Two new (old) Borsalinos

[Rick Blaine]

Good afternoon,

I recently picked up a pair of, what I hope will prove to be, vintage borsalinos one is a browish-grey , low crowned and has a narrow ribbon, it is marked as a size 6 and is medium weight felt, very supple

the brim is bound-

and the sweat is imprinted with the retailer’s name-

and this - perhaps refers to quality or style ?

while the label beneath the crown is gold surrounded by lovely white satin... maybe the real thing

The second is a chocolate brown marked 5 1/2, with a 1-inch ribbon

the Borsalino trademark

The special quality emboss

The name of the retailer

and a gold label

so... What do I have here? Any way to determine the age of these items?
And although the best info I could find states the old European hat sizes a 5 1/2 is a 58 and a 6 is a 59
well, I am a 59 and the 6 is way too small for me & the 5 1/2 is just a bit too small for me. So can these be stretched a size or two if I were to send them for a clean & reblock? And who is the right person to do the job? Any recommendations? Fedora, Art? Anyway, thanks for looking and if you can point me in the right direction on any of these questions, gimmie a heads up !

Rick

 

[Pilgrim]

I have an old hat stretcher that's about 3" tall, and it's no problem to stretch a hat 1/8 size or more. All it really takes is patience, and perhaps a little steaming to get the stretch started.

That brown Borsalino looks like one I was watching on Ebay. It thought it would be a nice hat, but since I have a dark brown whippet I decided to lay off. Hope it turns out to be a nice hat for you.

 

[feltfan]

Thanks so much for showing those. Exceptional liners.
No question they are from the 50s or earlier. They look
a lot like hats I have that are verified from that era, and
that browned cellophane (or whatever it is) is a dead giveaway
(to say nothing of the printing on those liners!).
I bet you could roll 'em up and put them in your luggage any time.
Your brown Qualita' Speciale looks a lot like a brown
"Extra Extra Superiore" I have. Truly unbelievably fine felt.

I sent that hat to Optimo for a new sweat band(I love old sweats,
but not when they crumble) and a stretch up a size or two. I don't
have pictures for you, but I wear it all the time now and love it.
I do see a very slight lightening of the felt in the bottom third of
the crown, but no one else would notice it. Still, it's a bit
disappointing. Not sure what's up with that. But the hat
fits me great and looks great.

Then again, I had Art replace a sweat recently and the work
was every bit as good or better. I don't think you can go wrong
with those two. If the leather sweats are still in good, soft shape
you might have an easier time talking Art into putting them back
in than you would with Graham, based on my small experience.

A funny note about Graham at Optimo: when he saw my Borsalino,
he gushed about the felt. I told him I wanted it sent back open
crown, so I could bash it myself. He said, 'okay, but I could put
the center dent in the top. I see a lot of nice hats with uncentered
dents and it looks terrible'. I assured him I would center the dent
carefully. Nevertheless, when the hat arrived, it had a carefully
centered dent in the top. I called him and laughed.

 

[thefedorastore]

Your Hats

Fine hats! I believe Zenit is a brand, because I have seen vintage ads and posters for them. The Borsalino however, makes me envious. These are hats I am collecting and refurbishing. I did my first one yesterday and it turned out very satisfying (see related posts). With that hat, I received a business card in the box of Carlo Lambardi (the hatter, not the famous roman architect). On his business card of the time, it states "the only store in Rome" referring to Borsalino. So, the hat must have come from Rome. Of course, I am slowly piecing this all together, and could be reading into the evidence wrong. If anyone has corrections for me, please post or email. I pursue to learn as much as possible about these hats.

 

[riccardo]

Spallotta link.

Hi ricki,
here is the link about Spallotta hat shop in rome:
http://pg.virgilio.it/pg/cgi/pgsearch.cgi?btt=1&ts=1&l=1&cb=k&ind=&nc=&qs=spallotta&dv=roma&x=0&y=0

Join it, it show telephone number and address of Spallotta's store in Rome.

Hope it could help!
Riccardo.

p.s. "cappelleria" means "hat store".