Turn of the Century Brim Snap?

[Johnnysan]

This ad from 1909, shows what appears to be a fedora style hat sporting a very unusual brim snap. Anyone ever seen a brim snapped like this before and, if so, was this common?

 

[Doh!]

If the brim were bigger, it'd look like a '70s pimp hat.

 

[phre7]

Never seen that before.

I keep wanting to reach out and straighten his hat for him.

Could that have been an attempt to revive a muskateer look? Hopefully, someone will really know what this company was up to. My guess is they might have done it just to see if it caught on. Setting a new trend can make a company some big bucks.

Or, he fell asleep before the photo shoot with his hat on.

 

[Nick Charles]

Root has

I remembered seeing a picture of Root wearing his hat that way.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

A lot of women's fedoras are styled somewhat like that.

I think a lot of artistic types at that time wore it in that fashion. I seem to recall some turn-of-the-century stories where the hero or villain wore their fedoras with that particular snap.

karol

 

[phre7]

I just don't know ...

For some reason the guy in the ad looks odd to me. However, the picture of Root looks normal with the hat that way. I mean, it doesn't jump right out that the brim is not in what I'm used to seeing as a normal snap brim fedora style. I know what it is. Root has his hat placed on his head at a slant and with a touch of class. Maybe if I could picture the man in the ad standing next to Root.:cheers1:

I wonder how many brim styles have been experimented with over the ages? Or how many different block variations?

 

[Doh!]

Here's another guy who wore his that way:

 

[Mr. Rover]

I snap my brims like that, just not when a photographer comes around. It accentuates the tilt.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Your brim is an extention of you.

 

[jamespowers]

I have an ad around here somewhere that shows a variety of ways you can snap the brim and make it look like a totally different hat. I think the Stetson ad calls that side snap the "Hollywood" artistic snap.
So you are probably right KD. Then again Capone wore his hat that way as well and the only "artistry" he did left people in a bad state. [huh]

Regards to all,

J

 

[gdkenoyer]

perhaps his head is on sideways....?

 

[MattC]

Uneven snap

Kevin at Optimo showed me a couple of years ago that if you snap your brim further down on one side than the other, like Ray says, the hat will look as if it is on at an angle even if it is fairly level. Works if a good fit comes close to the ears. Maybe not as extreme as the turn-of-the century model though....

 

[Veronica Parra]

Something like this...?

 

[Mycroft]

How do you acually do it, properly, I mean? I can not find it anywhere on the net.

 

[MattC]

How to snap

I'll give it a go. Put the hat level on your head, with the brim turned up. Figure where you want the snap to start on what will be the short side, use the left side for example (but it works either way). Take the brim at that point between your thumb and your forfinger, and then using the thumb and the forefinger, snap it down by sliding your fingers away in the opposite direction (to the right in my example) as far as you want to go. The further you go, the more rakish the look. Does this make sense?