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Canadian Royal Stetson "Open Road"

lbgradwell

Familiar Face
Messages
82
Location
Mount Pearl, NL
In early December, I moved from Milton, Ontario (just outside Toronto) back to Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. My mother is a Newfoundlander and grew up in Mount Pearl from when she was 3 or 4 in about 1937. She lived off the island from 1960 to 1979 when, after my parents divorced, she moved back to her home with my brother & myself. I spent Grades 8-12 and a year at Memorial University before moving back to Montreal to attend McGill University and from there to Toronto (mostly) for work.

I told Mom several years ago that I would move back to Newfoundland when she felt she needed me and I finally got the call last spring. I needed a few months to complete some projects, but finally made the journey about a month ago.


Milton%20to%20Mount%20Pearl.png



For a month or so before departing Milton, I was in contact with a seller on kijiji (like craigslist) located in Brockville, ON trying to convince him to ship me the Stetson "Open Road" he had listed. For whatever reason, he declined.

I had initially planned to fly to Newfoundland, so I put the Open Road out of mind until, at the last minute, I decided to drive back instead. I was happy to find the hat had not sold and since my route would be taking me right through Brockville, I again contacted the seller and we agreed to meet.

The hat was in decent condition with a few marks and the silk liner had been removed, but for $30 I decided it would be mine if only so I could study it! I'm normally closer to a 7-5/8, but the hat fit well enough even though it was sized as a 7-1/2.

About a week ago, I finally had time to look at it and decided I'd like to re-bash it from a fedora to what I thought (perhaps wrongly) the more classic western-flavoured Open Road look. I gave it a good steaming over Mom's kettle and was horrified to see that the sweatband curled badly and shrank! This is not the first time I've done this with similar results, so I guess I'm a slow learner!

I threw the hat aside in disgust for a few days before trying to save the sweatband by applying leather conditioners over the course of several days. It has not been a complete success, but I can at least now wear it again in spite of the damage to the band...


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201b.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201c.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201d.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201e.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201f.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201h.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201i.jpg



Brockville was the location of the Canadian Stetson factory, so there is a decent chance that this hat had spent its entire existence in the town where it was made until I whisked it half a continent away.

Can any of you hazard a guess on the estimated production date based on clues in the features in the photos above. The re-order tag or size tag, perhaps? Was the Open Road produced for a known period in Canada? That kind of thing... ;)
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,789
Location
Central Ohio
In early December, I moved from Milton, Ontario (just outside Toronto) back to Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. My mother is a Newfoundlander and grew up in Mount Pearl from when she was 3 or 4 in about 1937. She lived off the island from 1960 to 1979 when, after my parents divorced, she moved back to her home with my brother & myself. I spent Grades 8-12 and a year at Memorial University before moving back to Montreal to attend McGill University and from there to Toronto (mostly) for work.

I told Mom several years ago that I would move back to Newfoundland when she felt she needed me and I finally got the call last spring. I needed a few months to complete some projects, but finally made the journey about a month ago.


Milton%20to%20Mount%20Pearl.png



For a month or so before departing Milton, I was in contact with a seller on kijiji (like craigslist) located in Brockville, ON trying to convince him to ship me the Stetson "Open Road" he had listed. For whatever reason, he declined.

I had initially planned to fly to Newfoundland, so I put the Open Road out of mind until, at the last minute, I decided to drive back instead. I was happy to find the hat had not sold and since my route would be taking me right through Brockville, I again contacted the seller and we agreed to meet.

The hat was in decent condition with a few marks and the silk liner had been removed, but for $30 I decided it would be mine if only so I could study it! I'm normally closer to a 7-5/8, but the hat fit well enough even though it was sized as a 7-1/2.

About a week ago, I finally had time to look at it and decided I'd like to re-bash it from a fedora to what I thought (perhaps wrongly) the more classic western-flavoured Open Road look. I gave it a good steaming over Mom's kettle and was horrified to see that the sweatband curled badly and shrank! This is not the first time I've done this with similar results, so I guess I'm a slow learner!

I threw the hat aside in disgust for a few days before trying to save the sweatband by applying leather conditioners over the course of several days. It has not been a complete success, but I can at least now wear it again in spite of the damage to the band...


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201b.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201c.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201d.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201e.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201f.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201h.jpg


Stetson%20Open%20Road%201i.jpg



Brockville was the location of the Canadian Stetson factory, so there is a decent chance that this hat had spent its entire existence in the town where it was made until I whisked it half a continent away.

Can any of you hazard a guess on the estimated production date based on clues in the features in the photos above. The re-order tag or size tag, perhaps? Was the Open Road produced for a known period in Canada? That kind of thing... ;)
I'd say very late 1950s - very early 1960s. I have one just like it with the same thinner black sweatband but with the square black and gold size tag.
 

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