Western, anyone?

[John Galt]

A 1950's Stetson Open Road 3x in a greenish "silver belly."

 

[John Galt]

A Mexican-made Pigalle 5x straw (heavy). I added the silver band, which I bought from an old Navajo gentleman at a roadside flea market in Colorado:

 

[John Galt]

A 1970's era Resistol Stagecoach in "whiskey" color, John-creased. I like to wear this with a funky old 1970's western shirt:

 

[John Galt]

A Miller Brothers 4x in forest green, John-creased. I looked long and hard for this, and tried a Tom Mix crease before going to what I call the "Gambler," crease (yes, this style looks good on me, and I have a few).

 

[John Galt]

Another Resistol 3x John-crease "Gambler," in Navy. I like Resistol hats, and this particular hat and "Maverick" type crease is probably my favorite next to the nutria hats. Of those, the first is my favorite.

 

[splintercellsz]

John, seems to me like you have a great collection!

 

[John Galt]

This is probably the rarest hat in my collection of dress & cowboy hats. It is a Churchill (Resistol) Beaver 100 with vicuna fur. There is a thread on this, and so far we've found three, counting this one, which is in a true silver belly shade. More pics there, of this, the others, and the custom cases they came in:

 

[John Galt]

I have a couple more Westerns at the office that I'll post later, including a Stetson Open Road 25 in true silver belly, the South American nutria mentioned above, and a rare black Stetson Open Road (from the 1970's, I believe).

 

[John Galt]

Last one for tonight. I forgot about it because it was on my head ;-). This is an old Stetson Genuine(Ecuadorian) "Panama" in an open road crease. I bought it to reshape as a fedora, but couldn't bring myself to do it. It is a pretty good tight weave, but unfortunately the band bled color onto the straw when I wore it on a hot day. Straw hat cleaner seems promising, but I'll have to remove the band & haven't had time...

 

[John Galt]

John, seems to me like you have a great collection!

Thank you. I thought I should share some of it after largely lurking here. I do try to pick up colorful & unique vintage hats, and am lucky enough to have a small head size, a hat stretcher, and a pretty understanding wife (she knows not to sell my hats at a yard sale when I go).

I actually have many more vintage felt fedoras than western hats, and I will say that I have a pretty broad collection of lightweight dress felts, but there are folks here with much more impressive collections. RLK, Alan, and a few others stand out.

 

[splintercellsz]

Very nice! I do look forward to seeing the rest of your headwear!!

 

[Alive'n'Amplified]

That Churchill 100 is the cat's pajamas!! :thumb:

 

[T Jones]

My deputy and myself are gettin' ready for a zombie fight!!!! I'm wearin' a straw western, my workin' around the yard hat! YEE HAW!!!

 

[TipTop]

Here's my first western, a beat up old Bailey premier 8x I rescued from the side of the road, cleaned up and creased. (The black Dunlap above was 7x, btw).

View attachment 1523

While it may be the camera lens angle, your "motto" about faint hats jumped out at me under that BRIM! Wow, quite substantial; would love to see it on you.

 

[bowlerman]

Brilliant collection of westerns, John Galt! I'd love to see the gambler on your head too. I've always liked that crease, but have felt that it doesn't actually work for me. I seem to gravitate toward Gus and cattleman variations most of the time.

TipTop-- great 8X too!

 

[T Jones]

Bradford Open Road Style

Here's my Bradford Open Road style hat with a Cattleman's crease...I have two Stetson Open Roads and neither of those hats come close to matching my Bradford...it's an awesome hat...

Here I am wearing it...

 

[John Galt]

That Churchill 100 is the cat's pajamas!! :thumb:

Thank you, but I actually prefer Alan & carouselvic's hats, for the reasons posted in the Churchill 100 thread (less lacquer). If you haven't seen them yet, you should. I like my box better though . I can't believe I own this hat. It is presently airing out to remove a strong musty/mildew order.

I'd paste the link, but am a little unclear on how to do that...

John

 

[John Galt]

While it may be the camera lens angle, your "motto" about faint hats jumped out at me under that BRIM! Wow, quite substantial; would love to see it on you.

Thanks. I played with this crease for a long time. I'll think about a self photo, but I generally prefer to retain a bit of anonymity here (although I do not kid myself that a reasonably dedicated researcher could ID me). Some of us in certain professions have so much about us online already, that we must take reasonable measures to protect our privacy and our families.

My motto was stolen from an old 1937 Stetson ad, if I remember correctly, and is a variant of the old saying "faint heart never won fair lady." The madmen who came up with it were brilliant, IMHO.

 

[John Galt]

Nice Bradford, T. Jones. I'll have to look into the company...

 

[John Galt]

Getting out and posting all these hats lead me to brush them all today. It really helped the Churchill beaver/vicuna, in terms of softness and smell. I believe that felt hats should be treated like dogs - walked in the rain and brushed often. It sure makes a difference.