The Open Road Guild

[gtdean48]

$500.00!!!!! wow--makes mine a bargain!

On sale from $600!!!!

 

[Landman]

Are they special order or does Paris Hatters have various sizes in stock of the 10X & the 20X?
When HatCo first took over making the OR's, they were offered in 4X & 10X, later dropping the 10X version.
Paris Hatters website is only one that I have found offering a felt 6X OR. Found a good many straw 6X but not felt.

Tom,

According to Abe he had to order 48 of them to get the special order made. I think that is 48 of each grade. When I was in there I think he said he had already sold 31 of them. He still had quite a few left in different sizes. I didn't count them but he had the whole back wall lined up with silver and white Stetson boxes. He doesn't really do any internet or email business. In fact, I don't even think he has an email address but he will ship one to you. Just give him a call. His name is Abe Cortez and the number is 210-223-3453. I believe the price is $250 for the 10x and $350 for the 20x.

I was telling him about how popular the Akubra Campdraft is because it comes open crown. He wanted me to bring one of mine down so he could look at it. Being in San Antonio and only selling locally most everybody here wants a cattleman's crease so I don't think he realized how many people prefer a different crease and would like an open crown hat. He was going to look into possibly getting a special order of open crown Open Roads. I told him that if he could I would post it here for him and I bet he would sell quite a few of them.

 

[Doc Mark]

Greetings, All,

Well, I found definite information that places Alterman's Man's Shop in San Antonio, Texas, in 1955, and it came from right here at The Lounge (after a few hours of poring over information!)!! Here is an ad that has been posted here before, and it is an outstanding link between Alterman's and San Antonio.

The Date on the ad tells it all:

And, the icing on the cake:

I'm also still waiting for a bit more information from Henry Alterman's relative, though it's quite possible that this person will not respond, at all, to my queries about her Dad, or Grand Dad, as the case my be. Still, I'm very tickled to finally have the strings of info that tie together all the other tiny bits I've found into a more interesting package!! Ahhhhh, life is good, and God is good! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

[Landman]

Doc,

Great find! Apparently it was located in the lobby of the Gunter Hotel. That is probably why most locals didn't know much about it. I bet most of their hats were sold to visitors staying at the hotel and ended up somewhere besides San Antonio. A local probably would have bought his hat from Paris Hatters which is located a few blocks away.

 

[Doc Mark]

Hey, Landman,

I good to hear from you. I just called the Sheraton Gunter Hotel, and spoke to the Manager. He told me the Hotel was originally built around 1901, and became the Gunter Hotel in 1909. Their 1920's barber shop is still being used, several days each week. He had no knowledge of Alterman's, but of course, he's a young Gentleman, and very courteous and sharp. My wife and I will plan a future stay at the Gunter, and whilst there, I'll continue my research into this. I know that even Odessa, which has always been an Oil Town, had a fancy men's shop, barbershop, and shoeshine shop, located in their few old, quality hotels. So, I'm fairly certain that San Antonio did, too. As the Alterman Patriarch, Henry's Father, immigrated from the Russian Federation around the turn of the century, and is listed as owning a men's store, I'm betting that the Alterman connection may well go back to that time period. Maybe a visit to the local Historical Society would bear some fruit, whilst we are visiting! Wouldn't it be grand to find that Alterman's lasted from around 1909-1970, or so?!!!! Man, do I love doing research! I only wish it paid the bills, instead of just fulfilling a creative and informational desire!! Oh, well.... glad to have found more info, and I'm certain that even more will come to hand, sooner, or later. Thanks for the shout, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

P.S. Is that a Colt Commander, in your Avatar? Doesn't look quite long enough to be a Government Model, and too long to be like my Officer's ACP, which I dearly LOVE, by the way. Your's a great looking firearm, and in my humble opinion, one of the Best of Breed!

 

[Landman]

Thanks Doc. You have a good eye for pistols, that is a Colt Commander. It is 3/4" shorter than a Government Model and 3/4" longer than an Officer's Model. The picture is actually from an old Colt advertisement so it is not my pistol. I do have a Commander just like it with ivory grips that was made in the mid 1970's.

 

[gtdean48]

...
According to Abe he had to order 48 of them to get the special order made. I think that is 48 of each grade... I believe the price is $250 for the 10x and $350 for the 20x.
... He was going to look into possibly getting a special order of open crown Open Roads. I told him that if he could I would post it here for him and I bet he would sell quite a few of them.

Thanks Mike. That is a GOOD price because 20x western Stetsons are priced north of $400!
The color looks very white in DougC photos. How does it look in real life?
Open crown would be a plus in my book but would really like more crown to work with!!!

 

[Landman]

New Production Stetson Open Road 10X

Here are some pictures of my new production Stetson Open Road 10X. It did come with a Stetson branding iron pin that I removed. Other than the JBS pin being removed this is how it looks right out of the box. It hasn't been steamed at all and the brim easily snaps up and down. It also does not come with the round silver holographic sticker on the sweatband that is in all the new production Stetsons. The color is a lighter shade of silverbelly than what you see in the modern 4X Open Roads. I'm very pleased with it and now that I have had time to take a closer look at it I will probably go back to Paris Hatters and take a closer look at the 20X. The most obvious difference between the 10X and 20X is the liner and sweatband. I'm sure there is a difference in the felt but I could not really tell that much difference just by handling them both.

