The Quintessential WWII Era Hat?

[Lawman]

Mates:

What would be the quintessential WWII era fedora? I'm not talking about what a Wall Street dandy would wear, but the kind of hat that you would find on the average guy's head at the Polo Grounds or on his way to work in Buffalo.

I'd be interested in brands, brim widths, crown heights, ribbon dimensions, and any other esoterica that would illuminate this issue.


Thanks!

Mark

 

[scotrace]

The one on Fred in your avatar is a likely candidate.

(average guy <---------------[huh]-------------> polo grounds) ??

 

[John in Covina]

(average guy <---------------[huh]-------------> polo grounds) ??

***************
The old Polo Grounds is where the NY Giants baseball team played, so yup, lotsa average joes went to the polo grounds.

 

[Feraud]

The quintessential fedora would be the "brown hat", "gray hat" respectively.

I cannot imagine people in WWII knowing the minutiae of their hats any more than a fellow off the street today quoting measurements of his baseball cap.

 

[scotrace]

I have learned something new.

 

[scotrace]

This One

The quintessential WWII era hat:

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I think that hat is for when you drive by a foodfight. Not good to get your fedora all sticky with food.

 

[Diamondback]

I think that hat is for when you drive by a foodfight. Not good to get your fedora all sticky with food.

Yes, a civilian would think that...

Lotsa average Joes had to wear that, y'know, it wasn't just Mac and Patton sending the Wehrmacht and Imperial Army to last resting places by themselves, after all...lol

Oh, right, OP did say fedora. My apologies...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I believe in the middle 40s crowns were relatively low (4-4.5" or so) and brims were relatively wide.

Ribbon height was so variable as to be difficult to come up with a "quintessential" description. I have, however, always associated the thin ribbon (think Stratoliner & Open Road) with the middle 1940s.

Certainly by the 1940s, Stetson was the name to wear. All the other major makers were selling negligable numbers of hats compared to Stetson.

As always with vintage, the standard caveat applies: Various styles existed, and individual men stuck with 30s styles or were distinctly avant garde in their hat choices.

bk

 

[mikepara]

Yes, a civilian would think that...

it wasn't just Mac and Patton sending the Wehrmacht and Imperial Army to last resting places by themselves, after all...lol

Oh would that be the Brits, Chinese, Aussies, South Africans, Kenyans, Indians, Fijians, New Zealanders, Dutch, Poles, Ulstermen... etc?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'd vote for a Stetson vita-felt "Eagle" fedora from the early '40s. A mid-priced hat for regular Joes, it looks like Gary Cooper's lid in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and highly resembles Bogie's in Casablanca.


.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I'd vote for a Stetson vita-felt "Eagle" fedora from the early '40s. A mid-priced hat for regular Joes, it looks like Gary Cooper's lid in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and highly resembles Bogie's in Casablanca.

Like this?

 

[Diamondback]

Oh would that be the Brits, Chinese, Aussies, South Africans, Kenyans, Indians, Fijians, New Zealanders, Dutch, Poles, Ulstermen... etc?

Well, sir, a good general is nothing without having good troops to make his strategy happen, and good troops are nothing without a good CO making sound decisions. (And since Nature abhors a vacuum, in the absence of leadership someone steps up from the ranks to lead.)

 

[RBH]

I'd vote for a Stetson vita-felt "Eagle" fedora from the early '40s. A mid-priced hat for regular Joes, it looks like Gary Cooper's lid in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and highly resembles Bogie's in Casablanca.


.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9244/tolls2pq7.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

 

[RBH]

This is my grand dad from 1936 Alabama.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/7853/cgbrockir0.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

Looks a whole lot like Coops hat from ''Tolls" so Marc hit the nail on the head.

 

[dhermann1]

John Q Public's hat

Here's an average looking man on the street in Washington DC in 1944 or 45. His hat looks only slightly beat up. Seems pretty representative to me.

 

[ValleyBoy]

Excellent pic.

 

[Pat_H]

This one gets my vote.

Farm worker enjoying a beer, Bruce Crossing Michigan, August, 1941.

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/fsa/8c19000/8c19900/8c19984r.jpg

 

[dhermann1]

Looks like he's also wearing a "wife beater" undershirt, too. BTW, Does anyone know a less rude name for these shirts?

 

[vonwotan]

No less rude, but different, was spaghetti string t-shirt.