NC
Bumping this thread because my stepmom visited last week and left me with some old family photo albums. I was leafing through when I found this one of my dad and my sister at Midway Airport in Chicago, 1957. Can't say this is a style of hat I would like to wear. The brim is too short and there are no side dents. But it was stylish for the time.

View attachment 50635

That is a great photo. The Pork Pie was a very popular hat in the mid to late 1950's. Lee Marvin wore one in the Chicago Police Show M Squad and of course ole Blue Eyes himself.
 

TheGuitarFairy

Practically Family
Messages
608
Location
Just West of Boston
hi friends,

first post ever in this corner of FL! thanks for the opportunity ..

i'm wondering what those w/ a sharper eye than me can tell me about my father's old Stetson here (that fits like a glove btw). pretty sure he got it in the 70s when he was on the road a lot. should i clean it? lining is intact but a little dingy. soak it? i happen to dig it's overall shape but should i have it re-formed? and is this a particular model or style?

inside reads John B Stetson Company 4 X Beaver, XXXX Stetson .. it's a 7 1/4 and sweat band is soft and not dry at all

just wanna do right by dad and his hat : )
thanks for the help,
mike
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M Brown

A-List Customer
Messages
335
Location
N Tx
I'd just brush it to knock the dust out of the felt. A current day 4X Stetson is usually a low % blend of rabbit fur and might even have some wool in the blend. But I'm sure there are others here that know more about the 4x blend. An older one may just be rabbit fur felt, not sure though. But being that it's a 4x I'd be careful about getting it saturated wet because it could shrink as it dries. The shaping is pretty cool as it is though. Brush it and steam it to change the shaping more to your liking.
 

TheGuitarFairy

Practically Family
Messages
608
Location
Just West of Boston
thank you, fellas ...
hat cleaned up nicely
it has the squared off size tag (post 1960) w/o european size included (post 1972) and a printed "last drop" liner w/ muted colors that i've read is from early 70's.. i'm thinking hat could have been made early 70s?
looking forward to cooler months!
 
Last edited:

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,870
hi friends,

first post ever in this corner of FL! thanks for the opportunity ..

i'm wondering what those w/ a sharper eye than me can tell me about my father's old Stetson here (that fits like a glove btw). pretty sure he got it in the 70s when he was on the road a lot. should i clean it? lining is intact but a little dingy. soak it? i happen to dig it's overall shape but should i have it re-formed? and is this a particular model or style?

inside reads John B Stetson Company 4 X Beaver, XXXX Stetson .. it's a 7 1/4 and sweat band is soft and not dry at all

just wanna do right by dad and his hat : )
thanks for the help,
mike
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Hey TGF:
I’m sure a lot of us here would love to have one of our Dad’s old hats. I know i would. You’re a fortunate Son to have such.
Personally, i would just brush it well and wear it just as he did wondering what he thought and was doing when his.
There’s the value of the hat no matter it’s pedigree. One of the heart!! Enjoy!
B
Ps: be careful messing much with the front brim. It appears to have spiderweb cracks which you wouldn’t want worsening fooling around with it!
B
 

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