The Open Road Guild

[53Effie]

Thanks for the welcome. I'll try to get some interior shots of the hats tonight and get them posted.

 

[53Effie]

Here is a shot of the interior of my tan 3x Open Road as requested. I guess it didn't include enough of the liner. i'll try again.

 

[53Effie]

And here is the second view, hopefully. I'm learning to post pics and not doing well yet.

 

[gtdean48]

...
And here is the second view, hopefully. I'm learning to post pics and not doing well yet.

Doing quite well for me. What about the 5X guts?

 

[53Effie]

Okay, here we go for a try on the 5x.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I finally found one that fits! A 4X Beaver 7 1/2 long oval that actually fits me. Maybe 1950's or 1960's. Not sure on that.
The felt is in good shape as is the interior and it has a nifty little pin as well.
Only problem is that it's a cattleman crease, which I don't much care for.

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All in all a great find, but now I am in need of a qualified hatter to clean and reblock it to get rid of the cattleman's crease and shape it into a classic teardrop shape. Anyone equal to the task with the know-how required, kindly PM me with options and price for your services.

 

[Landman]

Nick,

That is a very nice looking Open Road. It looks like it has some wear on the cattleman's crease. If you reshape it into a teardrop crease those wear marks are hard to get rid of and will show on the teardrop crease. I just wanted to warn you so you won't be disappointed after having it reshaped.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Thanks Mike.
The felt looks to be in good shape overall. Not so much wear as just soiling. There is some discolored felt at the creases where it had been handled by the previous owner but I think with a good cleaning, the marks will go away. I wouldn't attempt this myself, but would put it in more capable hands. Hopefully I can find someone out west here that can refurbish it.

 

[gtdean48]

Not 50s. 70s more like it

 

[TPD166]

I was in Paris Hatters yesterday and talking with Abe about the 10X and 20X Open Roads - he asked me to share with folks on the Lounge that Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top recently purchased one of the 20X Open Roads from him. I wonder if this is it:

http://www.contactmusic.com/photo/b...he-classic-rock-roll-of-honour-at-the_4174024

I purchased one of the new Paris Hatter's Open Roads too. I purchased the 10x from Abe instead of the 20x that DougC purchased. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures yet but will try to post some in the next few days. I'm out of town working right now.

My first impression of it is it is a very nice hat and reminds me of my Stetson Beaver 100 that has some stiffner in it (not to be confused with a Stetson 100). It has a very soft 2 3/4" brim. You can easily snap the brim up or down without any steam. The crown is precreased in a Cattleman's crease and is not as soft as the brim. The crown obviously has some stiffner in it but it is not as stiff as the current 3x Open Roads. I went with the 10x rather than the 20x because I really didn't see a lot of difference between the two except the interior liner and sweatband. I'm sure if this turns out to be as nice of a hat as it looks I'll probably buy a 20x too.

When I get back in a few days I'll take some pictures and give you a little better review of it. I just bought it yesterday and dropped it off at home and then had to leave so I really haven't had time to play around with it.

 

[Landman]

I was in Paris Hatters too not long ago myself. It was a day or so after ZZ Top was in town. Abe said he had to take the sweatband out of that hat so Gibbons could wear it over his headband.

We started talking about different musicians and their hats and I was amazed at all the famous musicians who have bought hats from Paris Hatters over the years. The conversation started when I mentioned the Open Road that James Taylor was wearing at the Democratic Convention. Abe said it could have been one from him because Taylor had bought a few from him in the past. I don't think that was one of them though because I caught a quick glimpse of the liner and it looked vintage, almost like a Stetson 100. Somebody was able to get a vid cap picture of it and I think it is in another thread. I can't remember which one right now.

 

[TPD166]

I've seen the one James Taylor wear (on TV) and it does appear to be a vintage Open Road. I can't afford one right now, but I'm sure tempted by those ORs at Paris Hatters!

I was in Paris Hatters too not long ago myself. It was a day or so after ZZ Top was in town. Abe said he had to take the sweatband out of that hat so Gibbons could wear it over his headband.

We started talking about different musicians and their hats and I was amazed at all the famous musicians who have bought hats from Paris Hatters over the years. The conversation started when I mentioned the Open Road that James Taylor was wearing at the Democratic Convention. Abe said it could have been one from him because Taylor had bought a few from him in the past. I don't think that was one of them though because I caught a quick glimpse of the liner and it looked vintage, almost like a Stetson 100. Somebody was able to get a vid cap picture of it and I think it is in another thread. I can't remember which one right now.

 

[Rogera]

I would like to apply for membership to the Guild! This hat has opened up a whole new beautiful world of hats for me.

 

[gtdean48]

...
I would like to apply for membership to the Guild! This hat has opened up a whole new beautiful world of hats for me.

Let's see some shots of the guts = sweatband, liner, size tag....good looking lid BTW....

 

[Rogera]

Ok here we go but please don't be too hard on my rookie mishap with some sizing strips that took too much of a liking to my sweatband. It was supposed to be a temporary fix for a slightly too large hat and ended up damaging my sweat and of course the crest. I was very unhappy but it was my fault. Here goes...

 

[JTopenroad]

I would like to apply for membership to the Guild! This hat has opened up a whole new beautiful world of hats for me.

Lookin good. Gotta love those Open Roads, such a classic hat! Welcome to the guild.

 

[Rogera]

Lookin good. Gotta love those Open Roads, such a classic hat! Welcome to the guild.

Thank you very much for the welcome!

 

[Rogera]

Talk about classics....Me, my Open Road and my M1 went for a little target practice today to get out of the house for a while.

 

[jlee562]

Nice combo!

 

[JonnyO]

Nice combo!

+1 Love those M1's