Ask a question, get an answer

[Doctor Strange]

Unlike many folks here, after a lifetime of hat wearing I have settled on very few hats. A couple of gray fedoras, and one brown one. A brown herringbone tweed cap, and a black one. One panama hat. A couple of Akubra country hats for hiking and yard work in different seasons. That's it. That selection matches every jacket/etc. I have.

Maybe "well to do" gentlemen had more than that (like a Homburg and top hat, a boater, a variety of subtly colored fedoras), but I suspect most men in the old days got by with just a couple of hats.

Of course, the ability to by a new one anywhere for a couple of dollars then meant that it wasn't something you had to search for, accumulate, and curate carefully like now. Nobody was busy posting selfies back then either!

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Unlike many folks here, after a lifetime of hat wearing I have settled on very few hats. A couple of gray fedoras, and one brown one. A brown herringbone tweed cap, and a black one. One panama hat. A couple of Akubra country hats for hiking and yard work in different seasons. That's it. That selection matches every jacket/etc. I have.

Maybe "well to do" gentlemen had more than that (like a Homburg and top hat, a boater, a variety of subtly colored fedoras), but I suspect most men in the old days got by with just a couple of hats.

Of course, the ability to by a new one anywhere for a couple of dollars then meant that it wasn't something you had to search for, accumulate, and curate carefully like now. Nobody was busy posting selfies back then either!

I think you hit it on the head. I will say, perhaps defensively, that I started posting selfies here because I was getting so much from the photos others were posting I felt compelled to contribute. At least for me, the selfies are not self-aggrandizement; they are sharing.

 

[Frunobulax]

As I shuffled my hat collection and added and removed hats from my rotation I wondered how few hats I could own and still have my bases covered. Then I began to wonder how many hats a prosperous gentleman in the Golden Age would have owned.

For me, without counting caps, I think I could have around a dozen and feel that I had the right hat for most every occasion and most every ensemble.

I've seen historical photos of wealthy men from the 1930s and '40s, and it appears that they had nowhere near as many hats as I do at my lower socioeconomic standing. So my questions are these:

#1: how many hats on average do you think the well-to-do gentleman of say the 1930s owned?

#2: how many hats could you reduce your collection to and still have all your bases covered? For this second questions I don't want to include hats you love and would never part with; only from a sartorial standpoint how many hats would you "need" to have the right hat for the day's activities and the outfits worn.

The average "well-to-do" man would likely only have a couple, including something more formal for weddings, etc. A working stiff likely had one. Or maybe one for every day and one Sunday go-to-meeting hat.

#2. Why would you make me ask myself that question!!?? I NEED THEM ALL.

In fact, I need more.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I didn't mean to suggest they were self-aggrandizing. Just that it's a vastly different world with loads more visual evidence - of style, and everything else - than the old days.

 

[RJR]

The average "well-to-do" man would likely only have a couple, including something more formal for weddings, etc. A working stiff likely had one. Or maybe one for every day and one Sunday go-to-meeting hat.

#2. Why would you make me ask myself that question!!?? I NEED THEM ALL.

In fact, I need more.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Very resourceful. The cost was to sacrifice a felt body, hope that one was defective?

Indeed yes, it was defective, without going too deep on things.

One can always source a beat western body, and do this same thing.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I was looking through the Stetson Fall 2018 catalog http://www.hat-co.com/perch//resources/f18-stetson-city.pdf

I came across the Whippet in Natural that looks nice to my eye. Does anyone have any experience with this hat (I don't know if it is new for 2018)?

I do wish the crown was higher.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[John1988]

Hi I’ve been given a early 19th century hat all I know it’s hand made and it comes in it’s original box I just need more information on it and what type of hat it is thank you.

 

[hatsRme]

Greetings, @John1988 !

You have a very nice Homburg there, my friend. The age might not be quite as old as you were told, as the approximate time of their introduction was the late 19th century. This one doesn't (at first glance) appear to be that old, though. I'm sure (hoping) someone with more specific knowledge will add detail to my guess of the early-to-mid 20th century.

Wear it with pride!! It's a magnificent lid.

 

[Frunobulax]

Hi I’ve been given a early 19th century hat all I know it’s hand made and it comes in it’s original box I just need more information on it and what type of hat it is thank you.


View attachment 102464 View attachment 102465 View attachment 102466 View attachment 102467 View attachment 102468

Fantastic hat, but more like mid-20th century is my guess.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[John1988]

Greetings, @John1988 !

You have a very nice Homburg there, my friend. The age might not be quite as old as you were told, as the approximate time of their introduction was the late 19th century. This one doesn't (at first glance) appear to be that old, though. I'm sure (hoping) someone with more specific knowledge will add detail to my guess of the early-to-mid 20th century.

Wear it with pride!! It's a magnificent lid.

Thank you if I was to sell how much would it be worth ?

 

[John1988]

Fantastic hat, but more like mid-20th century is my guess.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

I just need more information on it sorry

 

[hatsRme]

Whatever you can get, @John1988. What size is it?
In the absence of a makers' tag, measure the opening in inches, (as is, without distorting its shape) front to back, then side to side. Add the numbers, divide by 2, and that's the US size. In pricing vintage hats, size really does matter.

