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[Atanasov03]

Back bow fedora, probably from around the 60's.

Cury is believed to have been the source for the felt used in the original Herbert Johnson hat used in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Thanks for the help ! It's my first fur felt and i have no intention of coming back to wool (with all due respect)

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi. I am new at Fedora Lounge.
I recently bought a hat on a flea market, and after some research i learned it's an open crown hat. The last owner knows nothing about this hat (except the fact that it belonged to his father). I am from Brazil and we don't have many experienced hat makers around anymore. I don't know if it's an open crown homburg or a fedora. Could you guys help me out here ? I'm pretty sure it's a fur felt hat. It is also too soft for a derby.

It looks to be a very nice open crown fedora ready to take whatever crease/bash to want give it.

There are several members here who own and post Cury fedoras, but @ fabiovenhorst (also from Brazil) is the one that immediately comes to mind. I look forward to seeing how you shape it.


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[deadlyhandsome]

Question: is replacing the leather sweatband work something more....absorbative, easy? I definitely will need to replace the leather with something to soak up the sweat.
I'll also be removing the liner to make the Amish a bit cooler in the summer.
May take a trip up to NYC to see Kevin and get vent holes punched into my hat as well...

Opinions, ideas?

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For me, leather is the way to go. Having a sweat soaked band holding the moisture against my head all day is not comfortable or hygienic. Even on Panama and other “straw” hats leather is cooler wearing and just works better. A handkerchief is useful to periodically wipe the sweatband off when I’m really perspiring, but better than the alternatives. An absorbent sweatband will also allow the moisture and salts to eventually reach the body of the hat and stain it...it can happen with leather too but it’s less likely particularly if your good at wiping away the sweat when your really perspiring. Just my personal preferences.


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[TheOldFashioned]

Hi. I am new at Fedora Lounge.
I recently bought a hat on a flea market, and after some research i learned it's an open crown hat. The last owner knows nothing about this hat (except the fact that it belonged to his father). I am from Brazil and we don't have many experienced hat makers around anymore. I don't know if it's an open crown homburg or a fedora. Could you guys help me out here ? I'm pretty sure it's a fur felt hat. It is also too soft for a derby. The brand of the hat is Cury. And i heard it was pretty famous here in Brazil from the 1920's to 1950's. Although i wasn't able to find anything about it, the name on the sweat band and hat interior may be of the hat store.

First, welcome to TFL! Second, congrats on your purchase and entering the world of (vintage) fur hats! I'm relatively new to this hobby and forum as well, and I can attest that this is a great, supportive, and extremely knowledgeable community. Probably the best advice that was provided to me initially is to read, read, read. There is so much information on here, so browse around at your leisure. It may not always be easily found, but people are quick to lend a helping hand.

While I am not familiar with the maker Cury, as @jlee562 mentioned above I would suspect this is probably from late 50s to mid 60s. The plastic liner tip is one clue to support this. Another is that, while pictures can be deceiving given the camera angle, it appears the brim is on the shorter side. Perhaps 2" (5cm)? A shorter brim trilby, sometimes referred to as "stingy brim," was typical of this timeframe as well.

If the sweatband is pliable you can carefully roll it back and try to find any other identification tags behind the sweatband and/or under the liner. There should be a factory tag which often provides some of the best assistance in helping to date the hat. If the sweatband is dry, however, you should proceed with extreme caution and not at all due to the potential possibility of the leather cracking or popping of stitches.

One final warning, now that you bought your first it's easy to get hooked. I'm sure as you search around you will come across the term The Fedora Lounge Effect. It's happened to me. So one last bit of advice. Hold on and enjoy the ride!

 

[Dm101]

For me, leather is the way to go. Having a sweat soaked band holding the moisture against my head all day is not comfortable or hygienic. Even on Panama and other “straw” hats leather is cooler wearing and just works better. A handkerchief is useful to periodically wipe the sweatband off when I’m really perspiring, but better than the alternatives. An absorbent sweatband will also allow the moisture and salts to eventually reach the body of the hat and stain it...it can happen with leather too but it’s less likely particularly if your good at wiping away the sweat when your really perspiring. Just my personal preferences.


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Thank you. I always carry a handkerchief with me so that method would work for me too. I guess I could always drape the hanky over my totally bald head and then put the hat on if it's particularly humid and hot out as an alternate method.

I wasn't too worried about the hat being stained from my sweat as I plan to wear some serious character into this hat...just like Caleb.

 

[Dm101]

It's not black, it's not dressy, and it's not Amish per se, but SunBody hats offer an economical option for straws. They're super easy to shape and reshape, and provide plenty of shade. You can find a plethora of information in the SunBody Association thread.

