The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[jeffgarf]

Cocisan on the paper label is a mystery identifier — I haven’t been able to find a conclusive definition.

It appears on @steur 's list of model names.

 

[Pellie]

Here is the second — this one from Ferruccio Bruno.

Felt color is Pomice (light gray/brown) with a Nero (black) ribbon. The hat weighs 82 g, brim is 6 cm, and open crown is 13.5 cm.

Cocisan on the paper label is a mystery identifier — I haven’t been able to find a conclusive definition. I’m hoping an expert here can provide more information.

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Nice finds!

 

[Pellie]

Borsalino 'quàlita speciale' sold by Sools. Dated 31 december 1976. Can't read what is printed on the under side of the label. I like the color combination of this one.

 

[dapperdude]

Having recently joined, and having discovered the Borsalino brotherhood . I bought a bundle not long ago and added this hat last minute on top. Poor photos,.no internal pictures. No size. But the others were good and I took a small gamble. I noticed the stitching and wanted a foldable anyway. I was very pleasantly surprised when this turned up..

A 1982( i think) foldable in Gris Chiaris. Not sure on model? Qualita extra extra superiore. Punti 6. Sold out of Melegari Milan. It's incredibly light. Lighter than my pocketweight Christys which was made by Akubra in late 40s. . I will weigh it later on. I'm very pleased with this one and wonder if it is worthy of the Brotherhood? Most of my hats are English and Austrian, so this is a lovely addition.

Cheers.
Ian

 

[jeffgarf]

Having recently joined, and having discovered the Borsalino brotherhood . I bought a bundle not long ago and added this hat last minute on top. Poor photos,.no internal pictures. No size. But the others were good and I took a small gamble. I noticed the stitching and wanted a foldable anyway. I was very pleasantly surprised when this turned up..

A 1982( i think) foldable in Gris Chiaris. Not sure on model? Qualita extra extra superiore. Punti 6. Sold out of Melegari Milan. It's incredibly light. Lighter than my pocketweight Christys which was made by Akubra in late 40s. . I will weigh it later on. I'm very pleased with this one and wonder if it is worthy of the Brotherhood? Most of my hats are English and Austrian, so this is a lovely addition.

Cheers.
Ian

I believe you are correct on the year.

 

[steur]

Here is the second — this one from Ferruccio Bruno.

Felt color is Pomice (light gray/brown) with a Nero (black) ribbon. The hat weighs 82 g, brim is 6 cm, and open crown is 13.5 cm.

Cocisan on the paper label is a mystery identifier — I haven’t been able to find a conclusive definition. I’m hoping an expert here can provide more information.

View attachment 818562 View attachment 818563 View attachment 818564

Two exceptional beauties you've found yourself there, Bill. Looking at their liners they could have been coffin box hats.

 

[steur]

Having recently joined, and having discovered the Borsalino brotherhood . I bought a bundle not long ago and added this hat last minute on top. Poor photos,.no internal pictures. No size. But the others were good and I took a small gamble. I noticed the stitching and wanted a foldable anyway. I was very pleasantly surprised when this turned up..

A 1982( i think) foldable in Gris Chiaris. Not sure on model? Qualita extra extra superiore. Punti 6. Sold out of Melegari Milan. It's incredibly light. Lighter than my pocketweight Christys which was made by Akubra in late 40s. . I will weigh it later on. I'm very pleased with this one and wonder if it is worthy of the Brotherhood? Most of my hats are English and Austrian, so this is a lovely addition.

Cheers.
Ian

Welcome to the brotherhood. Always nice to see a colour we haven't seen before. There has been a gris chiaro, but not a gris chiaris yet. Cool find.

 

[wsmontana]

Two exceptional beauties you've found yourself there, Bill. Looking at their liners they could have been coffin box hats.

Thank you Stephan! The felt on both of these is amazing and is dry-shapable. Fun to experiment with different creases.

This crease i affectionately call the @steur:

and this crease I affectionately call the @TimmyV :

 

[EL-Jimenez74]

Great looking hat, and I love how pliable the felt is. Also nice job with the different creases!!

 

[dapperdude]

Hello all,

Massive thanks to the amount of work put into this section by everyone, Especially Steurs amazing spreadsheet.. I have had this hat for a little while, and every time i wear it it makes me smile.
The label is very faded unfortunately, and until I found the information here , I had almost given up on finding out more about it.
It's a Marque Grande Luxe Borsalino, retailed by Peter Brothers in Fort worth Texas. Crown is 150mm, front and back brim 65 mm. Sides 60 mm
I have spent a bit of time comparing models and colours to information kindly provided here, and would love any and all insight on whether im on the right track? The label is very faded, but is it a "GORASTI" in MUFLOS 2 colour? It's size 60, though is more like 59, which i understand is not unusual for Borsalinos..Would i be right thinking this is mid 50s to 60s?

I trip up on the many finishes and different names, but its a Melusine in Soleil finish correct?? It is hand shapeable. It was the first pinch crease hat I had seen , and I'm still amazed every time.

I have had this one for a little while, and don't bring it out often, but when I do it blows me away every time. This ignited my curiosity and passion for the amazing variety of colours and finishes on these amazing hats.
Thsnks once again for all of your hard work and generosity in sharing your knowledge.
Thanks all
Ian

 

[dapperdude]

Just thought id throw some weights up. The Gris Chiaris i posted is incredibly light. I put it on a kitchen scale first at 63 grams. I got the jeweller's scale out and it went 61.88. Im amazed they made a foldable hat so light. Especially at 59 cm.

The Marque Grand Luxe is 126 g . I'm not sure if it 60 or size 6?? Feels about 59.


