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The Open Road Guild

Salty O'Rourke

Practically Family
Messages
636
Location
SE Virginia
My 25 arrived

I snagged this Stetson Twenty-Five Open Road recently. The seller felt it was a 50s-era example, I felt from the photos it was probably 60's - now I'm thinking it may be 70s or later. I won't be upset if it's newer than I originally thought; the price was right regardless of the vintage, and I'm pretty sure it's pre-90s since there's no metric size on the size tag.

This is right out of the box - a few minor stains, some heavy shadows on the edges of the crease, and loads of dust:

4715703701_e8916aa553.jpg


Close-up of the little Sheriff pin - was this a common accessory for the OR?

4715703685_ec6e59e759.jpg


The wind trolley button has the Stetson crest:

4715703747_7e17e67b49.jpg


The liner tip is plastic - the liner color is sort of a cream color; I think this liner crest is from the 60s but I've seen a similar one on modern Stetsons:

4716346862_91f23a3fd3.jpg


The sweatband and size tag are both dark brown:

4716346834_f03b9f2ac7.jpg


4715703767_0f1d47bd5b.jpg


The liner is glued in place, not stitched. I expected to find the usual blocking info and size stickers behind the liner/sweatband but there are none at all. The sweat has a number stamped on the back of it, and the liner has this stenciled on the reverse near the edge:

4716346932_bfb81ff2f2.jpg


The hat was sold at this establishment for the requisite $25.00. I found a reference to a Ruettell's Clothing in Minnesota, but I couldn't find any info as to when they were in business:

4716346882_436c4c5049.jpg


No little <<< >>> graphics bordering the Open Road stamp on the sweat:

4715703917_11441726c9.jpg


Union label on the back of the size tag:

4716346916_7d98ee2729.jpg

It's in the naptha tank now - I hope the crease shadows float off. The crease is pretty stubborn; after the bath I'll give it some steam and see if I can't get a diamond or c-crown bash in it.
 

Justdog

Practically Family
Messages
819
Location
North of 48
buler said:
A Stetson Twenty-Five. The felt of the crown really reminds me of my 7X Clear Beaver and the brim on this one is pounced just a tad less than my 100s.

B

twentyfive_12.jpg


Too sweet! Can I borrow it for a generation? :eusa_clap
 

rlk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,100
Location
Evanston, IL
Yes, definitely multiple weights of OR's

After handling some more OR's and Stetson 100's(OR style and dimensions), I no longer have any doubt that there were both standard weight(similar to dress felts) and Western Medium Weight(not like today's Westerns). There are models that have the greater weight and thickness and in some cases additional stiffening. The difference is immediately noticeable even without a scale. However my different liner theory was proven unreliable.
 

Justdog

Practically Family
Messages
819
Location
North of 48
25

buler said:
A Stetson Twenty-Five. The felt of the crown really reminds me of my 7X Clear Beaver and the brim on this one is pounced just a tad less than my 100s.

B

twentyfive_12.jpg


You sure have a talent for finding the best.
Another sweet find. 7 1/4 Mmmm.:eusa_clap
 
Messages
15,280
Location
Somewhere south of crazy
P1010055.jpg
[/IMG]

Now that I am finally getting the hang of posting, here are some OR's in my collection. I just need to work on some of my photo skills. Both of these are about late 40's early 50's by my guess. The one one the left is actually almost a very light taupe, the right one is light tan.
 
Messages
15,280
Location
Somewhere south of crazy
P1010056.jpg
[/IMG]

Here are a couple more, the one on left is light tan, right one is almost a light mint color. These are great versatile hats, from cowboy style/country style to fedora. I like the thin ribbons a lot.
 
Messages
15,280
Location
Somewhere south of crazy
Thanks guys,

I am just starting to use my wife's camera, and I am certainly not a photographer. I am also learning to use the photo utilities here. I will try to get some liner shots of those shortly. I got more where those came from!
 

