The Resistol Roundup

[barrowjh]

GregNYC, yes, bogey's image was used by Resistol in at least one ad, and I have a copy of that one and see it often on ebay. It was a long narrow ad and, if I remember the ad, it referenced the Maltese Falcon movie. Whether or not that is proof that the hat used during filming was a Resistol is another question, but we can be certain that bogey (or those with control over his image at the time) agreed to endorse Resistol hats.

 

[Mystic]

I agree with barrowjh that light weight hats appears to be a common denominator, but remain convinced (pending any other real evidence) that the edge reference ties the term to the brim versus the felt.

I only have one Resistol hat at the present, the one shown on this thread and in the link posted in my previous comment. Looking at this hat I can't see any thing that would tie the term Melorol to the brim construction.

I had a 990 but sold it last year because of being a stingy brim. I don't believe it had Melorol on it.

I would like to see some of the Loungers with experience and knowledge of tracking down Pat. Off. Nos. to investigate the different Pat. numbers on sweatbands with Self-conforming on them. Perhaps that would lead to some reference to Melorol or give evidence to squash the Melorol and sweatband discussion altogether.

 

[John Galt]

It is the "Lancer" ad I referenced above. I looked at the ad a day or two ago - it was not marketed by Resistol as a Melorol, incidentally, so I misremembered.

Anyone have a Lancer? I've never seen one - and I've looked ;-)

(Not "Black Lancer," BTW - those I've seen).

 

[Mystic]

It is the "Lancer" ad I referenced above. I looked at the ad a day or two ago - it was not marketed by Resistol as a Melorol, incidentally, so I misremembered.

Anyone have a Lancer? I've never seen one - and I've looked ;-)

(Not "Black Lancer," BTW - those I've seen).

Do you mean the playboy ad you posted?

I thought a "Black Lancer" was a Stetson model.

Looking closely at the one Resistol I have, it does seem to have a bit of a roll over at the point of being stitched to the reed. It could just be this hat. Don't know if it would be characteristic of all Melorol sweats.


There is a Lancer ad on comment #15 of this thread.

 

[Strapped-4-Cache]

There's a Meloral reference for the hat listed in this auction:

Vintage Men's Resistol Hat - Melorol Model

 

[barrowjh]

Mystic, you bring up an iteresting point, about the way so many of the vintage sweatbands were installed in the brim break of the hat in such a way that the stitching does not touch your skin. As in, with a tight hat, you don't have a stitching 'zipper' imprint across your forehead. That is one of the things I love about vintage Resistol hats - great quality leather sweatbands, and installed to roll out right at the brim break so that the stitching does not touch your skin.

However, this element of quality was not limited to the Resistol brand only, and it was across all of the Resistol line up, whether cowboy, fedora, or cross-over (OR clone San Ant), Melorol or not. For Resistols, this continued right up through the 1970s, not sure about the when it stopped (maybe they are still done that way?). I have other vintage hats that are like that, but one of the exceptions is Borsalino - I don't believe I have ever seen a Borsalino with the sweat stitching rolled out like that. Stetsons seem to be in-between the two, not quite as rolled out as the Resistols but not flat like Borsalino either. Some of my lesser-known vintage hats are a lot like the Stetsons, just barely enough 'roll' of the sweat that the stitching is not directly against the skin.

 

[Mystic]

Mystic, you bring up an iteresting point, about the way so many of the vintage sweatbands were installed in the brim break of the hat in such a way that the stitching does not touch your skin. As in, with a tight hat, you don't have a stitching 'zipper' imprint across your forehead. That is one of the things I love about vintage Resistol hats - great quality leather sweatbands, and installed to roll out right at the brim break so that the stitching does not touch your skin.

However, this element of quality was not limited to the Resistol brand only, and it was across all of the Resistol line up, whether cowboy, fedora, or cross-over (OR clone San Ant), Melorol or not. For Resistols, this continued right up through the 1970s, not sure about the when it stopped (maybe they are still done that way?). I have other vintage hats that are like that, but one of the exceptions is Borsalino - I don't believe I have ever seen a Borsalino with the sweat stitching rolled out like that. Stetsons seem to be in-between the two, not quite as rolled out as the Resistols but not flat like Borsalino either. Some of my lesser-known vintage hats are a lot like the Stetsons, just barely enough 'roll' of the sweat that the stitching is not directly against the skin.

I looked at a couple of my Stetsons and other brands and you are right. Some have varying degrees of "roll over" at the point of stitching.

Perhaps Resistol simply labeled this technique as a feature the way other brands put a label on a particular brim edge technique such as Mode edge, Cavanagh edge, Guild edge or Edgelee.

That could be the difference between Self-Conforming and Melorol. All Self-conforming sweats are not Melorol but it could be Melorol just wasn't on that run of sweats used in that hat.

 

[Strapped-4-Cache]

I looked at my collection last night and discovered I have a Resistol with a sweat bearing the Meolorol stamp. Kind of pressed for time at the present, but will try to post a few pics soon.

 

[barrowjh]

S4C, let us know if you believe it is relatively lightweight. Sometimes that can be hard to judge, especially from pictures alone. Some of us have noted the felt seems thin, finely pounced.

 

[Strapped-4-Cache]

Hi John,

I'm far from experienced in knowing the differences between various felts. However, I compared my Resistol with a few other hats on my wall in the hope that someone else might be able get more information.

It might be that the hat just has a lot of stiffener in the felt, but it doesn't feel lightweight to me. It's about the same weight as my Knox Madison Avenue, but stiffer. It's thicker and not as smooth as my Churchill and MUCH thicker than my Pilgrim all-wool hat. My Worth & Worth is thicker but floppier, and my Stetson Twenty feels thinner and finer/smoother.

