Dating Vintage Stetsons by Price

[jimmy the lid]

I thought it might be interesting to put together a little data base detailing the price of various models of vintage Stetsons through the years. When a hat shows up with a price tag intact, this may be one way to place it in time, and other attributes of the hat (sweatband, ribbon, dimensions, liner, etc., etc.) can then be given an approximate timeframe, as well. This thread will be a work in progress. I'll kick it off by listing a few that I've identified via Stetson ads...

[This post is a work in progress and has been updated]

Note: Additional info provided below is taken from the ad copy itself...

Note: An asterisk denotes a newspaper ad (versus an official Stetson magazine ad)

Whippet

1937 -- $7.50 ("Air-Light" model w/"new Tailored Edge", "at a new price")
1940 -- $7.50 ("Stetson Introduces the Whippet")
1945 -- $10
1948 -- $10
1949 -- $10
1950 -- $10
1951 -- $10
1952 -- $10
1953 -- $10

Playboy

1937 -- $5* ("Light Weight", "Unlined")
1939 -- $5*
1941 -- $5
1942 -- $6 [Newspaper ad price $5]
1944 -- $10 (Vita-Felt)
1945 -- $10*
1947 -- $10*
1949 -- $10
1950 -- $10*
1952 -- $10
1953 -- $10*
1954 -- $10*

Stratoliner

1940 -- $6*
1942 -- $7.50
1946 -- $7.50*
???? -- $7.50 / Deluxe -- $12.50 [Don't know the year of this ad]
1948 -- $8.50
1950 -- $10*

Open Road

1937 -- $6 ("Air-Light" model)
1950 -- $10* (3X Beaver)
1951 -- $12.50 to $100

Flagship

1948 -- $12.50
1949 -- $12.50
1950 -- $12.50
1951 -- $12.50

Royal Stetson

1942 -- $10 (Vita-Felt)
1948 -- $10*

Royal Stetson Deluxe

1948 -- $12.50*

Stetson Imperial

1948 -- $15*

Ambassador

1951 -- $20

Bantam

1934 -- ???

Casino

1934 -- $10 ("Air-Light", w/Selv-Edge)
1937 -- $10 ("Air-Light", w/Selv-Edge)

Custom V

1953 -- $10

Eagle

1942 -- $7.50 (Vita-Felt)
1943 -- $7.50 (Vita-Felt)

Shore Club

1948 -- $10

Stetsonian

1949 -- $12.50

Vogue

1947 -- $12.50

Weekender

1948 -- $10

Weston

1952 -- $10

A couple of notes. It looks like the Whippet and the Playboy were essentially comparably priced hats. The Stratoliner went for a little less than these two models. Interestingly, it looks like a Royal Deluxe Strat went for $5 more than the regular version -- a pretty substantial upgrade.

This should be interesting -- all contributions welcomed!!!

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[Aldus]

Cheers Jimmy-- Terrific Idea

And as soon as I am permitted to post pictures, I'll post my OR Twenty-Five which came with all tags AND its original box. Of course if anyone snags a hat with its original sales receipt, that too would help to nail dates.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Fedora Forensics

This morning's review of OFAS provides a great example of how pricing can be used as a tool in helping to date vintage Stetsons.

The Case of the Centennial Stratoliner

So, the Seller finds herself with a mint Stratoliner on her hands, and theorizes that the hat dates to the late 40's, possibly the '50's. Happily, the Strat has the price tag intact, and comes with a store receipt. The price of the Strat is $10.

Looking back to the chart I posted earlier, it appears that Stetson prices remained stable from at least 1945 to 1953. The stats on the Whippet and the Playboy certainly bear this out. Thus, it seems reasonable to expect that prices on the Stratoliner followed this trend. Assuming that this is true, the price of a Stratoliner probably remained at $8.50 during this period. This means that a Strat priced at $10 would date from at least 1954 on.

The receipt for the Strat provides more useful evidence. The receipt apparently includes a notation noting the store's centennial: "1854 - 1954." It makes sense that such a notation would be included on the store's receipts during its centennial year -- namely, 1954. This would be completely consistent with the information gathered thus far regarding Stetson prices.

So, the working hypothesis is that a Stratoliner priced at $10 probably dates from 1954 forward. I would hope to be able to find an ad from 1954 that might bear this out.

