Beaver Brand Hat

[crazylegsmurphy]

Hey

A friend of mine just aquired a Beaver Brand Hat in a Bowler style. The sweat has the name Brynie Utz? 310 Union Seattle.

Anyone know of these hats? Any info you have would be great.

 

[Prairie Shade]

Bryne Utz - Seattle

Strange, I posted a note couple of days ago about the same Hattery. Are you familiar with this store? I have several Stetson Fedoras that had been destined to this same place!! (Dark and Stormy night post).

 

[jamespowers]

Beaver brand is still in existence so it is possible that the hat could have been made recently or within the last 20 years or so. Beaver Brands is affiliated with the old Langendorf hat company but I am not sure of their current ownership structure. I do know that the Langendorfs no longer own it. It was sold by the family quite a while ago if I remember correctly.
Have any pictures of the hat handy? That could tell us a lot.

Regards to all,

J

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

here is a pic for yas.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Not much information here, but you can contact them:

http://www.beaverbrandhats.com/index.html


I like their hats. For a modern, mass-produced hat, they're not bad.

Brad

 

[jamespowers]

Hmmm... Looks more like a homburg than a bowler to me. There is also quite a bit of taper to the crown. If I were to guess it is more than likely made in the last fifteen years of so. I wouldn't say it was vintage but it is a hat that you can use and it should last quite a while.
My advice is to take it to a good hatter and have it cleaned and reblocked. It will look much better and sharper after that. Then he could really look dapper.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Marcarn]

I can't say much about the hat, but I have been to Byrnie Utz hat shop in Seattle (probably 10 years ago). I bought a Borsalino "Alessandria" fedora, and a pork pie made by Fléchet; their prices seemed reasonable at the time. I'm going to visit the Utilikilts store in Seattle in the very near future, and will probably stop by Byrnie Utz while I'm there.

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

Well you guys'll probably snap, but appartently this hat is almost a full size too small. That, and he hates the bowler shape....

So, the hat stretcher is in, the edge is gone, and I am trying to get that hat to be taller and a different bash.

We'll see how it works...this is my first attempt, so I'll probably royally mess it up!

 

[jamespowers]

No you won't. You have plenty of good advice here. Just go slow and everything should be fine. One size is easy. The brim is a little tougher but you can flatten it out if you need to. The bash is probably the easiest thing you can fix yourself with a little steam and patience.

Regards to all,

J

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

It's working so far. I basically wetted the entire hat, and I pulled it over a head shape I had from my make-up FX days. I put in the hat stretcher, and I pinned the brim flat on a big slab of cardboard.

We'll see how it works. I had to also take off the ribbon to allow it to stretch without breaking the ribbon...but that should be pretty easy to put back on.

 

[jamespowers]

Sounds like you are well on your way. Don't stretch it too much now. One size should not ruin the ribbon.
Wetting or steaming the felt should do the trick for what you want. I usually mist the outside of the hat with a spray bottle and pay particular attention to the area around the ribbon. That is the area you want to stretch most. You can preserve the crown height and brim width with a little handling---as you have probably found out by now.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Hoss]

Beaver Brands - Standard quality Old langdenburg out fit

Brynie Utz - Local and popular hat seller in Washington state.
If you ever fly or drive near there you will hear about it. Ads pasted everywhere.

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

So here is the result of my reblocking. It's really hard to get a hat without taper without a proper block! I think it looked ok, all things considering, any thoughts?

 

[Forrestal]

Lagendorf Hat Company used to have their office in downtown Washington, Missouri. It looks like they have moved to New Haven. I live about 45 or 50 minutes from there, and occasionally have business out that way. Next time I will check out their store and report back.
Regards,
Forrestal