" The Great British Hat Makers "

[jeffgarf]

Hilhouse & Co. were widely recognised as a premier London hat and cap makers, producing and branding their own luxury felt, bowler, and silk top hats, featuring custom silk linings stamped with their corporate name. Like many elite heritage hatters of the era, they also functioned as outfitters and retailers, occasionally retailing or co-branding fine headwear sourced from other esteemed makers (such as Lock & Co.) alongside their own manufactured inventory.

Hilhouse were not traditionally milliners: The term, milliner, (in Brit-Speak,) historically referred specifically to designers and makers of women's hats. Hillhouse & Co specialised explicitly as men's hatters rather than milliners, catering to a clientele of gentlemen, nobility, and high-society dressers on London's Bond Street. The widespread post-war abandonment of formal hats for men and women drastically reduced custom.

The firm operated out of Jermyn Street, as well as Bond Street, (incorporating Harman & Son) into the 1950s, but ultimately closed down as the market for bespoke, high-end traditional headwear shrank.

Ahh, I knew we'd have the correct information somewhere. Thank you, sir.

 

[GHT]

Ahh, I knew we'd have the correct information somewhere. Thank you, sir.

You are most welcome. Nowadays, hats, that's bespoke hats, have made a resurgence. Renowned institutions like Lock & Co. Hatters on St. James's Street offer dedicated bespoke and custom tweed options for men's hats, caps and couture pieces, showing that consumers still value tailored fits for their heads just as much as their made to measure suits.

 

[BobHufford]

Lincoln Bennett. Is this from 1936 based on the Royal Warrants (with King George V dying that year and with the Prince of Wales [Edward VIII] one noting a specific 1921-1936 date range)? The plastic liner tip is throwing me. It does have the taped sweatband seam, frayed ribbon ends and proportions that fit the era.

 

[Blare]

Lincoln Bennett. Is this from 1936 based on the Royal Warrants (with King George V dying that year and with the Prince of Wales [Edward VIII] one noting a specific 1921-1936 date range)? The plastic liner tip is throwing me. It does have the taped sweatband seam, frayed ribbon ends and proportions that fit the era.

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Very cool.

 

[BobHufford]

Very cool.

Thanks Joe!

 

[GHT]

Bob, your 1930's Lincoln Bennett can absolutely have a plastic type liner tip and still be one hundred percent authentic.
While we often associate plastics with the post WWII era, early semi-synthetic and synthetic materials like Celluloid and Bakelite were heavily utilised in the 1920's and 1930's. In high end millinery, a clear or semi-opaque "plasticky" shield, often referred to as a liner protector or sweat shield was stitched or glued into the crown's roof, the tip. https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/plastic-in-lining-of-vintage-hats.36136/page-2
The perforated letters "CGC" inside the leather sweatband of your Lincoln Bennett are the perforated monogrammed initials of the hat's original owner, another indicator of authenticity.

Why are they perforated? During the golden age of hat wearing in the early to mid twentieth century, high end hatters and gentlemen's outfitters routinely offered a custom initialisation service. Using a specialised mechanical punch machine, a shop clerk would perforate the buyer's initials directly into the leather sweatband.

Hope that helps, what a gem of a hat you have yourself there.

 

[BobHufford]

Scott & Co. 1930s? (W and not W1 in the address). I can’t see enough to confirm that on the factory sticker.