Help! Is this special? Am I missing something? Vintage 1950s Knox Vagabond Brown Fur Felt Fedora Mint

[VintageMommy]

Hello Ladies and Gents.

I know nothing about hats. ZERO. I like to go to estate sales and collect vintage glass and jewelry. I see plenty of old dusty hats and walk right past. When I saw this gem it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was one of the first shoppers in the house and I saw two of these hats resting on boxes. People were coming up behind me and I made a split second decision based on gut feeling. I figured one would make a great early Christmas present for my hubby and I could try to sell the other to pay for the first.

Unfortunately, hubby has a huge head and the hat looked ridiculous on him. Also, on further inspection at home, one hat was excellent, pretty much mint, but the other one was in very poor and worn condition.

I tried listing the good one on eBay but it didn't sell and I thought I listed at a reasonable minimum? But honestly I have no idea. I honestly couldn't find any comps listed or sold. Similar Vagabonds were slightly different in shape, maybe made later? 60s? Other 50s fedoras I saw were all lined and thicker and not Vagabonds. I've done some research and I understand that this is a hat designed for packability and travel, so it may not be worth as much as like a thicker, fancier fedora? Is it even a 50s hat? I know it was purchased in 1963 because of the original receipt ($5.95 at Penney's!) but Google tells me it's a 50s hat based on the paper tag and style.

Even though I have zero knowledge, I do feel like it is something special. I couldn't even explain why. Just the look of it? The shape? Looking for advice. Did I find a treasure? Or is it just nice but something not that special? Should I try eBay again and if so, what is a fair and reasonable min target? I would prefer it go to a true aficionado if it is indeed as special as I think it is. Or can a mod share on Classifieds for me?

Any information, insight, and guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Edit to add: Some comments in another forum suggested that I can have it resized to fit hub's big noggin. I didn't know it was possible to make hats bigger. I don't know how many sizes up would be needed but I feel like that's the wrong move? How can you make a hat bigger without fundamentally changing it? Won't it look totally different? Also hubs thinks its cool but not enough to pay to have it sized up, which I assume may be costly.

 

[jlee562]

I'm not an expert on Knox dating, but the Vagabond was their take on the Stetson Play boy, a lightweight felt. That's why you see the kind of organic, nonchalant crease that's not really possible on modern hats. Certainly an above average find.

Hats can be resized, but this is of an age where I would suggest it would be better to leave it unmodified for someone else to enjoy.

 

[VintageMommy]

I'm not an expert on Knox dating, but the Vagabond was their take on the Stetson Play boy, a lightweight felt. That's why you see the kind of organic, nonchalant crease that's not really possible on modern hats. Certainly an above average find.

Hats can be resized, but this is of an age where I would suggest it would be better to leave it unmodified for someone else to enjoy.

Thanks, Jared! I'm thinking the same. Somehow resizing feels like...sacrilege? Criminal?

 

[jeffgarf]

I could possibly be interested. Can you DM me the details of what you hoped to get for it? Thanks

 

[blewnote]

I also agree that you shouldn't try to resize it. If it's in great condition you should be able to find a buyer for it and use the money to get something that could fit your hubby if you want to get him a hat.

I remember I saved it to my watchlist because it was a nice looking hat, but in a size that is iffy on whether I can fit (I'm between 7 1/8 and 7 1/4) and more than I personally would be willing to spend to find out if it could fit.

But I also think I remember the shipping being something like $75-100 which is just crazy for a hat in a hat box. Apologies if that wasn't your listing, but when I saw it that's one of the things I think I remembered.

 

[VintageMommy]

I also agree that you shouldn't try to resize it. If it's in great condition you should be able to find a buyer for it and use the money to get something that could fit your hubby if you want to get him a hat.

I remember I saved it to my watchlist because it was a nice looking hat, but in a size that is iffy on whether I can fit (I'm between 7 1/8 and 7 1/4) and more than I personally would be willing to spend to find out if it could fit.

But I also think I remember the shipping being something like $75-100 which is just crazy for a hat in a hat box. Apologies if that wasn't your listing, but when I saw it that's one of the things I think I remembered.

Yes I think that was my listing! I don't know why shipping was so high. Ebay automatically calculates it? I think if I relist I will change to a flat rate, or pack first and get the actual measurements. I think the cost is high when the box is bigger regardless of weight? And the hat box is big. How big of a deal is the original box? I think shipping would be a lot cheaper if I just do the hat?

 

[blewnote]

Yes I think that was my listing! I don't know why shipping was so high. Ebay automatically calculates it? I think if I relist I will change to a flat rate, or pack first and get the actual measurements. I think the cost is high when the box is bigger regardless of weight? And the hat box is big. How big of a deal is the original box? I think shipping would be a lot cheaper if I just do the hat?

Yes, don't use eBay's suggested shipping charges based on whatever its stupid AI thinks. In fact, don't trust anything eBay or any AI says to help you list your hat because changes are high it will be wrong. Measure and weigh your package and input those yourself, otherwise your shipping charge will seem astronomical.

As for the box, it really depends on the buyer. I'm willing to pay a little more for shipping and get a box to store a hat in (as long as the box is in good condtion... was rather sad recently when I paid $75 to ship hats in two hat boxes that are just disintegrating and could have spent 1/3 the cost and not wasted my money), but it really shouldn't be that much more.

I have that same box and it's roughly 15x13x7. So you can put it in a 16x14x8 box, guessing weight is 3.5lbs or less (just need a little newspaper to fill out the space around the hat box so it doesn't move around, nothing excessive) and for USPS Ground Advantage or FedEx Ground Economy it's showing me a range of $11ish-$30ish (using eBay's shipping calculator).

If you can't find one of those UPS sells a 16x16x16 box which raises the price to $16-$50 for FedEx Ground Economy. But if you get one of those and cut down the height to 8" you're back to the $11ish to $30-35ish range.

Sometimes I feel like I should offer to charge a consultation fee for sellers because I am sure I see listings languishing that might sell quickly if the shipping charge was reasonable.