whats everyones opinion on 100%wool fedora's?

[1961MJS]

Hi

Wool hats are a bargain IF you follow the following rules:

1. DON'T GET IT WET. Wool shrinks, a lot, think I bought a wool sweater and washed it in the drier, now it fits Ken (Barbie's boy). Wool hats are especially prone to TAPER when wet. My British bush hat used to meet the pugaree, now they're about a half inch apart.
2. Think of it as an experiment. If you can buy a $40.00 hat like you want to wear then you save up the $200.00 for a bunny fur hat from one of the custom hatters around the lounge. Spending the $40.00 can also save you money, you buy a hat you THINK you like, and you DON'T like it. This is better than buying a $200.00 hat you don't like.

I have my old wool bush hat, which I don't wear anymore. I have an old Civil War Campaign that I don't wear anymore, and I have my Great Uncle's old wool hat that he last wore before 1957 (when he passed away).

Later

 

[DeaconKC]

One other advantage to wool is you can spray them with Scotchguard fabric protector. This really helps if it is a rough use hat.

 

[1961MJS]

One other advantage to wool is you can spray them with Scotchguard fabric protector. This really helps if it is a rough use hat.

Hi

I was hesitant to do that (Scotch-guard) because I thought it might make the hat hard to reshape. Am I right or wrong? My Bush Hat but SOAKED, I was in a down pour for about 20 minutes, but it was 90 degrees so I didn't care.

Personally I don't have a dog in the wool hat fight. I know what I think looks good on me, so I save up for Beaver and bunny furred hats.

Later

 

[randooch]

If your car slips off an icy road and you need some extra traction to get back on your way, wool hats are quite useful, but only if you fill them with gravel and 1/2" roofing nails (which won't puncture your tires, unless, of course, they are overly worn).

Tongue firmly in cheek.

 

[seabass]

Wool Caps are great.
Wool Fedoras Not.

 

[countryclubjoe]

<br>

Hi Folks

The Black homburg Dobbs is wool. The Green Dobbs American is fur felt.
My first Homburg's. Both were $40.00 and I feel both are worth the price. I think they both look fine and the average joe could never tell the difference.
I only wear a homburg occasionally and someday I will purchase a true vintage. For now I am happy with both hats.
Best regards and Happy Holidays.
CCJ

I think I found another use for the black homburg.. I could use it as a weapon. If I hit anyone with that heavy wool hat, they are going down.
best regards
ccj

 

[-30-]

"I think I found another use for the black homburg.. I could use it as a weapon."
QUOTE: countryclubjoe.

So! Who we have here is not really ccj, but a brother/son of Oddjob, the majordomo/body guard/driver of the late Auric Goldfinger!

(I know, Oddjob's hat was a Coke although the homburg will do in a pinch.)


Regards,
-30-

 

[memphislawyer]

Good question, has anyone scotch guarded a wool fedora? Results?

 

[gtdean48]

Good question, has anyone scotch guarded a wool fedora? Results?

Have done it many times to wool crushers used for hiking & camping many years ago (now I just wear Akubras).
It definitely repels rain so it doesn't soak into the wool & cause the damage water does to wool fibers.
Most of the better crushers come treated & need to be refreshed just like other rain gear....

 

[DeaconKC]

Yup, my two work hats are wool and i give 'em the Scotchguard about twice a year. No change in the color and it does help in rotten weather. I have never used it on my felt hats and don't plan on doing so because they are my nice ones, if it's raining, I grab the beaters.

 

[memphislawyer]

Gonna scotchguard tonight. Ribbon too or take it off?

I agree, I wont wear my nice hats in the rain or snow, but will use this black wool one. It is a bit warmer than the fur felt initially but boy, I really can feel the difference when I doff my fedora and the wind rushes across my scalp. I feel about 10 degrees warmer with a hat on. When I wear a hat, many times I can go without a coat, but if I forget the hat, and I forget the coat, whoa nelly

 

[seabass]

Beavers live & work hard in water.

Wool gets stinky when wet.

 

[DeaconKC]

I left the bands on one has a cloth band, the other a leather band and it didn't seem to bother either.

 

[luke]

There is place in this world (besides the landfill) for a wool fedora. Wool fedoras and homburgs and such were made back in the "Golden Era," generally as a sort of low-cost offering that allowed the sellers to have something for just about any budget. I happen to have a vintage wool cowboy hat around here somewhere. It's okay, you know. And it's a survivor.

Hi, just been reading this thread and this caught my attention - just how common were wool fedoras, etc, back in the day? Were they quite frequently worn by those on a lower budget? I look at a lot of photos on the internet from the 30s-50s and to be honest I'm not sure I would be able to tell the difference between a fur felt and a wool felt (tbh they all look like fur to me - maybe they are?).