 

[Doc Mark]

Hey, Landman,

VERY nice Stetson, Sir! I had thought that the current production of Stetson hats was not even close to the quality of those made in the past. But, your hat seems to belie that thought, as it looks great and of very nice quality. How is the fit? I may have to rethink my opinion on this, and though I'll still keep an eye peeled for older Stetsons, if their new stuff is all as nice as yours, I may have to jump into those waters. Thanks for sharing your new Stetson, and I look forward to more photos, should you feel like posting them. Thanks, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

[Landman]

Stetson 4X vs 10X Color Comparison

Here is a color comparison of the modern Stetson 4X vs the modern Stetson 10X. The 4x is on the left and the 10X is on the right. The 10X is noticeably lighter colored but the pictures don't show it very well. In person you can really see a difference. The 10X is not quite as light colored as Art Fawcett's pure beaver silverbelly but it is pretty close to it.

 

[Landman]

Doc,

This is a special run of Stetson Open Roads only sold by Paris Hatters. You can read more about it in the previous posts. Not all new Stetsons are this nice.

I am a 7 3/8 long oval so I'm usually in between sizes. I tried a 7 1/2 and 7 3/8 and ended up going with a 7 3/8. Since the hat is softer than most new hats the 7 3/8 fit me very well.

 

[Joshbru3]

Landman, that 10X is a very nice looking hat. It has me very interested. Last time I was in Garland, I saw the 4X & 6X Open Roads and I was less than impressed. The color was blotchy, the pouncing was bad, the ribbon work was bad, there was WAY too much shellac in the felt, and worst of all the felt quality was pretty bad. If I compare my early 50's Stetsons to modern day ones, the felt is felted MUCH denser on the ones from the 50's therefore giving a uniform color, feel, and consistency throughout. From your photos, this 10X looks to be closer to a vintage Open Road than a modern day one. Is there any way you can take close up shots of a vintage Open Road in comparison to the 10X? I'm not so much looking color as I am for felt denseness. It seems a lot of modern day hats have felt that almost gives the illusion of pock marks because its not felted dense enough.

 

[Landman]

Josh,

I'll try to take some close up pictures of the felt on the 10X and some of one of my older Stetsons. It might be this weekend before I can do it though.

I would say it is still not in the same league as a vintage Stetson but it is the closest I have seen on any of their new production hats. My only real complaint about the hat is the stiffener in the crown. If the crown was as soft as the brim it would really be a great hat. The crown isn't stiff as a board like the 4X but it still has too much stiffener. The 20X that DougC bought might be better pounced and even a lighter color too. It certainly looks much lighter in his photos but that could just be the flash. I'm going to try and go by the shop tomorrow and look closer at the 20X. The felt on it may be closer to what you are looking for. Abe said he could steam them back to an open crown but I just don't think that would work well and would still show remnants of the cattlman's crease. Since I like a cattleman's crease I'm not going to try it on mine.

 

[DougC]

My hat got the full force of the flash. The room was dark and I was close to the hat. But, looking at i compared to the other hats, it is more grey/silver than my modern and the vintage ORs. Landman--when are you going to the shop; I'd like to meet you.

As for taking the hat to an open crown--Rick can do that. Abe has his dad's steamer in the back from a hundred years ago. They have steamed a modern OR to open crown for me with good results.

 

[Landman]

My hat got the full force of the flash. The room was dark and I was close to the hat. But, looking at i compared to the other hats, it is more grey/silver than my modern and the vintage ORs. Landman--when are you going to the shop; I'd like to meet you.

As for taking the hat to an open crown--Rick can do that. Abe has his dad's steamer in the back from a hundred years ago. They have steamed a modern OR to open crown for me with good results.

Doug,

That's good to know about the old steamer. I thought they were just going to use that Jiffy steamer in the front. Sometime I'd like to see one of your hats they used the old steamer on.

I'm not sure when or even if I can get down there today. If I can it will probably be late this afternoon. I'd like to meet you too. I'll send you a PM with my cell number and we can stay in touch.

 

[Doc Mark]

Greetings, Friends,

Here is what I believe to be a 1970's Open Road Stetson Sovereign, which I bought recently. It needed a tiny bit of a stretch, but not much, and I love this hat! Here goes:

As you can see, this hat came from The Mad Hatter, in Stockton, CA, and I'm thinking this was from the 1970's. What say you, Friends? Your comments and information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

[jlee562]

It's similar looking to an OR, but doesn't look like one to me. The binding and ribbon are a few ligne too wide, the brim is a bit stingy, and that crease looks blocked in.

 

[jkingrph]

I called Paris Hatters today and place my order for a 20x. At 389 that will be my hat buying for the next year.

 

[DougC]

Jkingrph--I'm sure you'll be happy!

 

[jkingrph]

DougC-- I'm pretty sure of that. I just wish I were a bit closer, but it's about a 6 hour or little more drive down there to try them on. One good point, Abe said he would form it to a long oval for me.