Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Western, anyone?

Messages
15,081
Location
Buffalo, NY
I really enjoy alan's collection of great hats when he brings them out and his well photographed hats he himself models on his noggin. alan was blessed with perfect head for hats. His carefully selected and vetted collection.... alan to me is fedora lounge's Jay Leno. I adventure to guess alan has one of the best private collection of vintage hats in America.
Kind and generous words, thank you. There are a number of tremendous hat collections that have crossed these pages in the 20 or so years the Fedora Lounge has been open. Unfortunately, many of the content links are no longer functional and many members have drifted in and out or moved away entirely. It would be nice to have an updated collection of important older threads for weekend reading. In the meantime, an occasional bump is always enjoyable way to see some of the gold in them thar hills.
 
Last edited:
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Resistol Pecos in the color “canyon.”

D29E7160-1708-466D-868C-53F4A5CD8AB0.jpeg
AD6CDC9A-18E3-43B4-9F9F-36CEC46F44CB.jpeg
CCFAE4BA-E3D1-4C53-8360-B04127482BE9.jpeg
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,789
Location
Central Ohio
Anyone ever hear of a 'Raw Hide Felts' hat company? A generous Lounger gave this one to me a few short months back. Other than what's stamped on the sweat there were no manufacturers labels or liner that could have identified it. It could also be a store brand name, I don't know. In any event, it seems to have been pretty good quality in its day. I'm guessing, by the style of the hat, the low crown, the 3.5 brim width, the original crown crease and brim curl, that it was probably a late 50s-early 60s hat....and the way it fit after I stripped it down, that it started out as a size 7. The hat is now a 7 1/4 after blocking it up on my RA. It's a 3X Beaver Western. The hat also has a few moth bites in the back that opened up a little wider after reblocking it, nothing serious though. Here's what I have so far. I had to resort to wet blocking. I'm still deciding what to do with it, whether to keep it Western or to convert it. I have about 3 3/8 brim left, so I can keep it Western if I choose to do so...

Before:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20230208_031843092.jpg
    IMG_20230208_031843092.jpg
    815 KB · Views: 75
  • IMG_20230208_032338793.jpg
    IMG_20230208_032338793.jpg
    2.3 MB · Views: 81
  • IMG_20230209_101819021.jpg
    IMG_20230209_101819021.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 63
  • IMG_20230208_032011392.jpg
    IMG_20230208_032011392.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 78
  • IMG_20230208_032037920.jpg
    IMG_20230208_032037920.jpg
    2.2 MB · Views: 66
  • IMG_20230208_032210787.jpg
    IMG_20230208_032210787.jpg
    530.5 KB · Views: 67
  • IMG_20230212_090453729.jpg
    IMG_20230212_090453729.jpg
    2.7 MB · Views: 83
Last edited:
Anyone ever hear of a 'Raw Hide Felts' hat company? A generous Lounger gave this one to me a few short months back. Other than what's stamped on the sweat there were no manufacturers labels or liner that could have identified it. It could also be a store brand name, I don't know. In any event, it seems to have been pretty good quality in its day. I'm guessing, by the style of the hat, the low crown, the 3.5 brim width, the original crown crease and brim curl, that it was probably a late 50s-early 60s hat....and the way it fit after I stripped it down, that it started out as a size 7. The hat is now a 7 1/4 after blocking it up on my RA. It's a 3X Beaver Western. The hat also has a few moth bites in the back that opened up a little wider after reblocking it, nothing serious though. Here's what I have so far. I had to resort to wet blocking. I'm still deciding what to do with it, whether to keep it Western or to convert it. I have about 3 3/8 brim left, so I can keep it Western if I choose to do so...

Before:

I have a couple Terry. They were a Byer-Rolnick product.

1676312186698.png


1676312248118.png


1676312225681.png


1676312288105.png


These two did not call out "Resistol" directly, but the debossings were the same as Resistol.

This one (not mine) does mix the Row Hide Felts liner and a Resistol debossing.


1654116657468.png


1654116676817.png


Yours is the first I've seen with a sweatband debossing for Raw Hide Felts.

The XXX Beaver / Hand Creased debossing on yours is definitely as "Resistol" thing.

Looking forward to the end result!
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,789
Location
Central Ohio
I have a couple Terry. They were a Byer-Rolnick product.

View attachment 489321

View attachment 489324

View attachment 489323

View attachment 489325

These two did not call out "Resistol" directly, but the debossings were the same as Resistol.

This one (not mine) does mix the Row Hide Felts liner and a Resistol debossing.


1654116657468.png


1654116676817.png


Yours is the first I've seen with a sweatband debossing for Raw Hide Felts.

The XXX Beaver / Hand Creased debossing on yours is definitely as "Resistol" thing.

Looking forward to the end result!
Thank you Bob. That explains the good felt quality, being Beyer
I have a couple Terry. They were a Byer-Rolnick product.

View attachment 489321

View attachment 489324

View attachment 489323

View attachment 489325

These two did not call out "Resistol" directly, but the debossings were the same as Resistol.

This one (not mine) does mix the Row Hide Felts liner and a Resistol debossing.


1654116657468.png


1654116676817.png


Yours is the first I've seen with a sweatband debossing for Raw Hide Felts.

The XXX Beaver / Hand Creased debossing on yours is definitely as "Resistol" thing.