Here's one specific hat that may be up your alley:
https://www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/product/56_3/sam-houston.cfm

Thank you for the link, I'll add them to my list of hat sources.
Great pricing too!
Hmmm...not much selection in black.
That's disappointing.
I will send them a contact letter and find out if they can possibly make one of the "Fine Golf Gambler" style hats in black...

 

[Atanasov03]

First, welcome to TFL! Second, congrats on your purchase and entering the world of (vintage) fur hats! I'm relatively new to this hobby and forum as well, and I can attest that this is a great, supportive, and extremely knowledgeable community. Probably the best advice that was provided to me initially is to read, read, read. There is so much information on here, so browse around at your leisure. It may not always be easily found, but people are quick to lend a helping hand.

While I am not familiar with the maker Cury, as @jlee562 mentioned above I would suspect this is probably from late 50s to mid 60s. The plastic liner tip is one clue to support this. Another is that, while pictures can be deceiving given the camera angle, it appears the brim is on the shorter side. Perhaps 2" (5cm)? A shorter brim trilby, sometimes referred to as "stingy brim," was typical of this timeframe as well.

If the sweatband is pliable you can carefully roll it back and try to find any other identification tags behind the sweatband and/or under the liner. There should be a factory tag which often provides some of the best assistance in helping to date the hat. If the sweatband is dry, however, you should proceed with extreme caution and not at all due to the potential possibility of the leather cracking or popping of stitches.

One final warning, now that you bought your first it's easy to get hooked. I'm sure as you search around you will come across the term The Fedora Lounge Effect. It's happened to me. So one last bit of advice. Hold on and enjoy the ride!

Thanks for the warm welcome ! I am pretty sure that i'll become a hat addict soon enough. It is nice to receive so much valuable help !

 

[TheOldFashioned]

Not sure if I should post this here or in the hat storage thread, but after a conversation with the wife yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she's encouraged me to openly store/display my hats. I did some quick measuring and have about a 3' (H) x 6' (W) wall space available in the entryway to utilize. I estimate I should be able to comfortably fit (18) hats, and possibly double that if I use the stack method utilizing foam rings for support between layers. For right now, though, getting to (18) will be a goal in itself.

So first a little background. My collection is rather small, and everything I have I have to wear. None of my pieces are museum quality, so this would be to display and regularly use. I'm not worried about boxes, acidity of cardboard/paper, moths, etc associated with long-term storage. Yes, I am aware of potential dust, but ultimately some tradeoff needs to be made. I'm leaning more towards some form of shelving versus hooks, although if someone could make a case for hooks (vertical storage in general) I'm all ears.

Assuming shelving then, a few questions come to mind. Wire mesh versus board? Prefab fiber board versus solid wood? Pine (and stained) versus cedar? And perhaps most importantly, how about depth? I'm thinking 8" vs. 10" vs 12" nominal, although just eyeballing with a tape measure I believe 12" depth would be too much. I've searched through the above referenced thread and saw all sorts of examples, so maybe this ultimately just boils down to doing whatever the heck I please.

Since the wife is encouraging this I'd like to make this look nice rather than some cobbled hodgepodge that I currently have right now with hats in the closet, on the guest bed, on the chest freezer...pretty much any available flat surface. (Please note, I am not looking down on anyone that stores their hats in this fashion. I get it. ) Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[Dm101]

Just a few ideas from a quick search...

 

[Rmccamey]

Can someone give me a short version of the Charles Knox hat (as opposed to the Knox hat)? Is it collectible at all or is this something of a "store brand" or knockoff?

 

[nvilletele]

Can someone give me a short version of the Charles Knox hat (as opposed to the Knox hat)? Is it collectible at all or is this something of a "store brand" or knockoff?

I have no specific knowledge about this brand, but I did see a Charles Knox hat with a liner saying “Charles Knox Hatter . . . . since 1838.”

Seems like they’ve been around a good long while.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/216495510/vintage-hat-charles-knox-hat?ref=shop_home_active_9

 

[Redfokker]

Just a few ideas from a quick search...

All good ideas. Not sure I'm too keen on a clothespin and felt though. Shelves are an excellent choice, but it is better to have the snap brim drape over the edge to keep it's shape. Or just snap them up.

 

[Redfokker]

Back bow fedora, probably from around the 60's.

Cury is believed to have been the source for the felt used in the original Herbert Johnson hat used in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I agree with the dating, maybe a little earlier though. Most of the back bow hats were popular from about 1955-1959 in the advertisements I've found. It was a resurgence of a much earlier use of this type bow. The style came and went pretty quickly. Makes them easy to date though.

 

[scottyrocks]

For free-hanging shelving, I'd use wood, not wire racks, which could leave impressions in the bottom of the felt of the brim, especially if over time, and more especially if stacked.

