Took a chance on an unknown...

[Mojave Jack]

..and was rewarded in spades!

I had never heard of Appleby, and a search here turned up nothing. Here's the auction:

Vintage Appleby of New York Felt Hat Fedora? NICE!!!!

I was expecting an Open Road wannabe; stiff, a little warped from being stuffed into a box, nothing special. I figured I'd have to dunk it in denatured alcohol for a couple days to remove a lot of stiffness, reblock it, the works. No worries, I wanted a beater.

What I got is a soft, supple, perfect hat that is better than any Open Road I've handled yet! I easily restyled it from the cattleman's crease it came with to a diamond, then to a center dent, which I thought looked the best.

Best $19.99 I've ever spent.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Fantastic! Just...amazing. Good for you.

 

[D00R]

thats awesome...great price

 

[The Wingnut]

Wow, nice! Great find.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Looks good. I always think of the open Road styles as the real beater hats. Something that an adventurer would have truly worn.

 

[Rooster]

Nice, can't be beat!

 

[DOUGLAS]

Great looking hat Mojave!!! The new bash looks better.

 

[deanglen]

Isn't that nice, a hopeful wild shot with moderate expectations that turns out to be a wonderful surprise! Good for you MJ! Can't say enoough about how great that hat looks with your touches to it.

dean

 

[tinmanzzz]

Great Find

Just tell me it wasn't a 5/8's

 

[johnnycanuck]

nice find. Colour looks great.
Johnny

 

[mingoslim]

Great Hat . . .

I actually havve been trying to work out a swap with a fellow lounger for an Appleby he is thinking about trading (you know who you are) . . .
I have a feeling that after this rave review, the cost of the swap is going to go up . . .
but with such good props here, it is probably worth it!

Kudos on a keen acquisition :eusa_clap

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Mojave Jack, I remember watching that, but I hesitated. My hesitation was your profit. That is a most impressive catch for you! Congratulations. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[ScionPI2005]

Now that is an amazing find. I'm sure it made your day! And that price is great too! Very cool hat; good job!

 

[Razzman]

A fine looking lid. Congratulations :eusa_clap

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Wow, what a great hat! And such a good buy!

Never heard of Appleby -- I wonder if it was a brand name for some custom or individual hatmaker that just faded away when the maker did.

karol

 

[Mojave Jack]

Thanks for the positive feedback and compliments, everyone! Scion, it certainly did make my day! I've had a couple Open Roads that I just didn't like as well, and I'm feeling particularly lucky to have stumbled on this one. Matt, that's exactly why I wanted a thin ribbon in the line-up. The light color is nice to (hopefully) deflect a little desert heat, plus the broad brim (at about 2-3/4" is handy, but still versatile enough to wear whatver the mood.

Mingoslim, sorry! I don't suppose there's any chance they're not checking out the forum today...? Tinmanzzz, it's a 7-1/8, so no worries!

Wingnut, I'm headed down to Gulfport, MS for an ORE in a about a week, and I'm trying to figure out how to fit it in my A bag! We'll be stuck there over the holiday weekend, so I can't be without a good lid for the bit of time off we'll get. Fortunately I'm friends with the pilot, so I'm going to try to talk her into letting me stash it on the plane (somewhere well-protected, of course!). This'll be my first deployment on a C-17, too, so I'm looking forward to it but I don't know my way around the a/c.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Great! :eusa_clap There used to be so many hat brands -- and at least a few of them were terrific. Glad you discovered one!

.

 

[AlanC]

Great hat, Jack.

 

[RBH]

Sweet! I really like what you did with it.