A Guide to Vintage Men's Fedoras

HatsEnough

HatsEnough

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Hello, ladies.

I don't know if any of you are interested in men's haberdashery, but I've created some web pages to help you date and identify vintage fedoras.

Please feel free to view them:

Observations on Fedora Sweatbands and Fedora Dating Tips

http://www.publiusforum.com/2011/01/02/observations-on-fedora-sweatbands-and-fedora-dating-tips/

Dating Stetson Hats By Inventory Tag

http://www.publiusforum.com/2012/01/01/dating-hats-by-inventory-tag/

So… What’s the Deal With Those Hats? A tour of my collection

http://www.publiusforum.com/2011/01/01/so-whats-the-deal-with-those-hats-huston/

A Tour of My Collection of Antique Stetson Western Hats

http://www.publiusforum.com/2012/01/01/my-collection-of-antique-stetson-western-hats/

Thanks, and enjoy the pages.
 
Hi Warner,
I occasionally post men's hats, and have sold a few too. For some reason I find I'm more attracted to men's than women's hats. Partly due to the labels inside them I think, and the possibilities for research. They can still be worn more frequently with modern dress than women's, and of course some women like to wear a fedora too nowadays :)

As it happens I saw a Stetson for sale in a local charity shop for the first time last week. I passed on it as it was small and appeared to have moth damage to the top of the crown which I didn't think was repairable or unnoticeable enough. I may go back for photos though, just to see what I can find out with your wonderful link! I was surprised by how tall the crown was. It seems to be a foreign trait, I can't think of any British hats with that style of crown. I think it was made on licence in Britain. It was a nice cream colour and quite a thick wool or felt.
 
Thanks, everyone. I have been collecting men's hats for quite some time. The hard thing about hats is that there is no one place to go to learn about them. Of course, that is because there were thousands of companies stretched out from the 1700s all the way to the 1960s, so it is a huge swath of time to learn about. The hey day was from 1890 to 1960, of course. Early hats are far and few between and the various companies went out of business a lot between 1940 and 1960 as hats started to be worn less and less as time went on.

Many say that President John Kennedy "killed hats" but the truth is he wore them almost as much as any other man of his day (he was the last president to wear a top hat at official functions, by the way) and hats were dying out before he ever stepped into the White House.

Anyway, more is known about Stetsons than any hat and Stetsons are my big interest--as you can see by my webpages.

So, thanks for the welcome and I hope that my pages help you folks out when you are looking for a few tips on dating a hat.

Thanks
 
Warner,

Welcome! Thank you for sharing, you are so generous for posting this hard to find information for us all. We do have some male members, and many women who collect or enjoy learning about men's hats.

I have to say that I learned a lot from you already, you really get into the details. I have been collecting and researching hats for about 35 years, mostly woman's but I do have a small collection of man's hats and antique and vintage hat boxes also, from 1870 to 1950s. I often wear a man's hat if the occasion presents itself. My early 1950's stratoliner fits me to a T and I love it. I have a 1910-1920 large Western with a Cody, Wyoming stamp inside that I want to show you and get some more information on. We should talk!

While I have not done a huge amount of research on the male side of hat making, I can see you certainly have. Wow. I appreciated seeing some hats in person in your photos, hats I have only previously seen in ads or drawings, or not seen at all.

I agree with you about the stingy brims and trilbys, I adore a REAL fedora!

I hope you come around the VFG Forums often, with more hat news and photos.:USETHUMBUP:
 
Yes, I do know who Jack White is and know he's a big "hat guy." Never thought about sending my pages to him. Maybe I'll look up his facebook page.

As to wearing them, I wear a fedora every day. I don't wear the antique Stetson cowboy hats as some are delicate and all are too rare to play with much, but the fedoras I wear daily.

Since we are at a time when fashion is nearly "do what you want" I find a fedora goes with any type of clothing now.

I love the darn things (as you can guess) and those that know me personally are always looking for "the hat."
 
Fantastic Warner, thank you so much for sharing this info with us! Will definitely come in handy.
 
anothertimevintageapparel said:
I have a 3 way Stetson hat box and I still have not put it up for sale after 20 years.
It is just too special.
Click to expand...

Oohh, a Three Way hat box is somewhat rare. I have one now and sold one not long ago, but I've only seen maybe a dozen in all the years I've been buying hats. If it has the insides it's even better. (Mine does).

Also a Stetson Stratoliner hat box is not that easy to find in good shape. But the most rare Stratoliner item of all is the little slip of paper that explained to customers why the Strat box was so narrow (you can see the paper on my site). That piece of paper is extreeeeemly rare. I've seen two of them in all these years.
 
Warner,

OK, now THAT is interesting! Just by an odd coincidence, I am sitting here with my silver oval Stetson Stratoliner box right in front of me, sitting next to my computer. I have a circa 1953 Stratoliner and I never put it in the box because the box is too narrow and the hat touches the sides. The box and hat came to me years apart and I am not sure if they are the same date (I suspect the box is late 40s). So, why was the box so narrow and should I be storing my Stratoliner in there? Was it something about keeping the brim curled? Very interesting about the piece of paper.

I am so glad you are here!
 
Fabulous. My grandfathers hat was a huge part of my grandfather to me. Know several men hat wearers and will pass this on. Thank you.
 
Rue_de_la_Paix said:
So, why was the box so narrow and should I be storing my Stratoliner in there? Was it something about keeping the brim curled? Very interesting about the piece of paper.
Click to expand...

Yep. If you look on my site and read the info sheet, it explains that the brim was to be curled when in the box (the crown was stored in a downward position) and, yes, the brim will be snug up against the sides of the box. Stetson claimed that it helped "keep the curl of the brim" to remain "more permanent."

The only thing is, the oval box was gone by the time of the 50s and the 50s Strats had a bit heavier felt to them. Still, I have several Strats (5 of them, actually) that range in age from 1930s up to the 50s and I store most of them in oval Strat boxes and it does not damage them at all. I also have a silver Strat box that is round like a normal hat box, but has the silver paper covering and the airplane on it just like the oval boxes. It's the only one I've ever seen, so I am guessing it is pretty rare. I had one hat collector speculate that it came with a woman's Stratoliner, but he was just guessing. (Yes, Stetson did sell a women's version of the Stratoliner for a while in the early 40s)
 
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