Vintage Hat Ads from Newspapers

[rclark]

Notice anything off in this ad?


The Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, Texas) · Thu, Sep 16, 1954

 

[rclark]

Resistol Wide Country - 1964 Hat of the Year. I wonder if that is self-proclaimed.



Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, Texas) · Sun, Nov 8, 1964

 

[hatophile]

Well Rick, we could just vote ourselves "Hatwearers of the Year".

 

[tonyb]

Fanciful claims aside, it's apparent which ad was done by true advertising professionals and which one wasn't. The Swank Shop's ad is fun (interesting what got marked down in September of 1954, and what got featured, eh?).

There's a lot to like in that Resistol ad. I'd be willing to wager that Resistol supplied the ad to their local retailers, who put their own names along the bottom and likely shared in the expense of running it.

The elements are very well balanced; the photo shows the hat to its best advantage, from two angles and atop the head of a handsome but not "pretty" middle-aged man; and the text (very easy to read) appeals to the target reader's preferred sense of himself and his place in the world. And hey! Resistol makes the hat worn by the president! And you can wear one, too!

 

[rclark]

Tony, I really love perusing these old ads. It's like taking a small step back in time (before I was born).

 

[tonyb]

Yeah, me too. As to your question at the top of the original post: They got the hats misidentified, and there's a fairly conspicuous typo in there as well. But what the hell. The ad was done by either the retailer him- or herself or, likelier, by some person in the newspaper's art department, who wouldn't know a "Trail" from a "Trinity" anyway. And the retailer likely signed off on it before it ran, I would suppose.

The more I look at that Resistol ad, the more impressed I am. Ahead of its time. Has me wondering who's responsible for it.

I'm no real collector, but I do have a couple of stacks of old magazines -- Collier's from the early 1940s through the early '50s, and a bunch of Life mags from the '60s. I find such primary sources revealing in ways that history texts aren't. And I find myself daydreaming a bit as I look through those 1960s volumes. I remember some of those covers quite clearly, especially the ones having to do with that unpleasantness in Southeast Asia. Where was I when I first saw that cover? And how did the world look to my adolescent self back then? And look! An ad for that Polaroid camera the old man had!

 

[rclark]

My thoughts exactly, Tony. That Resistol ad was most definitely professionally done. It's very interesting to me how Resistol responded to the trend of smaller hat brims with the "Wide Country" - a hat with a smaller brim. The name is a bit of an oxymoron.

 

[rclark]

I posted this in the Borsalino Brotherhood a few days ago. Ad in the Muskogee (Oklahoma) Times-Democrat from October, 1917

 

[tonyb]

I suspect the "Wide Country" is essentially another Resistol model (the "San Antonio" they called their variation on an Open Road theme, as I recall) by a different name, and perhaps with the "cattleman" crease stamped in at the factory. Make a new stamp to emboss the model name on the sweatband, and maybe even a different liner (but not necessarily, as I do believe that Resistol used liners not specific to particular models), and voila, a "new" model.

Or maybe it's a cut-down western?

Anyone here happen to be in possession of this particular model?

 

[tonyb]

Man, those are some steep prices for 1917!

 

[rclark]

I suspect the "Wide Country" is essentially another Resistol model (the "San Antonio" they called their variation on an Open Road theme, as I recall) by a different name, and perhaps with the "cattleman" crease stamped in at the factory. Make a new stamp to emboss the model name on the sweatband, and maybe even a different liner (but not necessarily, as I do believe that Resistol used liners not specific to particular models), and voila, a "new" model.

Or maybe it's a cut-down western?

Anyone here happen to be in possession of this particular model?

Tony, I had one and sold it to a fellow lounger. It had a narrow brim that didn't work with my round face! It was a really nice hat! I don't recall noticing that it was a factory crease but I could be mistaken. I have a couple of San Antonios with varying brim widths. I'm not truly sure I understand the difference. There may even be some Wide Countrys with wider brims. Vintage Resistol open road clones are difficult to pin down.

 

[RBH]

I did this thread back in ’06…. Imageshack seems to have ‘lost’ most of my photos.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?10899-Old-newspaper-ads

Anyway, I am always glad to hand it over to the newer guys.
Here are a couple of my contributions.

I was one of the first to say that Stetson used the DC3 on the Stratoliner.
At that time I searched and found many things related to the Stratoliner.

More ads

 

[rclark]

Nice ads, RBH! I did a quick search and didn't come up with your thread, so I started this one. Thanks for adding some really fascinating ads to this one! I especially love the "Back to College" ad. My how fashion has changed!

 

[rclark]

Another cool old Resistol Ad.

The Wellington Leader (Wellington, Texas) · Thu, Oct 24, 1946

 

[rclark]

Lubbock Morning Avalanche (Lubbock, Texas) · Fri, Sep 24, 1954

 

[Landman]

I have one of LBJ's Resistol hats and it is a "Wide Country 3X Beaver". This is apparently the hat described in the Resistol ad that Rick posted. Same dimensions as a Resistol San Antonio or a Stetson Open Road. Here are a few pics.

 

[Landman]

Here is the original box for it.

 

[rclark]

Miek, that hat is awesome words! Does its brim width match the ad where it refers to "more moderate proportions"?

 

[Landman]

Rick,

I measured the brim width and it is a tad under 2 5/8" at about 2 9/16".

I edited the post because I got the hat out and remeasured it.

 

[rclark]

I had a really sweet Wide Country but the brim dimensions were significantly smaller than that. It was such a sweet hat but it just never looked right on me.