Cool1

New in Town
Messages
30
Location
Texas
Creasing the Road

Agreed a professional crease is likely going to be the best bet. I've been trying to re-shape mine myself, and it's okay, but I can't get nearly the finish on it that I am seeing in some of these great photos.

All the best,
C1
 

illumin8em

A-List Customer
Messages
396
Location
Oregon
happy little accident

.
hello all,

Can anyone point me in the direction of where i can get a replacement ribbon? or instruction on how to make and attach one?

thanks
 
Messages
11,579
Location
Covina, Califonia 91722
illumin8em said:
. hello all, Can anyone point me in the direction of where i can get a replacement ribbon? or instruction on how to make and attach one? thanks

In this hats section is a thread called "The Conversion Corrall" in it is a lot of info on ribbons and installing them. The thread is about converting cowboy hats to fedoras and a ribbon change is one of the things that gets done a lot by the guys that do these conversions.
 

Lefty

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,639
Location
O-HI-O
illumin8em said:
.
hello all,
Can anyone point me in the direction of where i can get a replacement ribbon? or instruction on how to make and attach one?
thanks

This is more complex than you might think. You're better off bringing it to a hatter.
 

Cool1

New in Town
Messages
30
Location
Texas
Country Fedora

Our oldest hatter here in San Antonio, is an outfit called Paris Hatters, downtown. Think I'll take my Stetson Range (Circa 1992) down there,lose the LBJ crease, and have them put in something along the lines pictured in the Open Roads on this thread.

Truth is I think that stock crease is probably one reason I've never worn this hat as often as I might. Time for a change. And...it will look way cool when I'm knockin' out some acoustic blues with my trusty Gibson SJ-200 (sunburst, fo' sho').


Roll on,
C1
 

danofarlington

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,122
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Cool1 said:
Our oldest hatter here in San Antonio, is an outfit called Paris Hatters, downtown. Think I'll take my Stetson Range (Circa 1992) down there,lose the LBJ crease, and have them put in something along the lines pictured in the Open Roads on this thread.

Truth is I think that stock crease is probably one reason I've never worn this hat as often as I might. Time for a change. And...it will look way cool when I'm knockin' out some acoustic blues with my trusty Gibson SJ-200 (sunburst, fo' sho').


Roll on,
C1
Right. I bought a modern Open Road stiff hat with LBJ crease, and had it changed to "center dent with pinches," my favorite blocking, and it came out great. That way you could play blues wearing it.
 

illumin8em

A-List Customer
Messages
396
Location
Oregon
Lefty said:
This is more complex than you might think. You're better off bringing it to a hatter.

is it really, it seams to be just a ribbon cut to length and overlapped?

I would love the opportunity to go to a hatter but i do not know of any within a couple hundred miles of my home in WV
 

Lefty

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,639
Location
O-HI-O
illumin8em said:
is it really, it seams to be just a ribbon cut to length and overlapped?

I would love the opportunity to go to a hatter but i do not know of any within a couple hundred miles of my home in WV

You've got to swirl the ribbon, as explained below, or it's not going to fit snuggly against the hat.

Fedora said:
I swirl all of my grosgrain, if the hat has a tapered block shape. I do no use the petersham because I do not like the sawtoothed edging. Looks cheap, and better suited for the wastebands in trousers. So, you can do it with regular rayon/cotton grosgrain too. It is easy to do. Just mist your ribbon with water, and use a dry iron. Set the edge of the iron on the ribbon, and then pull only from one side of the ribbon,as you pull it through the heated iron. You may have to do it a couple of times to get the arc. You are basically stretching out one edge, or side of the ribbon in this process, while the opposite edge stays stock. The end result is a ribbon with the top edge being shorter than the bottom. The shorter edge, of course, goes to the top of the hat. Oh, place the hot iron on the backside of the ribbon, not the viewable surface. Fedora
 

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