The Many Colors of the Whippet

[HarpPlayerGene]

....i thought this was another pet thread!!

That's funny. You mean you didn't have a GREEN one? lol lol

 

[johnnyphi]

Minimum Annual Purchase...

According to Mr. Cohen, the owner of Hirsch's, he stopped carrying Stetsons sometime around 1948 because Stetson started requiring stores to purchase several thousand dollars of merchandise annually. He told me that Stetson didn't want to deal with the smaller stores, and that is why he stopped carrying Stetsons. I don't understand Stetson's logic, but that was the hayday of fedoras, so maybe they thought they could live without the small shops.

(Mr. Cohen also told me that Levi's did the same thing. I remember him telling me that he stopped carrying their jeans in the mid 80's because they required him to buy a minimum of $10,000 worth of jeans, per year. )

This is exactly my line of reasoning. You can offer as many colors are you like but how many men are going to wear these hats?
I will guess male consumers in the past were not so different from today and made conservative purchases.

 

[tempestbella42]

That's funny. You mean you didn't have a GREEN one? lol lol

no but seen a pink one!!lol lol fftopic:

having a "senior " moment...

 

[HATCO]

According to Mr. Cohen, the owner of Hirsch's, he stopped carrying Stetsons sometime around 1948 because Stetson started requiring stores to purchase several thousand dollars of merchandise annually. He told me that Stetson didn't want to deal with the smaller stores, and that is why he stopped carrying Stetsons. I don't understand Stetson's logic, but that was the hayday of fedoras, so maybe they thought they could live without the small shops.

(Mr. Cohen also told me that Levi's did the same thing. I remember him telling me that he stopped carrying their jeans in the mid 80's because they required him to buy a minimum of $10,000 worth of jeans, per year. )

Back in the day it could have been two things: A strategic outlay of resources. A campaign to get stores to invest in only one brand. It costs less marketing dollars to support stores that carry a lot of product than a whole bunch of small stores that carry little product. It could have also been a way to get all the store's business so that they have little money left to buy a competitors product and sell to the public...

Hatco was owned by Levis in the early 80s I think...

Edit: Resistol and Dobbs along with Knox and a couple other brands were owned by Levi's in the 70's not the 80's

 

[Lefty]

Hatco was owned by Levis in the early 80s I think...

 

[DOUGLAS]

This thread seems familiar.

A 1940 Stetson ad touts the fact that the Playboy was then available in over 30 shades. I think "shades" -- rather than "colors" -- is a better way to think about it. For example -- I imagine that, at the time of the 1954 "24 Color" ad, there were probably at least 4 "shades" of brown and gray, respectively. Throw in shades of blue, green, and tan and things start to multiply faster than you might think.

Cheers,
JtL

I believe your correct Jimmy. If you take 3 each of brown,tan, gray, green and blue plus black, white and a cream you are already at 18 and I know there are some blue-greens and at least a russet or red in there somewhere.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Here's a mid-50's hue...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[jimmy the lid]

Right now we offer about 34 different colors on our felt hats. I doubt they stocked them though, as back then the vast majority of hats had the shops name foil stamped into the leather sweat band. The stamping needs to be done before the sweatband is attached to the hat. Unless Stetson stocked sanded and flanged hat bodies that only needed to be trimmed with the ribbon and sweatband I imagine an order from a hat shop was made from scratch.

Interesting observation. I imagine that the full spectrum of colors was available via special order, while any given hat shop carried a more limited selection. I also imagine that Stetson ads for a variety of models from a particular time period would be instructive in terms of colors that were available for the Whippet.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[GWD]

This wasn't what I had envisioned when I started this thread. But it is interesting nevertheless.

It's also interesting how this thread and the one started by JTL are so very similar in content both going off topic almost immediately talking about the $100.00 hat and its worth in todays dollar.

I don't know what it means but I'm sure it means something about the predictability of vintage hat collectors.

 

[GWD]

I'm starting to believe!

I did a quick and dirty scan on the lounge for Whippets and collected them all and put them in an Album. Taking in account for all the different lighting variables, I put them in an order of similar colors. I think 24 is very possible considering the slightly different shades shown here. Also, the different ribbon and binding colors may qualify as color variations too.

Here is the Album.

 

[Viola]

Now I badly want a green Whippet - thanks you guys! Leading me into temptation like that! Is it a green-green or like a loden or mossy green? Or a very very dark green?

Gray is such a mutable colour I could easily see six or seven variations just in that. Heck I could see BUYING four or five variations on gray. But I'm a girl. It's sorta like shoes. lol

 

[Belegnole]

thanks GWD, I thought I might like a Whippet and now I know I do....look at all the colors who-hoo

 

[ScottF]

I did a quick and dirty scan on the lounge for Whippets and collected them all and put them in an Album. Taking in account for all the different lighting variables, I put them in an order of similar colors. I think 24 is very possible considering the slightly different shades shown here. Also, the different ribbon and binding colors may qualify as color variations too.

Here is the Album.

I didn't see a straw Whippet in there:

 

[feltfan]

Tan or beige or ???

This seems like a very old Whippet to me. It's tagged a 3/8 but fit my
7 1/2 LO head pretty much off the rack. It badly needs a cleaning,
but that's not a priority at the moment. I'll post my blue one soon.

Yeah, it's a very tall crown.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Beautiful. :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

 

[rumblefish]

Gary, how about jimmy the lid's, in post #7775 of What Hat Are Your Wearing Today?

 

[jimmy the lid]

R-fish -- I haven't forgotten your previous post... I'll be posting both of my green Whippets later today -- yours really does look like a match to one of them.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[GWD]

I didn't see a straw Whippet in there:

I'd like to see the liner and the sweatband on that straw!

 

[Fletch]

This wasn't what I had envisioned when I started this thread. But it is interesting nevertheless.

It's also interesting how this thread and the one started by JTL are so very similar in content both going off topic almost immediately talking about the $100.00 hat and its worth in todays dollar.

I don't know what it means but I'm sure it means something about the predictability of vintage hat collectors.

Every kind of collector is predictable in one way or another. At least one concern always involves monetary value.

The rest usually have to do with the typical personality that's driven to collect that thing. I call it the "if A then B" principle - hat people are interested in movies but usually not in records; record people, in movies but rarely in hats.

 

[ScottF]

I'd like to see the liner and the sweatband on that straw!

It's for sale (non-auction) on a web-site. Is it okay to post the link? There are plenty of pics...and it's definitely described as a Whippet.