Big Melon Blowout, Part 2

[feltfan]

Hello Hat Fans,

Here's round two of the big melon blowout. Let's start
with the fine print again:

Most of the hats I am selling are 7 3/8 to 7 1/2, some larger,
some smaller. If they fit me, I'm selling them because they are
not my style. Hopefully they're your style and you'll love them.
These are top brand hats and I want to sell them at good prices.
If I wanted top dollar, I'd do the eBay shuffle. I'd rather they
got good homes with Lounge members.

I will do my best to post good pictures (I am not much of
a photographer) and answer questions. The colors on some
of these pictures did not come out great. I'll do my best to
explain. Please send questions
to my Yahoo account: kasa katz AT yahoo .com
(remove spaces and replace "AT" with the symbol). Please do
not post my email address.

I will not handle returns except in extreme circumstances.
I really hate my post office. Also because my post office is
so lame, I will only ship once every week or two, depending on
how many hats have sold.

I will post three hats a week, unless that starts to seem too slow.
The first three are chosen randomly, based on the order in which
I photographed the hats. I may have "theme weeks" ahead.

Now on with the hats:
==================================================

Once again in random order, we start with a brown 1950s or early 1960s
Royal Stetson. It is a 7 5/8 Long Oval, 2 1/4" brim.
This hat is in near new condition EXCEPT that it has a lot of
moth damage. Not, however, so much that it is unwearable. I'd like
it to have a good home. There is a lot of information on this site about
dealing with moth damage. The damage is, except for the edge damage,
treatable, I believe. I have done my best to represent the damage.
Note that some of these pictures show a center dent and others show
a diamond. I did those by hand. The felt is a touch stiff, but with steam
you could have fun with this hat.

If you look carefully at the edge of the brim and the ding
in front near the ribbon, you'll see some damage.

Sorry, this one is blurry.

Moth damage:

Note how it's a bit rough near the sweat? More mothing.

I tried hard to photograph this rim chip (as we say about 78s):

Back/top of crown:

This hat continued in the next post, due to limits on the number
of images allowed per post.

 

[feltfan]

Big Melon Blowout, Part 2, post number two

Royal Stetson 7 5/8 Long Oval, from the last post, concluded:

Note the stitched brim.

That's a lot of pictures. Should give you a much better idea than
I got from the $%@%# ebay seller who passed it off on me as like new.
BTW, if you're wondering about size, it's a real 5/8 LO- too big for
my head!

Is $30 fair? Frankly, much less than that and it's not worth my while
to send it out. $15 shipping, continental US.

======================================

Next here's a stingy Cavanagh. The Family's Fashion indeed.
This one reminds me of one DblCoronaMS picked up recently:

It's in very good condition. It is gray and raw edged.
7 3/8, stretch to 7 1/2 or 7 1/2 LO. 1 7/8" brim.

Front of the hat, no flash:

Front, with flash:

Back:

Bow, frayed in the Cavanagh style:

Is $50 plus $15 shipping fair for this?

===============================

Two more hats NOW LISTED BELOW. Both are 50s-60s Caxton fedoras, both
are 7 3/8 LO hats that I stretched to about 7 1/2-7 1/2 LO. I love these
hats and they are rare as hen's teeth, but they are the wrong style for me.

 

[skyvue]

I'd like the Stetson, please.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Feltfan -- I love the look of that Stetson. Would you mind providing the width of the ribbon on that one?

Thanks,
JtL

 

[feltfan]

I'd like the Stetson, please.

I have sent you a PM.

I encourage anyone interested in the hats I am
selling to read the "fine print" at the top of the
thread carefully. Note that there is an email
address in there that is a faster way to get in
touch than posting.

Thank you.

 

[feltfan]

Feltfan -- I love the look of that Stetson. Would you mind providing the width of the ribbon on that one?

Thanks,
JtL

Good eye. It's an unusual width. Around 3/4", but
my best measurement is 13/16ths.

I have to say that this measurement is a good excuse
to reflect on photographing and measuring vintage hats.
Honestly, I have to give up on measuring crowns. I just
don't get it. And crown measurements, unless they are
extreme, don't necessarily give an idea of what the hat
looks like. It is in the subtle nature of hats that ribbon
width, taper, block, and ratio of brim to crown have more
to do with how big a crown appears than the simple height
measurement.

As for photographing, a flash can reflect on good felt in
such a way that certain contours are dramatized or
emphasized and do not appear as they do in natural light.
For this reason, along with the ever-frustrating problem of
representing color, I have tried to take pictures with and
without flash.

