The Open Road Guild

[J Williams]

So I recieved the 7X CB OR the other day and I will post some photos of that soon. I recieved another hat today and from my extensive searching it seems it’s a bit of an oddball.

It’s just labelled as ‘The Sovereign’ and it has no open road designation. The crown is around 4 1/2” high and the brim measures around 2 1/2 - 2 5/8”

From what I have learned it’s definitely early 50’s. It has the keyhole tag without the integer and Stetson written above The felt is quite soft and nothing on the hat is stiff. I was easily able to do a dry re-shape to a cattleman’s crease ( just to see what it looked like in my pondering of is this an OR? )

At any rate it’s a beautiful hat in nice shape.. but its a 7 1/4 and it doesn’t fit me.

Any more information you guys have on it would be appreciated. I will be posting it either for sale or trade for something in a similar vintage in my size 7 3/8 - 7 1/2

If anyone is interested let me know.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Frunobulax]

So I recieved the 7X CB OR the other day and I will post some photos of that soon. I recieved another hat today and from my extensive searching it seems it’s a bit of an oddball.

It’s just labelled as ‘The Sovereign’ and it has no open road designation. The crown is around 4 1/2” high and the brim measures around 2 1/2 - 2 5/8”

From what I have learned it’s definitely early 50’s. It has the keyhole tag without the integer and Stetson written above The felt is quite soft and nothing on the hat is stiff. I was easily able to do a dry re-shape to a cattleman’s crease ( just to see what it looked like in my pondering of is this an OR? )

At any rate it’s a beautiful hat in nice shape.. but its a 7 1/4 and it doesn’t fit me.

Any more information you guys have on it would be appreciated. I will be posting it either for sale or trade for something in a similar vintage in my size 7 3/8 - 7 1/2

If anyone is interested let me know.

View attachment 178737
View attachment 178738 View attachment 178739
View attachment 178740 View attachment 178741





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Beautiful hat, but it doesn't appear to be a 7XCB.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Beautiful hat, but it doesn't appear to be a 7XCB.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

This was the “other hat” he received. The 7X CB is still to come!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Rmccamey]

Yes, it was a play on words. i thought it was the 7X CB also. It looks like a very nice Sovereign.

Beautiful hat, but it doesn't appear to be a 7XCB.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[J Williams]

Sorry about the confusion. This is not the 7X obviously.

So is the sovereign just a quality designation? Is this an OR? Does it really matter? I like learning things I know that much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hurricane Jack]

It’s just labelled as ‘The Sovereign’ and it has no open road designation.

So is the sovereign just a quality designation? Is this an OR? Does it really matter?

Sorry I'm slow to throw my hat into this ring. I just got a new iPad delivered today & have been trying to transfer everything over before my old Gen 3 dies. I just logged on & saw your post.

The Sovereign quality designation does date back even further than the 1950's & would fall in ascending order just above the 3X. But your hat is not an OR. Lots of hats of the era had the same general dimensions but just like the Cattleman crease, that doesn't make them an OR. Have you checked for tags & specifically a block number? You have a quality hat that likely had no specific model name.

 

[Frunobulax]

This was the “other hat” he received. The 7X CB is still to come!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oh, [EMILY LITELLA]never mind![/EMILY LITELLA]

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

So I recieved the 7X CB OR the other day and I will post some photos of that soon. I recieved another hat today and from my extensive searching it seems it’s a bit of an oddball.

It’s just labelled as ‘The Sovereign’ and it has no open road designation. The crown is around 4 1/2” high and the brim measures around 2 1/2 - 2 5/8”

From what I have learned it’s definitely early 50’s. It has the keyhole tag without the integer and Stetson written above The felt is quite soft and nothing on the hat is stiff. I was easily able to do a dry re-shape to a cattleman’s crease ( just to see what it looked like in my pondering of is this an OR? )

At any rate it’s a beautiful hat in nice shape.. but its a 7 1/4 and it doesn’t fit me.

Any more information you guys have on it would be appreciated. I will be posting it either for sale or trade for something in a similar vintage in my size 7 3/8 - 7 1/2

If anyone is interested let me know.

View attachment 178737
View attachment 178738 View attachment 178739
View attachment 178740 View attachment 178741





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

J W:
That is a fine hat!
As has been stated, it is not an Open Road without the branding. It is the OR style, quality distinction, Sovereign.
Stetson did make an Open Road, quality distinction The Sovereign at a price point Twenty. Not sure if other price points were made in TSOR?? Who knows? Nevertheless, too bad it doesn’t fit. It will make someone happy! Enjoy the 7X CB!
B

 

[J Williams]

Sorry I'm slow to throw my hat into this ring. I just got a new iPad delivered today & have been trying to transfer everything over before my old Gen 3 dies. I just logged on & saw your post.

