The Open Road Guild

[zetwal]

When I saw Hatophile's lid in the WHAYWT thread, I was curious about the innards, since I had never seen an OR in that particular felt/ribbon color combo. In fact, the closest thing I could think of was the Strat that I mentioned in my reply above. From a stylistic standpoint, I see nothing that wouldn't be consistent with an OR -- that's why I was curious if you could put your finger on what made it different in your view. From my perspective, one could describe that one as OR-style or Strat-style, and either one would be a fair description. But, the color combo had me thinking Strat initially...

We're in agreement, JtL. It does resemble an Open Road. To some it will resemble a Stratoliner even more. It is an OR-style hat. It's Strat-style as well. I think the only question that remains it this. Do we call something an Open Road if it resembles one? More generally, do we call something a Stratoliner if it resembles one? How about a Whippet? We often see hats for sale called Whippets. Even if such a hat resembles a Whippet, what is prospective buyer going to want to see? He will want to see the liner and/or the sweatband. He will want to confirm that it is actually what the seller says it is. It's probably not enough that it resembles one. Now back to the Open Road term. If we want to define "Open Road" as a style rather than a model (with variation) that's fine by me. We can even make a strong case that that is entirely appropriate. I doubt however that many will be in favor of doing that with the other hats mentioned. I don't see us (for example) using the unqualified term Whippet for something that looks like one but is not labeled as such. And so on for the others. As before, I could be wrong.

 

[Yeps]

Have you ever thought about just "creasing" your hat and not "bashing" it all to hell? The "creases" you have shown look FAR better than the "bashes"

I can see by the smilie that this is light hearted, but I don't quite catch your drift as it stands. What creases verses bashes are you talking about?

If it is just a play on words, than I guess there is not more to get. But as it is, I am confused.

 

[zetwal]

Have you ever thought about just "creasing" your hat and not "bashing" it all to hell? The "creases" you have shown look FAR better than the "bashes"

You really made me laugh with this one ... :drum:

 

[hatophile]

Back to your original statement, Zetwal, I think it is fair to call it an Open Road, only if stated on the hat. Same with Whippet, Strat, etc. Otherwise we call it OR style, clone, whatever.

For whatever reason, the original items seem to bring on the highest bids, but I have purchased some very reasonable facsimiles of popular hats for much less cost.

 

[monbla256]

I can see by the smilie that this is light hearted, but I don't quite catch your drift as it stands. What creases verses bashes are you talking about?

If it is just a play on words, than I guess there is not more to get. But as it is, I am confused.

As has been discussed here before, the standard term for shaping a hat is "crease" with the term "bash" being used in England and Australia. Been wearing hats for over 50 years now and till I got here I'd never heard it called a "bash". But then I also live in Texas and we are not as worldly as folks that live other palces

Onward thru the Fog

 

[jimmy the lid]

But then I also live in Texas and we are not as worldly as folks that live other palces

Perhaps that is because, apparently, it is so damn foggy there...

 

[Yeps]

As has been discussed here before, the standard term for shaping a hat is "crease" with the term "bash" being used in England and Australia. Been wearing hats for over 50 years now and till I got here I'd never heard it called a "bash". But then I also live in Texas and we are not as worldly as folks that live other palces

Onward thru the Fog

Okay then. All my hat knowledge comes from my short tenure here, so having seen bash more often, it has come to be the term I tend to use. I don't like the term crease very much, because it conjures up the idea of putting in sharp, tight creases, at least to me, and I don't like that. However, that is just me and my neuroses.

Sorry if I came off a bit brusque there.

 

[monbla256]

Yeh, but as we say down here "....Texas, it's a state of mind "

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Mr. Paladin]

As has been discussed here before, the standard term for shaping a hat is "crease" with the term "bash" being used in England and Australia. Been wearing hats for over 50 years now and till I got here I'd never heard it called a "bash". But then I also live in Texas and we are not as worldly as folks that live other palces Onward thru the Fog

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Yeps, for my two cents, I think the cattleman's crease with the brim up is best; followed by the fedora styles of the first two. I personally dislike cattleman's creased hats with the brim turned down, but I admit I am in a small minority! :deadhorse

 

[monbla256]

Okay then. All my hat knowledge comes from my short tenure here, so having seen bash more often, it has come to be the term I tend to use. I don't like the term crease very much, because it conjures up the idea of putting in sharp, tight creases, at least to me, and I don't like that. However, that is just me and my neuroses.

Sorry if I came off a bit brusque there.

that's OK. Just don't ask a hatter in Texas to put a "bash" in your hat. They'll look at you like "...what planet did you come from? " To me the term "bash" indicates taking something and beating the hell out of it, not anything near indicating putting a shape to something Oh well

 

[St.Ignatz]

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Yeps, for my two cents, I think the cattleman's crease with the brim up is best; followed by the fedora styles of the first two. I personally dislike cattleman's creased hats with the brim turned down, but I admit I am in a small minority! :deadhorse

Mr. P I agree with the brim up on a cattleman's crease. I've bashed c-crown creases in my OR's but leave the original cattlemans in my brim up western and OR style straw's but you sir are the hallmark for brim up cattlemans.
Tom D.

 

[hatophile]

To me, these two hats look and feel very much the same. The dark gray hat is a Stratoliner,
the tan hat is an Open Road. The felt is soft and very flexible on both of them.

The darker hat in this photo is an Open Road, and the lighter hat is a Stratoliner. They are stiffer feel in the crown and brims than the two previous hats. The brim sizes are all less than 2 3/4 as seems to be the most common on an OR.

I just think it's interesting how the same models can be so different.

 

[carouselvic]

Visually, the biggest difference is tails on the ribbon bows of the Stratoliners are much longer.

 

[Mr. Paladin]

Mr. P I agree with the brim up on a cattleman's crease. I've bashed c-crown creases in my OR's but leave the original cattlemans in my brim up western and OR style straw's but you sir are the hallmark for brim up cattlemans.
Tom D.

Thank you very much sir!

 

[jimmy the lid]

Visually, the biggest difference is tails on the ribbon bows of the Stratoliners are much longer.

I'm not so sure that's a fair generalization. The bows on my two Strats are no different than the bows on any of my ORs...

 

[carouselvic]

I'm not so sure that's a fair generalization. The bows on my two Strats are no different than the bows on any of my ORs...

I wasn't making a general statement. I was referring to the hats in the previous post.

 

[jimmy the lid]

I wasn't making a general statement. I was referring to the hats in the previous post.

Gotcha...

 

[jimmy the lid]

To me, these two hats look and feel very much the same. The dark gray hat is a Stratoliner,
the tan hat is an Open Road. The felt is soft and very flexible on both of them.

Thanks for posting those, Hatophile. It just reinforces the notion that, as a general stylistic matter, Strats and ORs are essentially the same lid. FWIW, here's a previous post on this topic from another thread: Open Road - Stratoliner

Cheers,
JtL

 

[zetwal]

One is an OR the other is a Stratoliner.

 

[hatophile]

Thanks for posting those, Hatophile. It just reinforces the notion that, as a general stylistic matter, Strats and ORs are essentially the same lid. FWIW, here's a previous post on this topic from another thread: OR-Strat

Cheers,
JtL

For some reason, I can't pull up that post, JtL.

At any rate, it's fun to see all the different modifications in these hats. I see Zetwal's hats are different models, but both have the longer tails on the ribbon, which Carouselvic pointed out on both my Strats. The one OR has the ribbon tails actually attached to the felt.

Neither of my Strats has a wind cord, but both OR's do. I have a couple OR's without wind cords at all.