The Stetson One-Hundred "100"

[jonbuilder]

Dress fedora from the bay about $200 Purchase from original owners granddaughter

 

[alanfgag]

Sorry if I was not clear getting to my point and carelessly used the term one hundred to refer to a model or quality not a price point.
1: IMO it would be easier for a present day hater to duplicate a Stetson one hundred than a Cavanagh.
2: The current market price of a NOS Stetson one hundred from the an earlier time frame when it seems the hats were of higher quality is not far off the price of a VS sterling beaver hat.
3: With a VS Sterling a buyer has a wide choice in crown and brim dimensions and crown shape.
4: Taken the above three points in consideration, Persons looking for a NOS high quality Stetson one hundred with pre set brim and crown arrangements might consider VS Sterling beaver hat. Persons looking for a pre war Cavanagh would be hard pressed to find a hater who could duplicate.
Moving forward I see I am communicating with persons who have more knowledge of the history of vintage hats than myself and appreciate posters being careful with their hat vocabulary. I sail and the vocabulary is rigid, and necessary so, to communicate a coordinate effort to move the boat efficiently and safely.

I also look forward to reading your comparison when you receive your hat from Art Fawcett. I hope you'll post it in the Side By Side comparison thread.

Interesting that you bring up Cavanagh as the brand of comparison. Early Cavanagh hats are very rarely seen. I have owned a number of Cavanaghs over the years but have never handled a pre-WWII example. The post-war hats were very similar to each other - heavy, conservatively styled, very nicely constructed. Felt quality was thick and not easily formed. Many were homburgs. With the exception of the ribbon brim binding, I think it would be quite doable for a current day hatter to reproduce a modern hat in the Cavanagh tradition from Winchester felt. I don't think there are many custom customers demanding such an item. I have not had much success selling my vintage Cavanaghs.

 

[alanfgag]

Dress fedora from the bay about $200 Purchase from original owners granddaughter.

Nice... thanks for posting. Is the ribbon a replacement?

 

[jonbuilder]

Found better pictures

 

[jonbuilder]

The hat is 100% original

 

[alanfgag]

The hat is 100% original

I'm curious how you know that. Is there a store imprint on the sweatband?

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Dress fedora from the bay about $200 Purchase from original owners granddaughter
View attachment 160745 View attachment 160746 View attachment 160747 View attachment 160748 View attachment 160749 View attachment 160750 View attachment 160749 View attachment 160748 View attachment 160747 View attachment 160750

That’s a fine specimen JB. Nothing wrong with it at all. Somewhat unique in it’s conformation which makes it all the better imho. Lovely
Thank you for sharing.
Bowen

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I went through all the Stetson ads I could find posted here on. The Lounge, and the earliest reference I could find to a $100 price point was from 1951, there is also one from ‘52. An earlier ‘48 ad for Stetsons lists them up to $90, and a ‘50 ad that makes no mention of 100s.

Some of the ads I cut and pasted here to the thread, back at note #294.

Based on that research, I am pretty confident the Stetson 100 dates to 1951 at the earliest. We can’t prove there weren’t any (“the lack of evidence is not evidence of lacking”) but the lack of advertising evidence counts as something.

Maybe we’ll find more information or someone has an ad image stored away? It would be cool to find out more!

Daniel

It’s always tough to prove a negative. I appreciate those who do their own research, but if Alan says it I’m good with it; it’s intellectually lazy, but That’s me.

I just don’t know if new felts, even the best/most expensive, can be made into the hats of even the early 1960s yet alone older hats. I’m genuinely curious to see what Art can make for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[jonbuilder]

My first Stetson one hundred purchase from buler on the bay. I stupidly sold this on the bay BIN $350 with in 40 minutes
Going back through old thread I see I paid $383 Feb 2009

 

[alanfgag]

...
I just don’t know if new felts, even the best/most expensive, can be made into the hats of even the early 1960s yet alone older hats. I’m genuinely curious to see what Art can make for you.

I have handled some modern hats by Art Fawcett, Graham Thompson, Gary White and others but I have never owned one. I remember RLK (among the most experienced and knowledgable collectors to have every posted here) once saying that FL enthusiasts tend to over-romanticize the qualities of vintage hats. That may very well be true.

 

[jonbuilder]

I'm curious how you know that. Is there a store imprint on the sweatband?

I received a letter with the hat from the granddaughter. If I find the letter I will post. I did post it years ago in the ebay hats tread. Right now I need to sign off

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I have handled some modern hats by Art Fawcett, Graham Thompson, Gary White and others but I have never owned one. I remember RLK (among the most experienced and knowledgable collectors to have every posted here) once saying that FL enthusiasts tend to over-romanticize the qualities of vintage hats. That may very well be true.