Cheers Lads

Ian

 

[steur]

Hello all,

Massive thanks to the amount of work put into this section by everyone, Especially Steurs amazing spreadsheet.. I have had this hat for a little while, and every time i wear it it makes me smile.
The label is very faded unfortunately, and until I found the information here , I had almost given up on finding out more about it.
It's a Marque Grande Luxe Borsalino, retailed by Peter Brothers in Fort worth Texas. Crown is 150mm, front and back brim 65 mm. Sides 60 mm
I have spent a bit of time comparing models and colours to information kindly provided here, and would love any and all insight on whether im on the right track? The label is very faded, but is it a "GORASTI" in MUFLOS 2 colour? It's size 60, though is more like 59, which i understand is not unusual for Borsalinos..Would i be right thinking this is mid 50s to 60s?

I trip up on the many finishes and different names, but its a Melusine in Soleil finish correct?? It is hand shapeable. It was the first pinch crease hat I had seen , and I'm still amazed every time.

I have had this one for a little while, and don't bring it out often, but when I do it blows me away every time. This ignited my curiosity and passion for the amazing variety of colours and finishes on these amazing hats.
Thsnks once again for all of your hard work and generosity in sharing your knowledge.
Thanks all
Ian
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Very nice hat. These MGL hats have great felt. I think the colour is Muflone (mouflon, a wild mountain sheep). The model is indeed Gorasti and the time period 1954-1960. Nice find.

 

[dapperdude]

Thanks mate without your work I never wouldve been able to decipher it. I've had a look at a bit more today and I'm fascinated by the further information.
With hindsight, The Peter Brothers link actually made it harder to ID. I figured it for a late 50s. I spent some time cross referencing your list going mad.
It really is amazing the different variety of finishes that have been lost to the ages.


Thanks so much mate.

Ian

.

 

[BobHufford]

The Peter Brothers link actually made it harder to ID with hi I figured it for a late 50s.

Peters Brothers can make Borsalinos confusing.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...pecial-shady-pines.102435/page-6#post-3045729

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...pecial-shady-pines.102435/page-5#post-3012372

 

[dapperdude]

Thanks for that Bob.

The Peter Bros connection is so interesting. I wonder how many hats of this quality were set on fire? The business links between these makers or felt suppliers is like a spider Web. Thanks for the links. Really interesting reading . When I first saw this hat I knew it was special, but I found it difficult to join the dots without matching the model and colour.
In my humble and limited experience, i have found the earlier English stuff is really messy too, especially post ww2, and the family connections to Austrian or German masters. Everyone seemed to know and work with everyone. I enjoy this side of the hats almost as much as wearing them.

Thanks again for the links Fascinating stuff

Ian

 

[moontheloon]

Peters Brothers can make Borsalinos confusing.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...pecial-shady-pines.102435/page-6#post-3045729

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...pecial-shady-pines.102435/page-5#post-3012372

So confusing.
I'm in the midst of studying the Amon Carter Shady Oak hats for a video I'll be making in the coming weeks and in the book Amon Carter - The Texan who played cowboy for America the author mentions how the first hats that Amon would give away were large ten gallon style cowboy hats made by Borsalino and that he got hats from Borsalino until Mussolini attacked Ethiopia ... which was in 1935.
Within that Borsalino relationship Peters Bros was involved somehow but I cannot figure out what role they played.

After cutting ties with Borsalino Amon moved to Stetson to produce his Shady Pine hats... which I assume was the mid 1930s since that is when he cut ties with Borsalino.

The Peters Bros Borsalino connection is super confusing.
I have attempted to contact Peters Bros but getting someone on the phone there is like trying to get a person on the phone at the IRS.

 

[dapperdude]

So confusing.
I'm in the midst of studying the Amon Carter Shady Oak hats for a video I'll be making in the coming weeks and in the book Amon Carter - The Texan who played cowboy for America the author mentions how the first hats that Amon would give away were large ten gallon style cowboy hats made by Borsalino and that he got hats from Borsalino until Mussolini attacked Ethiopia ... which was in 1935.
Within that Borsalino relationship Peters Bros was involved somehow but I cannot figure out what role they played.

After cutting ties with Borsalino Amon moved to Stetson to produce his Shady Pine hats... which I assume was the mid 1930s since that is when he cut ties with Borsalino.

The Peters Bros Borsalino connection is super confusing.
I have attempted to contact Peters Bros but getting someone on the phone there is like trying to get a person on the phone at the IRS.

I found a lot of similar information when I originally had a look.

That sounds like a very interesting video. And Amon sounds like a very interesting guy. I'll have to try and find thst book.
Im amazed how connected the hat makers seemed to be . Not just to politicians, but internationally. White label stuff sold through multiple vendors. Fur felt sourced from obscure (at least to me) sources and going to makers in direct competition and vastly different regions.
I went down a rabbit hole chasing Fisher/Fischer history for a while and it was very confusing. Ww 2, name changes, mass migration, nationalised factories, white label or contract manufacturing. Everyone seems to be connected somehow back then

The hats I mentioned being burned was in relation to something i read about Amon setting a bunch of Borsalinos on fire when Italy entered the war from.memory? Thats good to know about Ethiopia. And the timeline makes a lot more sense.

At that at the time I think he was the largest individual hat buyer in the world. And that he swapped Shady Oak hats with his guests and had accumulated an amazing and huge collection of hats owned by his powerful and famous guests.
Truly interesting story and period. Without being able to cross-reference the faded tag with the spreadsheet here, I think it would just been an amazing hat that I couldn't find any information on.

Thanks for the info.
Would love to see your video when it comes out.

Ian