This information is useful in dating other aspects of the hat, as well. In the case of the Centennial Strat, the Stetson logo on the sweatband is not done in the usual gold imprint, but is instead done in black logotype. So, we can at least say (theoretically) that, in 1954, Stetson was using the black logotype. This means that, even without knowing price, other hats using this logotype might date from the same approximate year. [Caveat: ultimately, this will depend on what we learn about Stetson's use of the black logotype, but it at least starts us down the trail...].

For me, personally, this is interesting, since I recently won a Stetson Playboy with this same black logotype -- price $10. Once again, if I could find an ad from 1954 showing a price increase on the Playboy, this might help to date my own hat, and, depending on the black logotype evidence, provide some other clues that may be useful in our "investigation."

That's it for now. I got some dame sobbing in the waiting room, needing some help with a vintage Whippet...


Cheers,
Jimmy the Lid, Forensic Fedorist
:cheers1:

 

[RBH]

Hope this helps you out Jimmy.

The newspaper ads are from 1940 - 1946 - 1948 and 1950. A couple of the ads I just cut the part that had the Stratoliner in it.

1940

1946

1948

1950

 

[RBH]

1954 Playboy ad

 

[Mr. Rover]

I'm looking at a 1937 "Three Great AIR-LIGHT Stetsons" ad, which has an inset picture of the brand new "Whippet" shown with the "Tailored Edge". And, it comes in a new price $7.50. The other two hats on the page, the Open Road and "Casino" are $10....the Casino feautres a Selv-Edge (aka Cavanagh Edge?)

 

[Stinchcomb]

From the title of this thread.

I feel as though I need to ask Mr. Price how many dates should I go on with a vintage Stetson before we sleep together?

Sorry, I just had to go there.

 

[RBH]

Jimmy The Lid Detective Agency.

Here is some info I gathered on The Stetson Playboy for the Jimmy The Lid Detective Agency.

Thursday, August 13, 1936 Sheboygan, Wisconsin Playboy ad $5

1939 Playboy ad $5


These two ads from 1942 has the price remaining at $5

1943 Stetson Vita-Felt ad - St Joseph Mich. $5

1944 ad has the Playboy at $5

Here was the price change:

1945 Playboy $10

1947 Royal Stetson Playboy ad $10
1950 ad has the Playboy at $10
1953 ad has the Playboy at $10

 

[jimmy the lid]

Now we're talkin'...

RBH (aka Paul Drake), you are awesome!!! I hereby promote you to Chief Operative of the JTL Detective Agency! Seriously -- thanks for the contributions (you, too, Mr. Rover). I will update my first post as info comes in so that there is a work-in-progress on identifying prices.

I have been working with ads that I have downloaded off of OFAS. If anyone else out there has a file of such ads, or if you have collected the real thing, please post the results and I will incorporate them into the "database." To make this easy for folks, there's no need to go to the trouble of posting the actual ads (although that's great!) -- but it would be useful if you note whether or not the source is a newspaper ad or an official Stetson ad (a la Life Magazine, etc.). In addition, it may be that you have been graced with a hat that actually has a price tag and year identified inside the sweat, or perhaps yours came with a receipt that is dated. Any info on any vintage Stetsons welcome.

At first, I thought this thread was going down in flames , but hopefully folks will continue to contribute and it will provide some raw material that may prove to be a useful resource.

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[Snrbfshn]

Some more...

All these came from Stetson magazine ads:
1934 - “Bantam” - couldn't read price
1937 - Air-Light “Open Road” (not the OR you know, looks like a Playboy) $6; Superior Air-Light “Casino” with Selv-Edge $10; Air-Light “Whippet” with “new ‘Tailored Edge’ is an advanced style – at a new price - $7.50”
1942 - Royal Stetson Vita-Felt $10; “Eagle” Vita-Felt $7.50
1943 - “Eagle” Vita-Felt $7.50
1947 - “Vogue” $12.50
1948 - “Week-Ender” $10; “Shore Club” $10
1949 - “Stetsonion” $12.50
1951 - “Open Road” (style you know) $12.50-$100; “Ambassador” $20; “Whippet” $10
1953 - “Custom V” $10

 

[jimmy the lid]

Thanks for pitchin' in, Snrbfshn -- much appreciated.