 

[John1988]

Whatever you can get, @John1988. What size is it?
In the absence of a makers' tag, measure the opening in inches, (as is, without distorting its shape) front to back, then side to side. Add the numbers, divide by 2, and that's the US size. In pricing vintage hats, size really does matter.

There’s a couple of pictures there one I thinks the size and the other is the company that made it.

 

[Frunobulax]

I just need more information on it sorry

Didn't mean to come off harsh. @hatsRme is nicer than I am.

There’s a couple of pictures there one I thinks the size and the other is the company that made it.

We really need somebody who knows a bit more about English hats to weigh in. Personally, I'm much better at American brands than European. That tag could be telling us it's a 6 7/8, but it looks unusual to me. Not sure what the other one might mean.

Still, excellent Homburg.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Thank you if I was to sell how much would it be worth ?

I'll also add that it was not made in the 19th century (1800s). I can't see enough, nor do I know enough, to accurately date the hat.

If it's in good shape and in my size (highly unlikely) it would be worth a maximum of $125 to me. This is only what it's worth to me personally, but I do follow the used Homburg market fairly closely. My personal valuation is only as a hat to wear and not as a collector.

If it is in a smaller size it will be worth considerably less.

Please don't hold me to the figures; it's just my estimate as a buyer of vintage Homburgs as everyday hats. I just wanted to provide you an actual number.

 

[belfastboy]

As I shuffled my hat collection and added and removed hats from my rotation I wondered how few hats I could own and still have my bases covered. Then I began to wonder how many hats a prosperous gentleman in the Golden Age would have owned.

For me, without counting caps, I think I could have around a dozen and feel that I had the right hat for most every occasion and most every ensemble.

I've seen historical photos of wealthy men from the 1930s and '40s, and it appears that they had nowhere near as many hats as I do at my lower socioeconomic standing. So my questions are these:

#1: how many hats on average do you think the well-to-do gentleman of say the 1930s owned?

#2: how many hats could you reduce your collection to and still have all your bases covered? For this second questions I don't want to include hats you love and would never part with; only from a sartorial standpoint how many hats would you "need" to have the right hat for the day's activities and the outfits worn.

My father had two, one for good and one for ordinary days. Both in med to dark brown. He wore brown tweeds so the one colour did it all for him.
If a gun were to my head I could get it to 3, one (narrower brim 2 1/4" turned up) for schlepping around each day and then one in brown and one in grey for dressier occasions, both fedoras 2 1/2 to 2 3/4" width on the brim, higher crown. I would not be happy but pressed I could make do with these three.

 

[belfastboy]

As I shuffled my hat collection and added and removed hats from my rotation I wondered how few hats I could own and still have my bases covered. Then I began to wonder how many hats a prosperous gentleman in the Golden Age would have owned.

For me, without counting caps, I think I could have around a dozen and feel that I had the right hat for most every occasion and most every ensemble.

I've seen historical photos of wealthy men from the 1930s and '40s, and it appears that they had nowhere near as many hats as I do at my lower socioeconomic standing. So my questions are these:

#1: how many hats on average do you think the well-to-do gentleman of say the 1930s owned?

#2: how many hats could you reduce your collection to and still have all your bases covered? For this second questions I don't want to include hats you love and would never part with; only from a sartorial standpoint how many hats would you "need" to have the right hat for the day's activities and the outfits worn.

I think one thing it points out is the affluence we enjoy. My father, born poor, worked multiple jobs and dragged his butt up into the middle class, my mother a stay at home.
We were not poor but there was not much in the way of disposable income. And I think having come out of the depression even if the funds were there my parents would have been loathe to spend it....on principle. Debt to my parents was next to sinful and they could not bear the stress of owing anybody anything. One marker of this is we lived in one of the first planned subdivisions ever built in North America, 1949. The marker.....the size of the closets were miniscule, laughable by today's standards. But somehow they held all my parents stuff.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

My father had two, one for good and one for ordinary days. Both in med to dark brown. He wore brown tweeds so the one colour did it all for him.
If a gun were to my head I could get it to 3, one (narrower brim 2 1/4" turned up) for schlepping around each day and then one in brown and one in grey for dressier occasions, both fedoras 2 1/2 to 2 3/4" width on the brim, higher crown. I would not be happy but pressed I could make do with these three.

I like the idea of being ultra frugal and even austere, but I can't find it in me to keep it up. I'm not a fan of consumerism running amok, but I do enjoy some of my excesses. Sounds bad, but there it is.

After your statement of narrowing it down to three hats I'll have to reexamine my minimum of a dozen. To be honest, there is a nagging voice in the back of my mind that I've become too materialistic. I look at stacks of hat boxes etc., and I wonder if I wouldn't be happier with less? Not the place for an existential discussion, but I go from penciling out another custom hat order to wanting to unencumber myself of all this "stuff."

 

[John1988]

Didn't mean to come off harsh. @hatsRme is nicer than I am.



We really need somebody who knows a bit more about English hats to weigh in. Personally, I'm much better at American brands than European. That tag could be telling us it's a 6 7/8, but it looks unusual to me. Not sure what the other one might mean.

Still, excellent Homburg.

Thank you for your help ye think your right we need someone’s knowledge on English hats