For depth, I would measure from the rear of the brim of the widest hat I have, or would likely to have (for me, about 2 1/2") to the front of the opening. That way, when I slide a hat onto the shelf, there is enough room for most of the hat and the front of the brim to hang over the edge - most important if the brim does not snap, as some of mine don't.

I like #2 pine. It's got character and it's cheap. Stain and varnish.

Shelf supports are a matter of taste. I prefer wood over metal.

Each shelf should be wide enough for each support to be anchored into a wall stud, which are typically spaced 16" apart on-center.

 

[Bill Hughes]

Can someone give me a short version of the Charles Knox hat (as opposed to the Knox hat)? Is it collectible at all or is this something of a "store brand" or knockoff?

My understanding is if the liner says "Charles Knox" it's post 1962.

 

[TheOldFashioned]

All good ideas. Not sure I'm too keen on a clothespin and felt though. Shelves are an excellent choice, but it is better to have the snap brim drape over the edge to keep it's shape. Or just snap them up.

For free-hanging shelving, I'd use wood, not wire racks, which could leave impressions in the bottom of the felt of the brim, especially if over time, and more especially if stacked.

For depth, I would measure from the rear of the brim of the widest hat I have, or would likely to have (for me, about 2 1/2") to the front of the opening. That way, when I slide a hat onto the shelf, there is enough room for most of the hat and the front of the brim to hang over the edge - most important if the brim does not snap, as some of mine don't.

I like #2 pine. It's got character and it's cheap. Stain and varnish.

Shelf supports are a matter of taste. I prefer wood over metal.

Each shelf should be wide enough for each support to be anchored into a wall stud, which are typically spaced 16" apart on-center.

Great points, thanks! I had the same reservations regarding wire shelving, especially over time, but saw several examples of what looked to be wire rack units in the storage thread so I wasn't sure. I was leaning towards wood and this helps solidify that choice.

Regarding depth, I'm between hat size 7-1/4 and 7-3/8, so typically the opening is ~8" front to back. I'm not personally into western style hats, so I don't imagine ever owning anything with a brim 3"+, so figure max 11". (If I did it would be the rare exception and would probably warrant separate special storage.) So I'm thinking 10" shelf depth, but I can always "test" it out at the hardware store to see if it would work if I went 8" instead.

As for anchoring to studs, no problems there. I've done enough DIY to know it would be most prudent to do it proper and not just secure to drywall. I have a stud finder, although when I tested it on myself it didn't work. At first I thought that maybe it needed new batteries, but then I quickly realized that I wasn't wearing one of my hats at the time. After putting one on it wouldn't stop beeping.

 

[Dm101]

Lol!!

 

[scottyrocks]

Great points, thanks! I had the same reservations regarding wire shelving, especially over time, but saw several examples of what looked to be wire rack units in the storage thread so I wasn't sure. I was leaning towards wood and this helps solidify that choice.

Of course, my ramblings are my own opinions. There are other valid options, too.

Regarding depth, I'm between hat size 7-1/4 and 7-3/8, so typically the opening is ~8" front to back. I'm not personally into western style hats, so I don't imagine ever owning anything with a brim 3"+, so figure max 11". (If I did it would be the rare exception and would probably warrant separate special storage.) So I'm thinking 10" shelf depth, but I can always "test" it out at the hardware store to see if it would work if I went 8" instead.

A 10" wide piece of pine will be only 9 1/4". That could certainly be enough for a hat with an 8" opening (I am the same size as you - between 7 1/4 and 7 3/8) plus a 2 1/2" brim, but I would probably buy 12" (actually 11 1/4") pine and rip it down to 10 1/2 to 11".

As for anchoring to studs, no problems there. I've done enough DIY to know it would be most prudent to do it proper and not just secure to drywall. I have a stud finder, although when I tested it on myself it didn't work. At first I thought that maybe it needed new batteries, but then I quickly realized that I wasn't wearing one of my hats at the time. After putting one on it wouldn't stop beeping.

Funny stuff! My problem with stud finders is that when I put one in my pocket it never wants to come out.

Seriously, I use magnetic stud finders. No worries about batteries that way.

 

[Frunobulax]

For free-hanging shelving, I'd use wood, not wire racks, which could leave impressions in the bottom of the felt of the brim, especially if over time, and more especially if stacked.

Perhaps @alanfgag could weigh in. I believe he uses wire shelving.

Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Bamaboots]

I believe he uses wire shelving.

I believe he does as well, Jim. I have a free standing wire rack that I use for storage. I hang hats on the outside of it and use the shelving to stack hats as well and have never noticed any wire marks or impressions on mine.