Looking forward to the end result!
Thank you Bob. That answers a lot for me and it explains the nice felt quality, being a Beyer-Rolnick hat. Seeing yours with red liners confirmed my guess that mine originally had a red liner too. What remains of the sweat bow is red. Thanks again Bob. Much appreciated.
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,789
Location
Central Ohio
Well, I decided to convert my 'Raw Hide Felts, Western. To my eye, the brim width just didn't look proportionate to the crown height. I got 5 1/2 inches for the open crown height, which is just fine for a Fedora. If I could have gotten a little more from the crown I would have kept it Western. So, I trimmed the brim to 2 5/8 inches and I'll cut the original brim binding to fit the new width. I'm also going to try and reuse the original 6 ply ribbon. Here it is in its current state....
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20230214_102002785.jpg
    IMG_20230214_102002785.jpg
    2.5 MB · Views: 78

StoryPNW

One Too Many
Messages
1,136
Location
Pacific Northwest
Well, I decided to convert my 'Raw Hide Felts, Western. To my eye, the brim width just didn't look proportionate to the crown height. I got 5 1/2 inches for the open crown height, which is just fine for a Fedora. If I could have gotten a little more from the crown I would have kept it Western. So, I trimmed the brim to 2 5/8 inches and I'll cut the original brim binding to fit the new width. I'm also going to try and reuse the original 6 ply ribbon. Here it is in its current state....
Your restoration/conversion projects are awesome. Do you sew sweats and brim bindings by hand or do you have a machine?
 

AbbaDatDeHat

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,835
Seldom seen (two posted here that I know of) high end clear beaver Stetson from before WWII (late 1930s-1940). I purchased this one from Lounge member Zetwal. There is a thread with catalog references from Porter here.

View attachment 490358

View attachment 490366

View attachment 490365

View attachment 490361

View attachment 490360

View attachment 490359

View attachment 490364

View attachment 490362

View attachment 490363
Greatest Western hat and crease on the lounge imho!
Always a treat to see, Alan.
Bowen
 

Scott B.

New in Town
Messages
1
Seldom seen (two posted here that I know of) high end clear beaver Stetson from before WWII (late 1930s-1940). I purchased this one from Lounge member Zetwal. There is a thread with catalog references from Porter here.

View attachment 490358

View attachment 490366

View attachment 490365

View attachment 490361

View attachment 490360

View attachment 490359

View attachment 490364

View attachment 490362

View attachment 490363
Why do you think this particular style/model is so rare now? Its the

Seldom seen (two posted here that I know of) high end clear beaver Stetson from before WWII (late 1930s-1940). I purchased this one from Lounge member Zetwal. There is a thread with catalog references from Porter here.

View attachment 490358

View attachment 490366

View attachment 490365

View attachment 490361

View attachment 490360

View attachment 490359

View attachment 490364

View attachment 490362

View attachment 490363
Seldom seen (two posted here that I know of) high end clear beaver Stetson from before WWII (late 1930s-1940). I purchased this one from Lounge member Zetwal. There is a thread with catalog references from Porter here.

View attachment 490358

View attachment 490366

View attachment 490365

View attachment 490361

View attachment 490360

View attachment 490359

View attachment 490364

View attachment 490362

View attachment 490363
Best hat on this site.
 
Messages
15,081
Location
Buffalo, NY
Why do you think this particular style/model is so rare now? Its the best hat on this site.
High end clear beaver hats were expensive and apparently, from the limited number that have appeared on the vintage market, purchased few and far between. There are a couple of other oldies posted on the 5X thread I referenced in the original post but the number is still countable on one hand. After the war, it seems the fur supply and market for $50 clear beaver hats opened up some. These were special occasion hats and examples in good condition seem to show up with some regularity.
 
Alan's 5XCB should probably just close down the thread as no one can follow that hat, but let's start it back over with a lowly old western.

G.W. Alexander from a fifth-generation store (Est. 1905) in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Not sure on age (no stickers behind the sweat any longer). 1950s or '60s? I think G. W. Alexander was gone by the early 1960s.

IMG-8819.JPG


IMG-8820.JPG


IMG-8822.JPG


IMG-8823.JPG


The brim binding is just what is stuck to the threads in some spots. Almost a double Arminto (binding top and bottom, but still retaining the raw edge).

IMG-8824.JPG


The felt is beyond holding a shape. A breeze would change it.

IMG-8825.JPG


The stampede string is a boot lace.

IMG-8826.JPG


IMG-8827.JPG


IMG-8828.JPG


IMG-8829.JPG
 
Messages
13,669
Location
down south
Alan's 5XCB should probably just close down the thread as no one can follow that hat, but let's start it back over with a lowly old western.

G.W. Alexander from a fifth-generation store (Est. 1905) in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Not sure on age (no stickers behind the sweat any longer). 1950s or '60s? I think G. W. Alexander was gone by the early 1960s.

View attachment 491497

View attachment 491498

View attachment 491499

View attachment 491500

The brim binding is just what is stuck to the threads in some spots. Almost a double Arminto (binding top and bottom, but still retaining the raw edge).

View attachment 491501

The felt is beyond holding a shape. A breeze would change it.

View attachment 491502

The stampede string is a boot lace.

View attachment 491503

View attachment 491504

View attachment 491505

View attachment 491506
That's a real beauty in its own right, Bob. All that patina lends it plenty of character.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,140
Messages
3,074,934
Members
54,121
Latest member
Yoshi_87
Top