Cheers,
JTL

 

[mingoslim]

Come on gang . . .

You all are just scratching the surface here . . . There certainly must be more info out there.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Pricing Info has been Updated

This is a "bump" to let people know that the first post in this thread has been updated to reflect the kind contributions of RBH, Mr. Rover and Snrbfshn.

This project continues to be a labor of love, and I hope it can be a resource that may prove helpful over time. I'm renewing my plea for Loungers to provide any additional info they may have. Incidentally, if you just want to PM me copies of ads, I'll do the work from there!

Cheers,
JTL

 

[mingoslim]

A couple of additions, and two questions . . .

In my archives I have an add advertising the Stetsonian from 1949 with the price of $12.50 . . . I also have an ad for this model from as early as 1922, but no price . . .

Now for my questions . . .

First, could we get some descriptions that describe these styles, and how they differentiate from one another?
For example, I always thought that the flagship (which I have never owned) was simply a deluxe Stratoliner . . . am I wrong?

Second . . . could we expand our list to include other major manufacturers and their styles? Such as Knox, Mallory, Champ, etc.?

 

[jimmy the lid]

For example, I always thought that the flagship (which I have never owned) was simply a deluxe Stratoliner . . . am I wrong?

Here's the Stetson Flagship:

Even though both hats shared an airplane designation, you can see the difference between the thin-ribbon Strat and the wide-ribbon Flagship.

Incidentally, this ad also interested me because of the color of the Flagship: "Cadet Blue."


Cheers,
JTL

 

[jimmy the lid]

First, could we get some descriptions that describe these styles, and how they differentiate from one another?...Second . . . could we expand our list to include other major manufacturers and their styles? Such as Knox, Mallory, Champ, etc.?

I think these are great ideas -- it's just a question as to how best to accomplish them.

Like all of us, I imagine, I have spent hours and hours poring over the Lounge archives. There's a ton of information there, but a lot of it is in places you might not expect. One of the recurrent themes involves folks trying to date their lids -- it only makes sense, since this is kind of a concrete connection to the Golden Era. For me, it is like Fedora Archaeology, and I think it is a lot of fun. I thought it might be a real resource to pool together information in threads that could provide a quick guide to different hat characteristics. For example, I thought it might be neat to have threads that focus on particular clues that help to date hats: size tags, logos, liners, sweatbands, colors, etc., etc. The end result would be a kind of Fedora Field Guide that might serve as a tool to give people some ideas as to the approximate age of their hats. And, at the very least, the process itself would be fun and interesting.

As a general matter, I don't know whether other Loungers think this is a good idea or not. In the end, it only works to the extent that people are willing to contribute. Either way, I just thought it was worth giving it a try.

With that as a preface, Mingoslim, I think it certainly does make sense to collect info on a variety of hat brands. In terms of focus and organization, and ease of reference, however, it might make more sense to collect such information according to brand. I'm focused on vintage Stetsons at the moment, so this seemed like a good place to start. But there could be similar threads for Dobbs, Mallory, Borsalino -- you name it. Your other idea is good, too -- for people new to the Lounge, there could be threads that provide a quick catalogue of hat styles for particular brands.

Cheers,
JTL

 

[mingoslim]

I have three "factbooks" going . . .

I currently have three "factbooks" going . . . each of which has a thread out there, but none of which are complete in any sense of the word.

One is a list of info on classic manufacturers . . . one on styles . . . and one is simply a list of Hat Shops and haberdashers . . .

I continue to update my info (I am turning into a bit of an FL geek), and will post them all again in the future . . . you can see how they are progressing, and perhaps they will initiate some new responses.

 

[RBH]

JtL, could not pass this one up:

 

[deanglen]

Sweet advert, RBH!:eusa_clap

dean

 

[jimmy the lid]

Thanks, RBH! I can't make out the date of the ad -- is it 1948?

Also, if you get a chance, do you think you could scope out when the Stetson Playboy changed to a price over $10? I suspect that it is in the 1955-1957 range. (It would also be great to get the same info for the Whippet). The answer to that question may help us to determine by what date Stetson was including a plastic liner in their lids.

Cheers!!!

JtL