At the Dog Track... The Whippets

[RJR]

Introducing you to a new (to my hat rack) vtg. Stetson Whippet. This light gray felt is an excellent example of this iconic 50's hat. The gray felts of the Stetson Whippet were varied shades over the decades. I have not seen a lot of the light gray felt. I am partial to this shade.

While this may not be the top line fedora at the time of retail, it is special when compared to any of todays on the shelf offerings. I always am taken at the ribbon stitches and how they are hidden and well done. The felt is an even thickness, consistent density. Well done. I agree that other hats fro the same time, offer even higher quality, but this hat still stands tall.

All the above is an aside to the iconic styl'n and proportions.

Enjoying a day with the dogs at my house, Eric -[/ QUOTE]
Nice addition to your collection.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Very nice example, Eric. I too am appreciative of the lighter grays. Where did you source this one?

Thanks sir.

I picked up a recent one on Ebay and another at a local auction. I am not sure which is which. Still looking for an elusive bluegrass colored felt (like David's and a couple of others). BTW - The local auction provided me another Playboy.

Eric -

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Thanks RJR.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Shoving photos up everybody's butt everywhere... just bcuz everybody else does...

Recent production factory creased "High Crowned" Whippet in Phantom Grey. A Matt Deckard original design made exclusively for the Japanese market.

 

[KarlCrow]

Shoving photos up everybody's butt everywhere... just bcuz everybody else does...
View attachment 80279 View attachment 80280 View attachment 80281 View attachment 80282
Recent production factory creased "High Crowned" Whippet in Phantom Grey. A Matt Deckard original design made exclusively for the Japanese market.

one of my favorite modern production factory creased felt hats seen on this forum. Seeing it again and again hasn't served to bore me of it.

 

[Bob Roberts]

one of my favorite modern production factory creased felt hats seen on this forum. Seeing it again and again hasn't served to bore me of it.

Glad you Njoy seeing it Karl. I don't mind showing it off either!

 

[belfastboy]

Thanks sir.

I picked up a recent one on Ebay and another at a local auction. I am not sure which is which. Still looking for an elusive bluegrass colored felt (like David's and a couple of others). BTW - The local auction provided me another Playboy.

Eric -

Eric: What size are you? I have a bluegrass Borsa that I don't wear often in a 7 3/8.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Yeh, sure. Why not...? More pictures...

Recent production Royal Deluxe quality "Whippet" in Sage.

 

[RomanImperator]

Arrived today, dry bash and not original box:

5 1/4" open crown and 2 3/8" brim. I would estimate this hat to be around mid 1950s. It has the leaf in the crest instead of stars, among other clues...

Now for the kicker

Possible date from the original store that sold it? If so it would be Nov 9th, 1949.

Hard to imagine an old date winding up on a new hat. Much easier for me to imagine the reverse taking place. If that is the date, it just threw a curve ball into everything we thought we knew. Thoughts?

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[RomanImperator]

mid to late 50s hat

and a beautiful one

Curious as to what you make of the tag on the inside.

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[moontheloon]

Arrived today, dry bash and not original box:

5 1/4" open crown and 2 3/8" brim. I would estimate this hat to be around mid 1950s. It has the leaf in the crest instead of stars, among other clues...

Now for the kicker

Possible date from the original store that sold it? If so it would be Nov 9th, 1949.

Hard to imagine an old date winding up on a new hat. Much easier for me to imagine the reverse taking place. If that is the date, it just threw a curve ball into everything we thought we knew. Thoughts?

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mid to late 50s hat

and a beautiful one at that

 

[moontheloon]

Curious as to what you make of the tag on the inside.

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honestly no idea ... but I doubt it is the date it was tagged

but who knows really ... I doubt it though

 

[Will70]

Canadian Vintage Stetson Whippet

Well I purchased my first hat 2 weeks ago and it was a wool felt pork pie. I started reading about hats on this site and I became aware that fur felt and vintage are generally better quality hats. I saw a hat on an online buy and sell site. It was an hour and a half drive away but I decided to drive there. It seems that I take a 7 3/8 size and this one was listed as 7 1/2.

I arrived there a few mins ago and didn't even try it on before purchase. I just tried it on now for these pics.

It turns out to have a box it was sold in in the early 1950s. It is a biltmore Canada box but inside the box is a grey Stetson Whippet I believe.

Now my big question is how to clean it.

Here is an interesting article on the Canadian Stetson Connection and how Stetsons were made in Canada in the 1950s

http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/?p=11018

Canadian Fashion Connection – Stetson
Posted on 2016-07-14 by Jonathan

eb356b79fdd59c9ca9afcba64a3b9d46As an integral element of the lone cowboy – the Stetson hat is a symbol of America – but a large part of its history played out in Canada.