I have a couple of Art’s beaver hats and, while nice, they don’t compare to better vintage hats. Same with Gannon, Phoenix, etc. I’d put them in a blind test too. I also have a VS that Art made from a NOS Mallory felt that is nice, but also doesn’t compare with the better vintage hats. I don’t think there’s any self-fullfilling prophecy going on as I really wish my customs were the same as vintage hats. Then again, I’ve never handled a $1000 custom.

 

[alanfgag]

I received a letter with the hat from the granddaughter. If I find the letter I will post. I did post it years ago in the ebay hats tread. Right now I need to sign off

A 100 dollar dress hat with wide ribbon and a bound edge, rather than felted edge would be very unusual. Perhaps the original owner had it modified at some point? I have a Shudde Bros. renovated 7X in the hinged paper box like yours which was why I was curious about whether there was a store imprint on the sweatband. Or perhaps a stamp behind the sweatband. Look forward to your comments when you have time.

 

[jonbuilder]

A 100 dollar dress hat with wide ribbon and a bound edge, rather than felted edge would be very unusual. Perhaps the original owner had it modified at some point? I have a Shudde Bros. renovated 7X in the hinged paper box like yours which was why I was curious about whether there was a store imprint on the sweatband. Or perhaps a stamp behind the sweatband. Look forward to your comments when you have time.

Alan here what I have no store tags but a stamp on the inside of the sweat band. The granddaughter sent a note with the hat. I lost the note think I sent it ogg in the box with the Stetson One Hundred I sold last year. The letter said she remember her grandfather wearing the hat on special occasions and he store it on the top shelf in his closet. The hat reminderd her of his daughter. I took this to mean he owned the hat a long time.
There was so discussion about this One Hundred in the Ebay thread ( Thread #s 3797 - 3800)
Dinerman "That's only the second, maybe the third 100 I've seen that's not either an open road or some other western style."
When asked if he believes the One Hundred is original Dinerman
I don't see why not. The 100 was a price point, not a style. I mean we've seen cowboy, open road, mode edged fedora and homburg 7xs.

 

[alanfgag]

Alan here what I have no store tags but a stamp on the inside of the sweat band. The granddaughter sent a note with the hat. I lost the note think I sent it ogg in the box with the Stetson One Hundred I sold last year. The letter said she remember her grandfather wearing the hat on special occasions and he store it on the top shelf in his closet. The hat reminderd her of his daughter. I took this to mean he owned the hat a long time.
There was so discussion about this One Hundred in the Ebay thread ( Thread #s 3797 - 3800)
Dinerman "That's only the second, maybe the third 100 I've seen that's not either an open road or some other western style."
When asked if he believes the One Hundred is original Dinerman
I don't see why not. The 100 was a price point, not a style. I mean we've seen cowboy, open road, mode edged fedora and homburg 7xs. View attachment 161172 View attachment 161157 View attachment 161156

Thanks for sharing the additional photos and recollections. Great to see the discussion on this hat from a decade ago... a lot of water under the bridge since then.

We will never know for sure of course, but two additional thoughts for the hopper. Cleaning, reblocking, brim trimming and ribbon replacements were services done as regular part of one's wardrobe. There was a hat shop in the neighborhood that provided these services in the way that cleaners once did repairs and alterations too.

The paper tape attached to the liner in your photo above was not original to the hat and a strong clue that the hat was brought in for cleaning and perhaps renovation at some point during its original ownership.

 

[jonbuilder]

I did not notice any unused holes through the felt under the sweat

 

[Hurricane Jack]

L to R: One-hundred, One-hundred, One-hundred, 7XCB

 

[Rmccamey]

Yes sir, I'll have two of number 1, 1 of number 3, and 3 of number 4 My address is ..................

L to R: One-hundred, One-hundred, One-hundred, 7XCB

View attachment 161461

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Yes sir, I'll have two of number 1, 1 of number 3, and 3 of number 4 My address is ..................

It’s just a fancy expensive box & inflation that make them what they are.

 

[Robieman]

Finally got a hold of a 100. Not sure of exact date, but sure it is 60's, as it has the black size tag, that I broke off while cleaning it a bit. (@%$#&^%) I do notice the crest on the sweat is in silver instead of gold, but appears to have stars on it. Not sure when they started using this liner logo, perhaps some of you may. But the liner is sewn in, not glued or just loose. Also it does not have the cotton tape slotting at the rear of the sweat. All in all, it is a sweet hat, and has a real good & soft feel to it. I was able to re-shape the crown without steam. Certainly I would have preferred an older one, but am extremely pleased that I found this one. And it came with the case as well. I think it will do!