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The Stratoliner Society {VINTAGE}

Hagwood

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,017
Location
Fort Worth, TX
Just found this
KkUqFEe.jpg
o9GG87A.jpg
Ol7Fuxh.jpg
biUHCXx.jpg
dV6TcEV.jpg

Beautiful hat !

Enjoy wearing it !!
 

Hagwood

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,017
Location
Fort Worth, TX
Got my first Stratoliner last night and only my second vintage hat. Condition is amazing, with the original box and hat pin. I was a little nervous because it is a 6-5/8 and I am a 6-7/8, but I couldn't pass it up. After about 3 hours of work last night, misting, steaming and stretching, it now fits like a glove ! Love the color too, my wife says it matches my eyes.....

strat-10.jpg strat-12.jpg

strat-13.jpg

strat-2.jpg strat-3.jpg
 

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,873
Messages
15,089
Location
Buffalo, NY
Lot's of cool stuff under the sweat, but I can't make some of it out. Has a date stamp of Nov, 1941 - just a month before Pearl Harbor !

A date stamp is the holy grail of hat ephemera, tying together the other parts into a really great reference piece. What a great find! I've increased the contrast of your reverse sweatband shots. The sweatband imprints LOT7710 and 1 7/8 Soft would disappear during the WWII era. You might post some pictures on this thread too.

Thanks for posting the detailed photos. Is there a size label present on the rear of the sweatband?

1941_strat.jpg


1941_strat_2.jpg
 

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Hagwood

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,017
Location
Fort Worth, TX
A date stamp is the holy grail of hat ephemera, tying together the other parts into a really great reference piece. What a great find! I've increased the contrast of your reverse sweatband shots. The sweatband imprints LOT7710 and 1 7/8 Soft would disappear during the WWII era. You might post some pictures on this thread too.

Thanks for posting the detailed photos. Is there a size label present on the rear of the sweatband?

View attachment 187172

View attachment 187173


Great info, thanks for that ! No size tag on the rear, only the red sticker:

strat-5.jpg


What would the '1 7/8 SOFT' refer to, the weight of the felt ?
 
Messages
15,089
Location
Buffalo, NY
Great info, thanks for that ! No size tag on the rear, only the red sticker:
View attachment 187175
What would the '1 7/8 SOFT' refer to, the weight of the felt ?

Sweatbands were stamped with several identifiers - their width (1 7/8" in this instance) and sometimes "stiff" or "soft", which likely refers to the type of hat, going back to when dress hats were predominantly stiff hats (derbies) or soft hats (fedoras). Other words show up too - "kettle finish" comes to mind.

Manufacturing details seemed to undergo change during the decade before WWII which we can guess at from the materials and markings that remain. The three panel manufacturing tag in your hat had a relatively short life, appearing in the late 1930s after the wider three part label that Stetson used for much of the 20th century (and perhaps earlier) and before the single panel narrow version that appeared shortly after your hat was made and continued through the war into the 1950s. You can see both and other subtle differences in two Stratoliners compared in this post. I have another early Strat with the same sweatband as yours (posted a page or so back from here) - mine has the later version of the manufacturing tag and no LOTXXXX number. I believe this one is earlier than the version with the embroidered tip liner... but I'm not really sure. Maybe both versions ran concurrently...
 

Rmccamey

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,938
Location
Central Texas
Excellent find. Keep your eyes open for a 7 1/8 just like that! Wow, what a catch! Good luck to you and send pictures often!

Got my first Stratoliner last night and only my second vintage hat. Condition is amazing, with the original box and hat pin. I was a little nervous because it is a 6-5/8 and I am a 6-7/8, but I couldn't pass it up. After about 3 hours of work last night, misting, steaming and stretching, it now fits like a glove ! Love the color too, my wife says it matches my eyes.....

View attachment 187092 View attachment 187093

View attachment 187094

View attachment 187096 View attachment 187097

Lot's of cool stuff under the sweat, but I can't make some of it out. Has a date stamp of Nov, 1941 - just a month before Pearl Harbor !

View attachment 187098 View attachment 187099

View attachment 187100

View attachment 187101

View attachment 187102

View attachment 187103
 

Hagwood

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,017
Location
Fort Worth, TX
Excellent find. Keep your eyes open for a 7 1/8 just like that! Wow, what a catch! Good luck to you and send pictures often!


LOL, I’ll do it !

I’m always on the hunt for vintage items, right now I’m looking for a Ronson Touch Tip desk lighter as seen in The Maltese Falcon. Very cool !
 

Hagwood

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,017
Location
Fort Worth, TX
Sweatbands were stamped with several identifiers - their width (1 7/8" in this instance) and sometimes "stiff" or "soft", which likely refers to the type of hat, going back to when dress hats were predominantly stiff hats (derbies) or soft hats (fedoras). Other words show up too - "kettle finish" comes to mind.

Manufacturing details seemed to undergo change during the decade before WWII which we can guess at from the materials and markings that remain. The three panel manufacturing tag in your hat had a relatively short life, appearing in the late 1930s after the wider three part label that Stetson used for much of the 20th century (and perhaps earlier) and before the single panel narrow version that appeared shortly after your hat was made and continued through the war into the 1950s. You can see both and other subtle differences in two Stratoliners compared in this post. I have another early Strat with the same sweatband as yours (posted a page or so back from here) - mine has the later version of the manufacturing tag and no LOTXXXX number. I believe this one is earlier than the version with the embroidered tip liner... but I'm not really sure. Maybe both versions ran concurrently...

Man, you are a wealth of information, thanks so much. It was your previous posts with that similar Strat that made me pull the trigger on this one. When I first saw it I thought it was just missing the liner until I saw yours.

There is so much to learn on this site !
 

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