The Sovereign quality designation does date back even further than the 1950's & would fall in ascending order just above the 3X. But your hat is not an OR. Lots of hats of the era had the same general dimensions but just like the Cattleman crease, that doesn't make them an OR. Have you checked for tags & specifically a block number? You have a quality hat that likely had no specific model name.

Thanks Jack, I carefully looked under the sweat and this is what I found - Haven't done much research on this info. Block is 102 not sure the meaning of the other numbers.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Haven't done much research on this info. Block is 102 not sure the meaning of the other numbers.

You can learn a lot concerning the crown & block relationships by studying this thread. It's unfortunate some pics have been lost but still a lot of good knowledge to be had.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stetson-block-profile-numbers.62324/

During a quick review I found one hat blocked on a #102 (pics lost). Owned by (purplesage) it was established by Vic (caruselvic) to be an unknown model of the late 1940's. And the brim had been cut down.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stetson-block-profile-numbers.62324/page-4

I don't think you'll find any OR's in the thread but you will find plenty of early Western dress hats like the BRE & a few 3x6 predecessors to the OR.

 

[BobHufford]

Just plopping this here as well...

This beater Stetson 3X Open Road showed up.

Pretty dirty and misshapen so into the naphtha bath it went. It came out somewhat better.

There is some ghosting of the old crease and the brim is still a bit wonky (and my long oval head makes the sides curl). For a $30 hat I’m pretty happy with it.

 

[Just Daniel]

Great information from our FL friends. Have you checked out these threads on the Stetson Sovereign? They start out slow but give good info. As above, Sovereign was a quality grade for hats at $20. Below was the 3X at $15, above the Stetson 25 at $25.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/vintage-stetson-the-sovereign.25778/page-5

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/stetson-the-sovereign-twenty.33207/

Great hat, enjoy it or trade it
Daniel

So I recieved the 7X CB OR the other day and I will post some photos of that soon. I recieved another hat today and from my extensive searching it seems it’s a bit of an oddball.

It’s just labelled as ‘The Sovereign’ and it has no open road designation. The crown is around 4 1/2” high and the brim measures around 2 1/2 - 2 5/8”

From what I have learned it’s definitely early 50’s. It has the keyhole tag without the integer and Stetson written above The felt is quite soft and nothing on the hat is stiff. I was easily able to do a dry re-shape to a cattleman’s crease ( just to see what it looked like in my pondering of is this an OR? )

At any rate it’s a beautiful hat in nice shape.. but its a 7 1/4 and it doesn’t fit me.

Any more information you guys have on it would be appreciated. I will be posting it either for sale or trade for something in a similar vintage in my size 7 3/8 - 7 1/2

If anyone is interested let me know.

View attachment 178737
View attachment 178738 View attachment 178739
View attachment 178740 View attachment 178741





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Just Daniel]

That hat looks 1,000,000 times better after the bath!

Just plopping this here as well...

This beater Stetson 3X Open Road showed up.

Pretty dirty and misshapen so into the naphtha bath it went. It came out somewhat better.

There is some ghosting of the old crease and the brim is still a bit wonky (and my long oval head makes the sides curl). For a $30 hat I’m pretty happy with it.

 

[quikrick]

Just plopping this here as well...

This beater Stetson 3X Open Road showed up.

Pretty dirty and misshapen so into the naphtha bath it went. It came out somewhat better.

There is some ghosting of the old crease and the brim is still a bit wonky (and my long oval head makes the sides curl). For a $30 hat I’m pretty happy with it.

Excellent! Looks like a totally different hat. *Nice Rescue*

 

[BobHufford]

That hat looks 1,000,000 times better after the bath!

Excellent! Looks like a totally different hat. *Nice Rescue*

Thanks Daniel and Rick!

 

[Fivesense]

I'm not sure if I should post this here but here goes.

I'm pleased to report that I just received my Open Road 10X straw in toast. I love the classic OR shape and profile and have touched it with a bit of steam to even out to my liking.

Question- are the internal sweats on the OR straw 10X made of real leather? It feels and looks a tad synthetic, but it's definitely a little different than most shantungs I've seen. Is it just a thinner leather than I perhaps expected?

 

[Eddy2dice]

Hi, does anyone know when stetson first made the open road hats please?
Thanks in advance, Eddy

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Hi, does anyone know when stetson first made the open road hats please?
Thanks in advance, Eddy

Alan has posted that the OR dates back to 1937 in it's original wide ribbon version. Available in 3x, Sovereign, 4x, (5X) and 7X quality/price designations.

 

[Eddy2dice]

Alan has posted that the OR dates back to 1937 in it's original wide ribbon version. Available in 3x, Sovereign, 4x, (5X) and 7X quality/price designations.

excellent thanks, I’d love to see an early advertisement of these hats if anyone out there has one?

 

[Mustang Mike's Hats]

There are postings of vintage Stetson advertisements on a couple of threads on the site. You can search for them "by Title" to find them. Hope this helps!