In 1902 the Union Hat Works of St. John’s, Quebec agreed to relocate their factory to Brockville, Ontario in a deal that exchanged a free parcel of land and ten tax-free years for a fully equipped factory that guaranteed to employ 100 local workers for four years.

il_fullxfull.834192018_3krnThe Union Hat Works operated until 1913 when it was purchased by the Wolthausen Hat Corporation of South Norwalk, Connecticut. The J.B. Stetson Company acquired a controlling interest in the Wolthausen Hat Corp. in 1930 and took over the Brockville factory in 1935 so they could avoid high Canadian tariffs by manufacturing their hats for the Canadian market in Canada. It was the first time Stetson had opened an operation outside of the U.S., but plants in Mexico and Australia soon followed.
Stetson also made women's hats, starting in 1932

Stetson also made women’s hats, starting in 1932

The Brockville Stetson plant made a variety of hats, particularly fine dress hats under their Sovereign and Royal Stetson lines, as well as youthfully-styled hats for their Playboy line. Stetson also produced all the hats for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Brockville plant.

Between 1955 and 1970, the men’s hat business shrunk by 50% and Stetson closed their Brockville plant on May 21st, 1970. The plant president at the time, Alex Higginson, explained “It is no mystery why we are closing the plant, just take a walk down the street and you’ll see the answer- most people just aren’t wearing hats any more”. Although production in Canada ceased, Stetson retained a Canadian office until 1985.
About Jonathan
Jonathan Walford is a fashion historian and co-founder of the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ontario. The FHM maintains a collection of nearly 12,000 artifacts dating from the mid 17th century to the present. Jonathan has authored various books and museum catalogues, including The Seductive Shoe, Shoes A-Z, Forties Fashion, 1950s American Fashion, and Sixties Fashion

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[Redfokker]

Canadian Vintage Stetson Whippet

Well I purchased my first hat 2 weeks ago and it was a wool felt pork pie. I started reading about hats on this site and I became aware that fur felt and vintage are generally better quality hats. I saw a hat on an online buy and sell site. It was an hour and a half drive away but I decided to drive there. It seems that I take a 7 3/8 size and this one was listed as 7 1/2.

I arrived there a few mins ago and didn't even try it on before purchase. I just tried it on now for these pics.

It turns out to have a box it was sold in in the early 1950s. It is a biltmore Canada box but inside the box is a grey Stetson Whippet I believe.

Now my big question is how to clean it.

Here is an interesting article on the Canadian Stetson Connection and how Stetsons were made in Canada in the 1950s

http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/?p=11018

Canadian Fashion Connection – Stetson
Posted on 2016-07-14 by Jonathan

eb356b79fdd59c9ca9afcba64a3b9d46As an integral element of the lone cowboy – the Stetson hat is a symbol of America – but a large part of its history played out in Canada.

In 1902 the Union Hat Works of St. John’s, Quebec agreed to relocate their factory to Brockville, Ontario in a deal that exchanged a free parcel of land and ten tax-free years for a fully equipped factory that guaranteed to employ 100 local workers for four years.

il_fullxfull.834192018_3krnThe Union Hat Works operated until 1913 when it was purchased by the Wolthausen Hat Corporation of South Norwalk, Connecticut. The J.B. Stetson Company acquired a controlling interest in the Wolthausen Hat Corp. in 1930 and took over the Brockville factory in 1935 so they could avoid high Canadian tariffs by manufacturing their hats for the Canadian market in Canada. It was the first time Stetson had opened an operation outside of the U.S., but plants in Mexico and Australia soon followed.
Stetson also made women's hats, starting in 1932

Stetson also made women’s hats, starting in 1932

The Brockville Stetson plant made a variety of hats, particularly fine dress hats under their Sovereign and Royal Stetson lines, as well as youthfully-styled hats for their Playboy line. Stetson also produced all the hats for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Brockville plant.

Between 1955 and 1970, the men’s hat business shrunk by 50% and Stetson closed their Brockville plant on May 21st, 1970. The plant president at the time, Alex Higginson, explained “It is no mystery why we are closing the plant, just take a walk down the street and you’ll see the answer- most people just aren’t wearing hats any more”. Although production in Canada ceased, Stetson retained a Canadian office until 1985.
About Jonathan
Jonathan Walford is a fashion historian and co-founder of the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, Ontario. The FHM maintains a collection of nearly 12,000 artifacts dating from the mid 17th century to the present. Jonathan has authored various books and museum catalogues, including The Seductive Shoe, Shoes A-Z, Forties Fashion, 1950s American Fashion, and Sixties Fashion

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Wow! Very impressive.

 

[Will70]

Any idea how to clean the ribbon edge around the brim?

