1959 Fedora Styles

[Brando11]

One just like this-

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[earl]

I'm going to make some general assumptions here, because I was born in 1958, so I have seen some family photos from that time frame. By the late 1950's, men's hats were starting to get smaller brimmed, as opposed to the late 40's early 50's. Businessmen of middle age were probably wearing a Stetson Whippet style hat, with about 2 1/4-2 1/2 in brim. Now, younger folks by that time were generally hatless, unless you include hipsters or beatniks who probably wore stingy brims or berets. I think even flashier dressers of that time were most likely unhatted. I believe the movie LA Confidential and the other one about the "Hat Squad" (can't remember the name right now, it's an age thing) would give some examples of common clothing of the late 50's.

I was curious about a Lee fedora I'd bought from Goodwill decades ago which had a brim close to 3 inches. So is it likely to have been made in the 40's-early 50's? thanks, Earl

 

[hatophile]

Generally speaking, the 30's had taller crowns and medium brims, 2 1/4- 2 1/2, maybe smaller. By the 40's, crowns stayed relatively tall, and brims widened, up to 2 3/4, maybe 3. In the Zoot suit hats, brims were huge. By early to mid 50's, brims began to get smaller again. Your hat is likely early to mid 40's.

 

[earl]

Generally speaking, the 30's had taller crowns and medium brims, 2 1/4- 2 1/2, maybe smaller. By the 40's, crowns stayed relatively tall, and brims widened, up to 2 3/4, maybe 3. In the Zoot suit hats, brims were huge. By early to mid 50's, brims began to get smaller again. Your hat is likely early to mid 40's.

Thanks much. It's crown is 4 inches. Am new to the subject of fedoras and have learned alot here including that my preference in them is such that, should I ever buy another, it would have to be of the wider brim sort along the lines of that 1 and a crown of similar height to that old one I own as I don't care for the narrower ones, nor taller crowns. It's currently the only fedora I own but I love fedoras and this was and still is in excellent shape. Earl

 

[jimmy the lid]

Generally speaking, the 30's had taller crowns and medium brims, 2 1/4- 2 1/2, maybe smaller. By the 40's, crowns stayed relatively tall, and brims widened, up to 2 3/4, maybe 3. In the Zoot suit hats, brims were huge. By early to mid 50's, brims began to get smaller again. Your hat is likely early to mid 40's.

Whoa! Hold the fort!

Without more information, it is absolutely impossible to date Earl's Lee lid simply from the fact that it has a brim that is "close to" three inches. The fact that it is close to a three-inch brim could put it in the 40's or the 50's, or, who knows?

There seems to be a trend around here lately to categorize brim widths, crown characteristics, etc. by decade -- a methodology that leads to gross generalizations that are frequently inaccurate for purposes of dating lids. While it may be accurate to note a particular trend style-wise that may have occurred during the course of a particular decade, it doesn't mean that it is safe to apply that trend to the dating of any individual lid. And, that's because, despite trends, all kinds of styles were generally available over time that didn't follow any particular rules as to brim widths, crown heights, etc. Spend an evening watching movies on the hat channel (TCM), and you'll be amazed at the variety of styles that existed at any one time.

hatophile -- not pickin' on you, my friend. It's something I've been meaning to say for a while, and this seemed like a good time.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[hatophile]

True, JtL, that's why I wanted to qualify with the "generally speaking", just because that did seem to be the trend from the 40's to the 50's. The other thing I thought about was the fact that the OR type hats tended to keep wider brims through the decades, while the dressier ones got smaller brims. (No offense taken, Jimmy, a lot of you guys have much wider experience with this than I.)

Sorry if I mislead you, Earl. You could post some pics, that may be helpful in dating your hat
more accurately.