I have photographed a lot of hats for this site, including these
hats I am selling here. I have read with interest the useful
posts people have made about photographing hats. I cannot
say I am good at it.

 

[feltfan]

Blowout Part 2, Post Two! Caxtons!

Hello Again,

Here are the Caxton hats. These are 50s or 60s hats.
Often I find that 50s and 60s hats use materials inferior
to those used in the Golden Era. The technique used to
make hats of the 50s and 60s tends to be subpar, too,
in my opinion.

Although they certainly have style and design of their
period, the materials and technique on these hats is
top quality, in my opinion. The felt is thin and dense,
with satisfying color. But most of all, I call your attention
to the brim binding.

If they had the dimensions of the 20s, 30s, or 40s,
you would not be seeing these for sale. As it is,
at least to me, these are an example of best-of-breed.
If you like the styles of the 50s and 60s and feel you
look better in those less flamboyant dimensions, have
a look at these photos.

I believe both of these hats started out as 7 3/8 Long Oval.
I have stretched them to fit my 7 1/2 LO head. They are
a touch tight so I think they'd work for 7 1/2 heads, too.

Gray Caxton Ten, Ribbon 1 3/4", brim a hair under 2 3/8".
Brim size edited because a sharp eyed Lounger actually
noticed that the brims on these hats are a touch larger than 2 1/4". Amazing.

Cushionaire sweatband. Note the slight water stain on the
brim binding. I imagine it would come off, but never tried.
Note that you can see the stitching on the brim binding under
the brim.

Purchased in Battle Creek, Michigan. Note the sweat barrier
between the sweatband and felt. Nice quality hat.

Note the contour of the brim binding. Rounded. Note that you can't
see stitching for this side of the binding, but you can see a decorative
line of stitching that is the stitching from the other side.

Brim binding bottom.

Brim binding top.

Second Caxton and pricing in the next post.

 

[feltfan]

Blowout Part 2, Post Three. Caxton Number Two!

Caxton All-American in reddish brown. As you might have guessed,
these hats were owned by the same person. This hat appears to
be Caxton's answer to the Stratoliner. Ribbon 1/2", brim a hair over 2 3/8".
Brim width edited because a sharp eyed Lounger noticed from the
pix that the brims are wider than 2 1/4". Amazing.

With flash:

No flash and consequently blurry:

Note that the brim binding is similar to the other Caxton in execution,
but narrower. It's pretty fine:

The Long Oval tag fell out, but I stuck it back in. The business card is
that of the original owner. If that's creepy, I can take it out.

For Men Who Care:

When these hats first arrived, they smelled a bit of hair product and cigarettes.
But that was a few years ago. I didn't clean them (except to brush and apply
Lexol to the sweatbands), but I aired them extensively. Seem fine now.

I am offering these hats at $65 each, $15 shipping. However, I think these hats
should stay together. So I am offering the pair at $120 and, of course,
combined shipping. I will wait two days for interest in the pair before selling
them separately starting the evening of Tuesday, the 25th. Inquiries regarding
individual Caxton hats will be ignored until then...

 

[feltfan]

One more! Deep blue Knox stingy

Just to keep things going, here's yet another hat.
This is a very stingy Knox. Top quality in a 60s style.
It is marked 7 1/2, but fits my 7 1/2 long oval head
perfectly. I just can't pull off a hat with a brim this
stingy.

I am unable to photograph the color of this hat.
It is an extremely satisfying deep, dark royal blue or navy.
The brim is 1 3/4" and unbound ("raw") with two lines of
decorative stitching. It has a soft, velvet-y "suede" finish
on top quality thin, light, soft felt.

Here's an attempt at the color:

Just doesn't capture it!

This gives you a better idea of the range.

Note the white piping, crisp logo, and like-new sweatband.

It arrived unpinched. This photo uses flash- the actual
color is closest to the darkest parts of the flash shadows.

You can dent it if you want to:

Or you can leave it undented:

Bow, felt, and stitching closeup:

Like new as far as I can see.
This hat can be yours for $40 plus $15 shipping.

 

[feltfan]

Stetson 7 5/8 LO SOLD

Hi All,

Apologies, but the system won't let me edit
my first couple of posts here for some reason.
The brown Stetson 7 5/8 LO with moth bites
is SOLD.

Have faith- there are more big hats coming.
Meanwhile, have another look at what's up now.
They are nice hats.

 

[feltfan]

Caxton All-American is SOLD

Hi All,

The Caxton All-American in brown is sold.

The gray Caxton Ten is still available, as is
the Knox and the Cavanagh.

Prices too high? Make me a reasonable offer.