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[Short Balding Guy]

Any idea how to clean the ribbon edge around the brim?

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Ribbon edge cleaning; Good question. Without knowing the substance that stained the brim ribbon I would have to suggest the standard cleaning of (1) white gas (2) woolite or gentle soap of choice. The white gas dunk has been documented on it's own thread here on the forum. I have found that many stains of "inky or oils" and dark particles come out with this method. Hat cleaning is much like Dry Cleaning and the Dry Cleaning fluid used has a lot to do with how it cleans and what it cleans. It is called Dry cleaning since Water (wet cleaning) is not used. Naptha and similar fluids are SOLVENTS. They will dissolve grease and oil and will often but not always remove the dirt that is with the grease and oils. As a chemical solvent they won't dissolve things that will dissolve in Water. So some things like salt, sugar and carbohydrates are not affected much by the Naptha. Sweat does have several components and body grease and oils are part of it, but there are chemical compounds in sweat that are carried by the water portion and need to be cleaned with some sort of water based fluid. Some people have had good luck by using a damp sponge on the water base stains.

The non-polar white gas cleaning usually means limited blocking or steaming is needed. The white gas volitizes quickly so that after 12-14 minutes of soaking in white gas the cleaner item can be hung in a well vented area and it is odor free within an hour. The lack of water use makes the felt not change shape like as if you used water. The Woolite (or spotting solvents) remove other stains (proteins/carbs/sugars and etc).

Eric -

 

[Redfokker]

Ribbon edge cleaning; Good question. Without knowing the substance that stained the brim ribbon I would have to suggest the standard cleaning of (1) white gas (2) woolite or gentle soap of choice. The white gas dunk has been documented on it's own thread here on the forum. I have found that many stains of "inky or oils" and dark particles come out with this method. Hat cleaning is much like Dry Cleaning and the Dry Cleaning fluid used has a lot to do with how it cleans and what it cleans. It is called Dry cleaning since Water (wet cleaning) is not used. Naptha and similar fluids are SOLVENTS. They will dissolve grease and oil and will often but not always remove the dirt that is with the grease and oils. As a chemical solvent they won't dissolve things that will dissolve in Water. So some things like salt, sugar and carbohydrates are not affected much by the Naptha. Sweat does have several components and body grease and oils are part of it, but there are chemical compounds in sweat that are carried by the water portion and need to be cleaned with some sort of water based fluid. Some people have had good luck by using a damp sponge on the water base stains.

The non-polar white gas cleaning usually means limited blocking or steaming is needed. The white gas volitizes quickly so that after 12-14 minutes of soaking in white gas the cleaner item can be hung in a well vented area and it is odor free within an hour. The lack of water use makes the felt not change shape like as if you used water. The Woolite (or spotting solvents) remove other stains (proteins/carbs/sugars and etc).

Eric -

+1 wisdom.

 

[Will70]

Ribbon edge cleaning; Good question. Without knowing the substance that stained the brim ribbon I would have to suggest the standard cleaning of (1) white gas (2) woolite or gentle soap of choice. The white gas dunk has been documented on it's own thread here on the forum. I have found that many stains of "inky or oils" and dark particles come out with this method. Hat cleaning is much like Dry Cleaning and the Dry Cleaning fluid used has a lot to do with how it cleans and what it cleans. It is called Dry cleaning since Water (wet cleaning) is not used. Naptha and similar fluids are SOLVENTS. They will dissolve grease and oil and will often but not always remove the dirt that is with the grease and oils. As a chemical solvent they won't dissolve things that will dissolve in Water. So some things like salt, sugar and carbohydrates are not affected much by the Naptha. Sweat does have several components and body grease and oils are part of it, but there are chemical compounds in sweat that are carried by the water portion and need to be cleaned with some sort of water based fluid. Some people have had good luck by using a damp sponge on the water base stains.

The non-polar white gas cleaning usually means limited blocking or steaming is needed. The white gas volitizes quickly so that after 12-14 minutes of soaking in white gas the cleaner item can be hung in a well vented area and it is odor free within an hour. The lack of water use makes the felt not change shape like as if you used water. The Woolite (or spotting solvents) remove other stains (proteins/carbs/sugars and etc).

Eric -

Eric, thank you for such a detailed explanation. I learned a lot from this post. Wow!

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[Frunobulax]

Eric, thank you for such a detailed explanation. I learned a lot from this post. Wow!

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There are sources out there that give guidance on how to remover certain stains (try Tide's site, for one). If you assume it's from handling, so human oils (and maybe BBQ sauce, LOL) may be the target you're after.

 

[Will70]

Worked on the brim edge a little more with vinegar and dish soap. Got a lot of the stains out of the edge. Probably could work on it a little more.

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