The Imperial Stetson/ 1940

[DOUGLAS]

That is a beautiful hat Alan!!

 

[fluteplayer07]

An outstanding specimen, Alan! Very unique; my own Imperial has some different features than yours. I'm confused, I thought that 'Imperial' was the felt designation, but your hat is labeled as XXX Beaver quality. Or was the Imperial designation synonymous with XXX for a short period?

 

[alanfgag]

Thank you Douglas and Flute.

An outstanding specimen, Alan! Very unique; my own Imperial has some different features than yours. I'm confused, I thought that 'Imperial' was the felt designation, but your hat is labeled as XXX Beaver quality. Or was the Imperial designation synonymous with XXX for a short period?

Flute, if you haven't already... spend some time in the think tank. The 3x Beaver Quality/ imperial/ Stetson Fifteen markings appeared separately and sometimes together... all three described a fifteen dollar hat at this point in time.

 

[rlk]

Late to the party(computer repairs)... Rare and shapely hat in a great color and of a high quality standard befitting the Aristocracy. Should be earning much head time.

 

[feltfan]

Whew (pats sweat off his brow). Nice hat.

Alan, of course you remember my home refurb Imperial.
Mine must be later than yours, but more interestingly, quite a different style. Looks like yours has a crisper felt.
Certainly a different style of sweatband. Certainly a different binding. Certainly a different ribbon.

Clearly Imperial is a quality designation, not a style.

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks for your replies RLK and Feltfan.

The felt in this hat is both soft and moldable - an equation that seemed solvable in prewar Stetsons and less so after. The "the" seems to have been dropped in the fifties era Imperials... then it returned in a later Canadian reincarnation of The Imperial Stetson.

I have some thoughts on the rise of monarchical names as price/quality identifiers in Stetson dress hat marketing, but it is really too big and complicated an issue to do justice to on the basis of my limited observations. I think Robert sums it up well... this hat was made to a high quality standard for its time. It sure is a thrill to find one with good provenance and in excellent condition.

 

[cookie]

Alan, first off I just have to say that this hat is seriously one of the highest quality looking hats I have ever seen. Everything seems like it was meticulously done. I wouldn't doubt it if Stetson put their master haters to work on this lid. My favorite thing about the hat has to be the sweatband. Not only is the leather extremely nice quality, but its beautifully wide, great ribbon work in the back, and the printing is extremely detailed. I wish hatters put these incredible sweatbands in hats today. The entire hat just looks incredible and you wear it extremely well. :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

All of the above. One of the most impressive I have ever seen on the Lounge.

 

[M Hatman]

Really late the party.......it is really nice seeing these fine hats!!!
Cheers,
M

 

[splintercellsz]

Imperial Vita-felt

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[deadlyhandsome]

Imperial Vita-felt

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I can’t get enough of this hat. You got good use out of your time machine again.


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[splintercellsz]

I can’t get enough of this hat. You got good use out of your time machine again.


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it was tough talking "Mr. D Van Billiard" into letting it go, that's for sure

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[AbbaDatDeHat]

it was tough talking "Mr. D Van Billiard" into letting it go, that's for sure

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Justin:
Did it really come from the original owner or am i being naive?
Vita-Felt...is what 1942-47’ thereabouts?? I guess if he was about 90 that would work.
Anyway, you can’t get a much better catch than that rare hat with original box.
Beyond comprehension....again Justin.
You are the consummate hat steward extraordinaire!!!
Bowen

 

[splintercellsz]

Justin:
Did it really come from the original owner or am i being naive?
Vita-Felt...is what 1942-47’ thereabouts?? I guess if he was about 90 that would work.
Anyway, you can’t get a much better catch than that rare hat with original box.
Beyond comprehension....again Justin.
You are the consummate hat steward extraordinaire!!!
Bowen

it was in regards to the time machine comment Trying to make a slight joke haha.

This one came from eBay, so couldn't say who it would have came from, I already tossed the shipping box. I can't speak on the years, but I I think they were produced from 40 to the 47 time frame.

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[alanfgag]

Great to see - thanks for posting all the parts. Not enough of these around to draw conclusions on timing... somewhere in the later O.P.A./Vita-Felt era if I had to guess (1945-1947).

 

[Just Daniel]

Super cool. Are you tracking off the OPA Ceiling tag? The Office of Price Administration, they were around from '42-47 as well.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Price_Administration

Daniel

it was in regards to the time machine comment Trying to make a slight joke haha.

This one came from eBay, so couldn't say who it would have came from, I already tossed the shipping box. I can't speak on the years, but I I think they were produced from 40 to the 47 time frame.

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[splintercellsz]

I was referring to Bowen asking when vita felt was produced, not dating the hat I own.

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[Just Daniel]

Awesome.

It's a super sweet hat. One reason I wrote it all out was to cover search engines, as this is a great Imperial and OPA example for folks to check out.

Great work as always!
Daniel

I was referring to Bowen asking when vita felt was produced, not dating the hat I own.

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[MikeinRome]

Imperial Stetson I bought about a week ago. 2 1/2 inch brim. I'm going to have this hat rebuil, the sweatband is already disintegrating. These are some of the seller's photos, except the last two I imagine this is a late 40's to early 50's hat.

 

[MikeinRome]

Imperial Stetson I bought about a week ago. 2 1/2 inch brim. I'm going to have this hat rebuil, the sweatband is already disintegrating. These are some of the seller's photos, except the last two I imagine this is a late 40's to early 50's hat.

Since the sweatband was falling apart, I cut out the Stetson logo and the retail store logo and had these 2 parts of the sweatband laminated to preserve them and to put back in the hat when it's rebuilt.

 

[MikeinRome]

Imperial Stetson Homburg that arrived today. I imagine it's very late in the run of Imperials, mid to late 1950's. Has heavy plastic liner cover. Perhaps made in Canada. The seller was in the Montreal area and that's where the hat was originally sold. I think the hat box is original to the hat.