Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[Mr.Astor]

Josh I am sure you have some felt left over from old brims. Practice on them until you feel comfortable,nice find.

 

[Joshbru3]

I also have some scrap hat bodies that will make perfect practice

 

[alanfgag]

Try some different backing materials too. Wood works well for a spinning drill bit, but for a punch, soft brass might make for a cleaner exit. There is also the composite material that is sold for cutting with X-acto blades. A good opportunity to plan a visit to that great hobby store on Davis St. in Evanston. Can't remember its name - the block before Benison's.

 

[John Galt]

Early unreeded Strat at a great BIN price. I love sellers who don't do their homework!

Marked size 7, but we'll see if it fits my tweener 7 1/8. If not, maybe one of you gents will benefit...

 

[Landman]

Josh,

Great find on the ventilator! Below is a link to some poly cutting boards. These work great for leather punches. They are firm enough to make a clean cut but not firm enough to damage the punch. Maybe you could use a small piece of this or something similar to place inside the hat. You can also find poly cutting boards like this for kitchen use. I just posted the link so you could see one.

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/department/tools/cutting-punching-pads/3464-152.aspx

 

[splintercellsz]

John, great find!!!!

 

[alanfgag]

Early unreeded Strat at a great BIN price. I love sellers who don't do their homework!

Hard to say... of those I've owned, one was more, three were less. I hope it cleans up well for you. I would have bought it for the tip sticker if it wasn't so dirty.

 

[randooch]

I also have some scrap hat bodies that will make perfect practice

Wow, Josh! Such a cool score!

I always thought a nautilus pattern would be groovy.

Alan, a Native American style thunderbird pattern would go well with some of your jewelry.

 

[John Galt]

Hard to say... of those I've owned, one was more, three were less. I hope it cleans up well for you. I would have bought it for the tip sticker if it wasn't so dirty.

I have picked a couple up here and there at reasonable prices too, but that seems much rarer than it used to be.

 

[alanfgag]

Alan, a Native American style thunderbird pattern would go well with some of your jewelry.

Thanks Randall - good thought and much better than the whirling logs motif, I think.

 

[alanfgag]

I have picked a couple up here and there at reasonable prices too, but that seems much rarer than it used to be.

Hat inflation seems to come and go - probably fueled by newbie buyers who have not had time to do their homework. The early war-era Stratoliners are wonderful hats. I have seen a number of them show up donated to our local theater community costume shops. My sense is they were very popular and not exceedingly rare in the vintage market today. Look forward to seeing pictures of yours in the Vintage Stratoliner thread when it arrives.

 

[John Galt]

Hat inflation seems to come and go - probably fueled by newbie buyers who have not had time to do their homework. The early war-era Stratoliners are wonderful hats. I have seen a number of them show up donated to our local theater community costume shops. My sense is they were very popular and not exceedingly rare in the vintage market today. Look forward to seeing pictures of yours in the Vintage Stratoliner thread when it arrives.

Location could be an issue too. Here in sunny California, I rarely find decent vintage felt hats at shops, and when I do they are usually overpriced. Most of my collection comes from eBay. Some times I wish I lived in Danbury or Chicago. MiamiBruno also seems to be well-placed for finding great old hats.

 

[fedoracentric]

That was a pretty fair price for such an old strat. It needs some TLC, though. It is pretty dirty. I almost bought it myself but decided not to pull the trigger.

 

[randooch]

Thanks Randall - good thought and much better than the whirling logs motif, I think.

Whirling logs? As below?
The hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus nautilus carries a plasmid, pTN1, which encodes a rolling-circle (RC) replication initiator protein of 74 kDa (Rep74) and an orphan protein of 24 kDa (p24). The Rep74 protein is homologous to the Rep75 protein encoded by the RC plasmid pGT5 from Pyrococcus abyssi. Comparative analysis of Rep74 and Rep75 sequences shows that these proteins correspond to a new family of RC initiators formed by the fusion of a Rep domain with an N-terminal domain of unknown function. Surprisingly, the Rep domain of Rep74/75 is more closely related to transposases encoded by IS elements than to Rep proteins of other RC plasmids. The p24 protein contains a hydrophobic segment, a highly charged region and a zinc finger motif. A recombinant p24 protein lacking the hydrophobic segment binds and condenses both single- and double-stranded DNA, and forms DNA aggregates with extreme compaction at high protein to DNA ratio. In addition to encoding proteins of significant interest, pTN1 is remarkable by being the only characterized plasmid isolated from a Thermococcus strain, thus being useful to develop genetic tools in Thermococcus kodakaraensis for which gene disruption methods became recently available.

 

[alanfgag]

more like this:

what is that?

 

[Garrett]

The original peace symbol......before a young, excitable Austro-Hungarian art enthusiast made it into something much worse.

 

[Miamibruno]

Location could be an issue too. Here in sunny California, I rarely find decent vintage felt hats at shops, and when I do they are usually overpriced. MiamiBruno also seems to be well-placed for finding great old hats.

I am? I shouldn't complain. I run across some great old hats here in Massachusetts. I need to drive around Connecticut and see if I can't run into some more. BTW I grew up in SoCal. Right about now I'm dying for a walk on a warm beach and El Tarasco's super burrito. Ah, the memories.

 

[John Galt]

I am? I shouldn't complain. I run across some great old hats here in Massachusetts. I need to drive around Connecticut and see if I can't run into some more. BTW I grew up in SoCal. Right about now I'm dying for a walk on a warm beach and El Tarasco's super burrito. Ah, the memories.

I assumed you were in FLA ;-)

 

[Miamibruno]

That would be my second choice. South Beach, Osteria del Teatro for dinner; that cool smoothie place on Espanola Way for a cooler at noon.

 

[viclip]

more like this:

what is that?

Based on my experience as a collector/restorer of vintage fountain pens, I'd guess that the item of concern is an armband produced by native Americans. They used the swastika as a peace symbol. The Parker Pen Co. issued what has become a collector's item back in the 1910s, referred to as the "Swastika Pen", depicting the symbol. A matching "Aztec Pen" was also produced. The founder of the company - George S. Parker - during one of his numerous trips, had become interested in various native cultures & determined to depict same in his products. At the relevant time, the demented Little Corporal was just another Viennese starving artist & had to wait another 4 years for World War I to break out ~ & the rest is history as they say.