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- Covina, Califonia 91722
From the Mountains to the Valleys and to all the ships at sea, here is the News!
I had made an inquiry and gotten an answer from the Monticristi guys in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are currently doing restoration and repairs limited to their own brand of hats, but they suggested Baron Hats in Burbank. I reviewed the Baron web site at www.baronhats.com but could not find a repair, restoration or reconstructive services listed on there. I then sent to Baron an e-mail yesterday about restoration services. The owner Mark Mejia wrote me back and quoted prices this morning. Burbank is a scant 30 miles away which in Los Angeles terms is nearby if under an hour?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s drive. It is even shorter than that one way trip to my old job. So I packed up my dad's Borsalino with Mark?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s email, a map from Mapquest and took to the legendary Los Angeles freeway system. From Covina I went North to the 210 and headed West to 134 West then to the 5 freeway North a couple of exits. I got off at Burbank Boulevard and went West about 6 blocks to their corner establishment. Baron ?¢‚Ǩ?ìCalifornia?¢‚Ǩ? Hats said the big sign outside and in the window next to many hats was a bright neon that said Hats Cleaned and Reblocked or something like that. Inside were many more hats of all kinds along with a lot of fantasy hats and hats of the movies that they had made. There were also many movie posters.
At the counter to the right was a gentleman I recognized from the web site, Mark Mejia. He was speaking quite rapidly in Spanish to a young man in a work apron. Mark was speaking about a western hat he had in his hand and described something about the crown then continued giving instructions. When he finished, Mark turned to me and asked how they could help. I showed him my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino and the email. I related that I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d just inquired recently about their services and Mark?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s email. He asked to examine the hat while I listed what I wanted done. I figured Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino needed a cleaning with re-blocking, to be resized to 7-1/8th, have a new sweat band and new satin liner to replace the originals. Mark gingerly removed the last thread holding the sweat band and pulled lightly on the satin liner and gave an audible gasp! He was very excited to see there was the original careful hand stitching that held the liner to the crown! Mark then exclaimed something in Spanish and took the hat to show the guy in the apron, someone in back, the guy at the counter and the lady at the sewing section across the room and with each spoke about the stitching. He came back to me and said that such stitching is pretty rare, while he has seen it in the past, those at the shop probably had not seen this feature before. Mark said in admiration of the stitching that it was a detail you would likely not find in today?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hats as it would be prohibitly expensive to do. Mark asked me to talk to one of the youngsters at the counter to write me up. Taking my contact info and listing my desired services, he checked my head size to be certain of the sizing. (This I appreciated highly, as a young man I worked in the shoe department at JC Penny?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s. As a shoe salesman I knew the number of people that thought they knew their shoe size but actually did not was very high. There are a number of people that understand that they have a wide foot and benefited greatly in comfort while avoiding the unsightly toe curl associated with buying shoes too big to accommodate their width, because I took the time to measure their feet and explain about widths.) Before I left I looked at some of the hats and I am certain that I will get a custom hat from them in the near future. They had some swell Italian Straw Boaters of interest!
10 days to two weeks is the time I am to patiently wait and hope for good news about a hat that will pass from being my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino to being mine. Oh I am keeping the old liner and sweat band. I had a thrill actually when the sweat band fell out, there from the time my Dad brought home his hat, inked into the inside of the sweat band, was his carefully printed name: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìO. ERICKSON?¢‚Ǩ? and I instantly recognized my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s writing style.
It has been 6 years since my Dad passed away. I still miss him, and think of him everyday. Like so many of us, we discover that we become our parents. So, I hear his voice and his thoughts, when I speak to people about things. Because I hear him talking to me as a kid and as a teenager and as a young man in the business world trying to make my way I will always treasure his advice. (My Dad was a machinist of high caliber and he had taken many classes to become a machinist including mechanical drafting. His high degree of competence and know how for reading blue prints and correctly setting up those lathes and milling machines lead to making many prototypes and one off projects. I believe it is this formal portion of his education that lead to a distinctive style of printing he used, which is why I readily recognized his handiwork.) Also if it is true about the numbering system for Borsalino?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s, then Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hat was made in 1947, the paper label under the band?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s number started with 47. In 1947, my Dad was out of the Army by then, and WWII had concluded just a couple years before. This is before Mom and Dad were married or even knew each other. Heck Mom had not even made it to the US yet while Dad had come at the age of 7 in 1929 only months before the markets Big Crash and the start of Great Depression.
I was so excited to bring the hat in to be fixed, I neglected to get any ?¢‚Ǩ?ìbefore?¢‚Ǩ? pictures, but I will get some ?¢‚Ǩ?ìafter?¢‚Ǩ? pictures to post. Wish me luck and I let you know how things go.
Baron ?¢‚ǨÀúCalifornia?¢‚Ǩ? Hats
1619 West Burbank Avenue
Burbank, CA 91506
Phone 818-563-3025 to contact Mark Mejia, Owner and Master Hat Maker
Good Night Mister and Missus America!