Pics:

 

[barrowjh]

oh well, that is rather strong indication that melorol was not about the weight of the felt or the overall hat.

 

[John Galt]

Fellas, the 707 is another Jetliner themed Resistol model. Even if it is not actually *that* light weight, it was almost certainly intended as a Jet age lightweight hat.

I'm still not buying the lightweight felt connection to Melorol, mind you ;-). I think it's a brim treatment. The "hand felted edge," reference in this ad (I know the ad doesn't actually reference Melorol expressly) together with Melorol is intriguing, however, especially in light of the Melorol edge reference last ad I posted.

 

[John Galt]

Do you mean the playboy ad you posted?

I thought a "Black Lancer" was a Stetson ...

There is a Lancer ad on comment #15 of this thread.

No, I meant the Bogart ad, which expressly features a Resistol "Lancer" model. The "Black Lancer" comment was meant to acknowledge & differentiate the similar model name, which I had found references to when searching for the Bogie hat.

 

[Mystic]

Fellas, the 707 is another Jetliner themed Resistol model. Even if it is not actually *that* light weight, it was almost certainly intended as a Jet age lightweight hat.

I'm still not buying the lightweight felt connection to Melorol, mind you ;-). I think it's a brim treatment. The "hand felted edge," reference in this ad (I know the ad doesn't actually reference Melorol expressly) together with Melorol is intriguing, however, especially in light of the Melorol edge reference last ad I posted.

How do you explain Resistol hats with Melorol on the sweat and have brim binding on the brim edge?

 

[John Galt]

I have no explanation. I have seen only a couple of San Antone clones with the mark, and have not yet examined one.

I freely admit that I do not know exactly what the term references despite hours of research, both past & present, with only the results I have shared here.

I am open-minded and will remain so, but I cannot accept that the term refers to a sweatband feature because to date, the only real evidence I have seen is the ads I found that point to a brim and/or edge treatment.

I sent Resistol an email today - maybe someone at HatCo has some information. I'll also PM AndyKev & see what his 2008 statement was based on...

 

[Mystic]

I have no explanation. I have seen only a couple of San Antone clones with the mark, and have not yet examined one.

I freely admit that I do not know exactly what the term references despite hours of research, both past & present, with only the results I have shared here.

I am open-minded and will remain so, but I cannot accept that the term refers to a sweatband feature because to date, the only real evidence I have seen is the ads I found that point to a brim and/or edge treatment.

I sent Resistol an email today - maybe someone at HatCo has some information. I'll also PM AndyKev & see what his 2008 statement was based on...

I have a Resistol with Melorol on the sweat and brim binding plus additional brim stitching which is not a San Ant. This is what I base my doubts about Melorol being a brim treatment on. Maybe i have misunderstood what you mean by "brim treatment".

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[barrowjh]

Wow, Mystic, nice looking lid. Hard to judge from only pictures, but your felt does not appear to be thin / finely pounced like the green hat I had posted. We may never know for sure what the 'Melorol' referred to. The crown does not appear to be 'shorter' than typical Resistol fedoras either. Thanks for posting, adds to the 'Melorol' mystery.

 

[Mystic]

Wow, Mystic, nice looking lid. Hard to judge from only pictures, but your felt does not appear to be thin / finely pounced like the green hat I had posted. We may never know for sure what the 'Melorol' referred to. The crown does not appear to be 'shorter' than typical Resistol fedoras either. Thanks for posting, adds to the 'Melorol' mystery.

Thanks John. It's one of my favorites. The felt is about like my Stratoliner maybe a little lighter and stiffer.

 

[Andykev]

Resistol Pacesetter, Atom Blue, 7 3/8 Self Conforming Melorol

I was quoted from 2008 regarding this hat, a Resistol "Pacesetter", Self Conforming Melorol hat. It is price marked $10.95, and is NEW OLD STOCK (NOS).
From a hat shop in San Francisco, and obtained through a vintage clothing dealer. Size 7 3/8.

This hat is actually a very nice darker blue, as this flash photo has lightened up the felt to appear almost gray. It is not. The brim is bound, it has a black ribbon with wind trolly and original feather.
The felt is extremely dense, with a fabulous finish. These photos DO NOT do the hat justice.

As far as the "Melorol" label, I believe this refers to the fit of the leather sweatband, and not the felt edge. This hat certainly does not have any "mello" feeling to the "snap" of the brim. It is a very crisp
snap which I have noted on some of my "1950's" hats. I believe this particular hat is either very late 40's or early 50's. It is not anywhere near the chintzy sweatband and lesser quality felts which appeared as
the hat industry moved into the declining era of the 60's.

As the accompanying photo shows of the original "owners manual" inside the sweatband, the "Self Conforming" sweatband is touted to conform to any head shape, be it regular, or long oval, etc.
Having a "long oval" shape, I know the discomfort in wearing a properly sized , but ill shaped oval hat. This hat actually does "conform" and I believe the sweatband leather is cut in such a way that
it "conforms" to your head shape..and in fact "is mellow" in how it rolls about your head.

There is nothing to this hat (or in the varied pictures above in other posts) which lead me to believe the "Melorol" has anything to do with the edge or brim of the hat. It is neither mellow, nor does
it "roll". It is standard, very high quality, normal felt.

BUT as they say, who knows..I was not there back in the day so I can only speculate. I think this is my good guess however.

 

[1mach1]

Wow! Mystic and Andy! Two beautiful specimen!