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

[Joao Encarnado]

More drooling running...

 

[1mach1]

Beautiful Nutria hats, fellas. :thumb:

 

[alanfgag]

A black clear nutria?

I think Joao's original question comes from the marking "clear nutria quality". which might be interpreted with clear being equal to undyed. That is done here at times with the 7X clear beaver quality, even though we have seen the 7X on the lounge in a black variation. Perhaps clear = 100%?... we can only guess.

The pre-war clear nutria quality (the hats I posted are 1920s-1930s, with the one at the top left being circa 1940) clearly came in many colors and many styles. Other than its place in the Stetson price/quality hierarchy, we don't know much for certain about the felt, though it does appear that dye was used to create the diversity of colors.

The Nutria Quality hats for the most part are a lower price offering that existed during the 1950s era of the Stetson 100 and virtually all of the 7X clear beaver quality hats that are auctioned today. I don't believe a Clear Nutria Quality was offered during this same time period.

Which doesn't help to answer much, except that yes, there were black ones and white ones and brown ones.

 

[fedoracentric]

I agree. It seems to me that there is a myth that "clear" being attached to either Beaver or Nutria must mean un-dyed felt. It seems we've seen many examples that dispels this myth.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

It might be that. But after I posted that and you replied, I remembered about a black clear beaver someone posted.

In a research of Timex Computers (do you remember the Timex-Sinclair computer line?), we found some people that worked there and they were able to killed some myths... would be someone who worked on Stetson be able to kill some myths too?

 

[alanfgag]

In a research of Timex Computers (do you remember the Timex-Sinclair computer line?), we found some people that worked there and they were able to killed some myths... would be someone who worked on Stetson be able to kill some myths too?

That might be the golden ticket ... but I would expect that anyone who worked during the era of the clear nutria hats is long gone.

Here are the inside marks that go with the hats posted above:

 

[John Galt]

I agree. It seems to me that there is a myth that "clear" being attached to either Beaver or Nutria must mean un-dyed felt. It seems we've seen many examples that dispels this myth.

There was a very beat up and moth eaten turquoise one on eBay for a while.

 

[fedoracentric]

So, let's think about people's ages for a second, here...

So, Stetson stopped manufacturing in like 1970, right? If they had employees with 20 years experience at the company at that point, that would make those people at least 36-years-old in 1970. Today they would be around 80-years-old. So, if we just ruminate about ages, that would mean that there isn't anyone likely under 75 years of age who used to work for Stetson before they closed down.

Then we have to also realize that all the high quality Stetson stuff sort of was gone from Stetson by 1965. That would add five more years to those ages.

Then we have to imagine who would have been around long enough in 1965 to have seen the high quality Stetson offerings from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

This might find us realizing that anyone left alive to have been around in the days when hats were hats would be over 100-years-old today.

In conclusion, if we wanted to talk to actual employees of Stetson hats when Stetson hats were really Stetson hats... we are at least 40 years too late at starting the project.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Well I don't know. Hate to think that knowledge of a manufacture process "died" without being written or passed to others. Probably company records were dumped and not saved when manufacture stopped. I have "The Winchester Book" (Yes I have read it) and wished something like that would have been made with Stetson hat company. Seems to be impossible then.

 

[hatophile]

John, Hue have some nice ones yourself.

 

[Brad Bowers]

So, let's think about people's ages for a second, here...

So, Stetson stopped manufacturing in like 1970, right? If they had employees with 20 years experience at the company at that point, that would make those people at least 36-years-old in 1970. Today they would be around 80-years-old. So, if we just ruminate about ages, that would mean that there isn't anyone likely under 75 years of age who used to work for Stetson before they closed down.

Then we have to also realize that all the high quality Stetson stuff sort of was gone from Stetson by 1965. That would add five more years to those ages.

Then we have to imagine who would have been around long enough in 1965 to have seen the high quality Stetson offerings from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

This might find us realizing that anyone left alive to have been around in the days when hats were hats would be over 100-years-old today.

In conclusion, if we wanted to talk to actual employees of Stetson hats when Stetson hats were really Stetson hats... we are at least 40 years too late at starting the project.

I've run into this same situation with HCA. I've been contacted by many folks who had family that worked there, but I've talked with only one man that actually worked for HCA near its end.

Brad

 

[fedoracentric]

...but I've talked with only one man that actually worked for HCA near it's end.

Brad

I am afraid that will be the truth of the matter at this late date.

Us folks that were born in the 1950s and 60s have this amusing feeling that it "wasn't that long ago." In fact, and think of this, if you were born in 1960 you are only 30 years off from the 1930s and the height of hat making! 30 years seems like nothing. But we aren't in 1960 any more and in our life span we've seen two whole generations go away. When we were born there were sill lots of folks from the 1890s still alive. These days there aren't even many left from before 1920!

Sadly, we are all looking for info way too late to get any of it from the horse's mouth, if you will.

 

[Mystic]

Sadly, we are all looking for info way too late to get any of it from the horse's mouth, if you will.

Perhaps a Fedora Lounge Seance would help [huh]

 

[fedoracentric]

I am the ghost of fedoras past...... booooooo

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

Well I don't know. Hate to think that knowledge of a manufacture process "died" without being written or passed to others. Probably company records were dumped and not saved when manufacture stopped. I have "The Winchester Book" (Yes I have read it) and wished something like that would have been made with Stetson hat company. Seems to be impossible then.

There's probably a few men in their 90s sitting in nursing homes right now who probably have the knowledge buried deep down in their brains waiting for someone to pick it for information. I heard that in old age short term memory suffers while they can remember events that happened 50 years ago.

 

[alanfgag]

Sadly, we are all looking for info way too late to get any of it from the horse's mouth, if you will.

I wonder if there were oral history projects done in Philadelphia during the 1960s or 1970s that might contain memories of Stetson factory workers. I have a friend I'd like to ask. Looking at the issues of the Hatbox posted by Carouselvic, you can get a sense of the size and compartmentalization of the manufacturing departments at Stetson during the early 20th century. It was a huge manufacturing facility. The early films shot in the Stetson factory are a great glimpse inside. Personal accounts from workers are not likely to provide an explanation of X-es but they would be a fascinating piece of the puzzle.

 

[fedoracentric]

One of the questions I'd be interested in asking those old employees is just when the heck the various stickers and size tags came into use.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

One of the questions I'd be interested in asking those old employees is just when the heck the various stickers and size tags came into use.

Only that? Probably it would have happened like Winchester firearms. New parts introduced and old stock being used until ended.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

outbidded... again
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stetson-Cow...MtNNf9KEKJPK0o5Uqk1Ng%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

[DJH]

I wonder if there were oral history projects done in Philadelphia during the 1960s or 1970s that might contain memories of Stetson factory workers.

This is the closest I could find: http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/ind/ind-hardy-remember-when-stetson-1982.mp3