I had made an inquiry and gotten an answer from the Monticristi guys in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are currently doing restoration and repairs limited to their own brand of hats, but they suggested Baron Hats in Burbank. I reviewed the Baron web site at www.baronhats.com but could not find a repair, restoration or reconstructive services listed on there. I then sent to Baron an e-mail yesterday about restoration services. The owner Mark Mejia wrote me back and quoted prices this morning. Burbank is a scant 30 miles away which in Los Angeles terms is nearby if under an hour?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s drive. It is even shorter than that one way trip to my old job. So I packed up my dad's Borsalino with Mark?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s email, a map from Mapquest and took to the legendary Los Angeles freeway system. From Covina I went North to the 210 and headed West to 134 West then to the 5 freeway North a couple of exits. I got off at Burbank Boulevard and went West about 6 blocks to their corner establishment. Baron ?¢‚Ǩ?ìCalifornia?¢‚Ǩ? Hats said the big sign outside and in the window next to many hats was a bright neon that said Hats Cleaned and Reblocked or something like that. Inside were many more hats of all kinds along with a lot of fantasy hats and hats of the movies that they had made. There were also many movie posters.
At the counter to the right was a gentleman I recognized from the web site, Mark Mejia. He was speaking quite rapidly in Spanish to a young man in a work apron. Mark was speaking about a western hat he had in his hand and described something about the crown then continued giving instructions. When he finished, Mark turned to me and asked how they could help. I showed him my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino and the email. I related that I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d just inquired recently about their services and Mark?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s email. He asked to examine the hat while I listed what I wanted done. I figured Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino needed a cleaning with re-blocking, to be resized to 7-1/8th, have a new sweat band and new satin liner to replace the originals. Mark gingerly removed the last thread holding the sweat band and pulled lightly on the satin liner and gave an audible gasp! He was very excited to see there was the original careful hand stitching that held the liner to the crown! Mark then exclaimed something in Spanish and took the hat to show the guy in the apron, someone in back, the guy at the counter and the lady at the sewing section across the room and with each spoke about the stitching. He came back to me and said that such stitching is pretty rare, while he has seen it in the past, those at the shop probably had not seen this feature before. Mark said in admiration of the stitching that it was a detail you would likely not find in today?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hats as it would be prohibitly expensive to do. Mark asked me to talk to one of the youngsters at the counter to write me up. Taking my contact info and listing my desired services, he checked my head size to be certain of the sizing. (This I appreciated highly, as a young man I worked in the shoe department at JC Penny?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s. As a shoe salesman I knew the number of people that thought they knew their shoe size but actually did not was very high. There are a number of people that understand that they have a wide foot and benefited greatly in comfort while avoiding the unsightly toe curl associated with buying shoes too big to accommodate their width, because I took the time to measure their feet and explain about widths.) Before I left I looked at some of the hats and I am certain that I will get a custom hat from them in the near future. They had some swell Italian Straw Boaters of interest!
10 days to two weeks is the time I am to patiently wait and hope for good news about a hat that will pass from being my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Borsalino to being mine. Oh I am keeping the old liner and sweat band. I had a thrill actually when the sweat band fell out, there from the time my Dad brought home his hat, inked into the inside of the sweat band, was his carefully printed name: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìO. ERICKSON?¢‚Ǩ? and I instantly recognized my Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s writing style.
It has been 6 years since my Dad passed away. I still miss him, and think of him everyday. Like so many of us, we discover that we become our parents. So, I hear his voice and his thoughts, when I speak to people about things. Because I hear him talking to me as a kid and as a teenager and as a young man in the business world trying to make my way I will always treasure his advice. (My Dad was a machinist of high caliber and he had taken many classes to become a machinist including mechanical drafting. His high degree of competence and know how for reading blue prints and correctly setting up those lathes and milling machines lead to making many prototypes and one off projects. I believe it is this formal portion of his education that lead to a distinctive style of printing he used, which is why I readily recognized his handiwork.) Also if it is true about the numbering system for Borsalino?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s, then Dad?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hat was made in 1947, the paper label under the band?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s number started with 47. In 1947, my Dad was out of the Army by then, and WWII had concluded just a couple years before. This is before Mom and Dad were married or even knew each other. Heck Mom had not even made it to the US yet while Dad had come at the age of 7 in 1929 only months before the markets Big Crash and the start of Great Depression.
I was so excited to bring the hat in to be fixed, I neglected to get any ?¢‚Ǩ?ìbefore?¢‚Ǩ? pictures, but I will get some ?¢‚Ǩ?ìafter?¢‚Ǩ? pictures to post. Wish me luck and I let you know how things go.
Baron ?¢‚ǨÀúCalifornia?¢‚Ǩ? Hats
1619 West Burbank Avenue
Burbank, CA 91506
Phone 818-563-3025 to contact Mark Mejia, Owner and Master Hat Maker
Good Night Mister and Missus America!
That hopefully will mean a superb job done!