Thanks.

 

[gtdean48]

Hi, just been reading this thread and this caught my attention - just how common were wool fedoras, etc, back in the day? Were they quite frequently worn by those on a lower budget? I look at a lot of photos on the internet from the 30s-50s and to be honest I'm not sure I would be able to tell the difference between a fur felt and a wool felt (tbh they all look like fur to me - maybe they are?).

Thanks.

Personally, I don't think anybody can tell fur felt from wool looking at period photos of 60 to 80 years ago. I also don't think any wool lids from back then worn regularly would still be around. The answer to your question lies in what collection of NOS hats have been found & how many examples of pristine wool felt hats were identified. I have never seen many posted but have seen numerous nice fur felt models. It only goes to reason that if wool hats were commonly available, they'd be being found as much as pristine fur felt ones are in attics, old store inventory, etc.

 

[mayserwegener]

Personally, I don't think anybody can tell fur felt from wool looking at period photos of 60 to 80 years ago. I also don't think any wool lids from back then worn regularly would still be around. The answer to your question lies in what collection of NOS hats have been found & how many examples of pristine wool felt hats were identified. I have never seen many posted but have seen numerous nice fur felt models. It only goes to reason that if wool hats were commonly available, they'd be being found as much as pristine fur felt ones are in attics, old store inventory, etc.

They were much more common in Europe. I posted a German one back in this thread (see below). It had heavy wear and is still in good condition after ~ 100 years.

 

[memphislawyer]

From a distance, I dont know that you see much difference. However, the tactile sensation is not as great with the wool as it is with my Buckaroo Hatters custom I just got. My wool Bailey Yates fedora in all black is nice for a change of pace and I scotchguarded it for rain (it is litefelt and says water repellant in the top liner) but you have a better appreciation for the aesthetics of the wool. I know it tends to hold onto lint and dog hair a lot more than my rabbit felt ones. I dont know that it wont last a long time and black is a color that I wont wear but in dark winter and probably when I am bumming around, because I am digging my grey dress Stetson and this silverbelly Buckaroo colors that much more.

 

[mayserwegener]

The hat I posted above does not have the feel of a modern wool hat. It's very dense / soft but doesn't have the pliabilty (does not hand crease but is not stiff) of fur felt. I have come across many German and Austrian hat industry articles from the early 1900s discussing the use of wool.

Also as mentioned back in this thread wool Bowlers (Melone) were common in Germany and Austria. I have few examples that are ~ 100 years old and are in good condition (see below). I think the characteristics work better for stiff felt hats but they are major lint collectors.

Great finish (see lint) and weighs only 4 ounces.

 

[tonyb]

Personally, I don't think anybody can tell fur felt from wool looking at period photos of 60 to 80 years ago. I also don't think any wool lids from back then worn regularly would still be around. The answer to your question lies in what collection of NOS hats have been found & how many examples of pristine wool felt hats were identified. I have never seen many posted but have seen numerous nice fur felt models. It only goes to reason that if wool hats were commonly available, they'd be being found as much as pristine fur felt ones are in attics, old store inventory, etc.

^^^^^

That's gotta be right, on all accounts.

Wool felt hats (the new ones, anyway) look good from a few feet away, and in photographs.

I'd wager that we've all seen more vintage magazine and newspaper advertisements for wool felt "dress" hats than the hats themselves. Their rarity in the antique malls and online outlets, and their almost complete absence in those caches of NOS vintage hats, would lead a reasonable person to suppose they weren't particularly common (relatively) even back when hats in general were much more commonly worn.

Vintage wool felt Westerns, on the other hand, turn up every now and then. More of them were made, I suspect. And perhaps more of them just got put away and forgotten, until the attic got cleared out, decades upon decades later. You know, guy gets a cowboy hat from his co-workers or his grown children or whoever, wears it for an hour or two to humor the gift-givers, and then tells the missus he'd sooner wear a tutu in the Fourth of July parade than ever again be seen in public in that hat, but don't throw it out, because if the kids or the guys at the plant of whoever should ask about it, he can honestly say he still has it, and dishonestly say he wears it every now and then.

 

[Fastuni]

My first hat was a wool felt (some Peruvian hat on which I put a grossgrain ribbon)... it was scratchy and rigid like hell. *shudder*

As an everyday "beater" for rain and snow I take the Akubra Fed III (standard quality), which though fur felt is considerably more "rough" than the fur felt vintage Mayser or Borso.

@Mayserwegener

These European black wools you posted are quite nice. Wool certainly works better with Derbies/Bowlers, or any other hat that requires considerable stiffness (i.e. Western hats).

However soft hats made of wool... it's here where the drawbacks of wool vs. fur become apparent, although without a doubt the wool felts back then were a different league than today anyway.