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

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
View attachment 302643 A very special eBay victory.
Snagged this mid 30s black Dobbs Homburg called the, “Pilgrim”.
Link below:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254809885383

Seller said it was a 40s/50s model, but I knew better. He also implied that the leather sweatband was loose in spots. Also wrong. It was completely unattached. If you look closely at the somewhat disguised photos you can see that it was detached.
Fine with me. That’s why I got her so cheap! $50 for a 30s Dobbs in perfect mint condition—except for the loose sweatband? Yes, please!
I wet and reblocked the crown to a size bigger, then hand stitched the completely supple 2 1/16” sweat back in.
Finally, a reedless sweatband that I could sew on that hadn’t suffered from dry rot!
Made it much easier, but what didn’t make it easier was the amount of sew holes that very early sweatbands had. One every 32nd inch!! Had to dye some yellow thread to a brown/orange color so it would blend in correctly with the color of the leather.
Sewing in this sweat is the hardest thing thing I’ve ever done on a hat. Anyone who’s ever tried this knows what I’m talking about. I had to sew directly to the felt. Some reedless sweats are hand sewn to pre-sewn machine stitching around the perimeter of the crown opening, as this one was, but that stitching had completely rotted.
Whew! Glad it’s over and now I can enjoy the 2nd mid 30s hat I’ve ever owned. View attachment 302638
View attachment 302644 View attachment 302639 View attachment 302640 View attachment 302642 View attachment 302641 As you can see in this pic the basting stitches in the top side of the ribbon are still intact.
Dang, Randall! Congratulations!
 

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
View attachment 302643 A very special eBay victory.
Snagged this mid 30s black Dobbs Homburg called the, “Pilgrim”.
Link below:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254809885383

Seller said it was a 40s/50s model, but I knew better. He also implied that the leather sweatband was loose in spots. Also wrong. It was completely unattached. If you look closely at the somewhat disguised photos you can see that it was detached.
Fine with me. That’s why I got her so cheap! $50 for a 30s Dobbs in perfect mint condition—except for the loose sweatband? Yes, please!
I wet and reblocked the crown to a size bigger, then hand stitched the completely supple 2 1/16” sweat back in.
Finally, a reedless sweatband that I could sew on that hadn’t suffered from dry rot!
Made it much easier, but what didn’t make it easier was the amount of sew holes that very early sweatbands had. One every 32nd inch!! Had to dye some yellow thread to a brown/orange color so it would blend in correctly with the color of the leather.
Sewing in this sweat is the hardest thing thing I’ve ever done on a hat. Anyone who’s ever tried this knows what I’m talking about. I had to sew directly to the felt. Some reedless sweats are hand sewn to pre-sewn machine stitching around the perimeter of the crown opening, as this one was, but that stitching had completely rotted.
Whew! Glad it’s over and now I can enjoy the 2nd mid 30s hat I’ve ever owned. View attachment 302638
View attachment 302644 View attachment 302639 View attachment 302640 View attachment 302642 View attachment 302641 As you can see in this pic the basting stitches in the top side of the ribbon are still intact.
Randall? If you reblocked it to one size bigger, why didn't you have to add a strip of leather to the sweatband to make ends meet?
 

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
Borsalino Qualitá Superlativa. My friend Neal Blangiardo says it is probably Austrian.
Notice the almost undetectable joint of the leather in the last picture. Amazing! Really Qualitá Superlativa.
Screenshot_20210204-215727_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215653_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215639_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215625_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215610_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215558_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215542_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215529_eBay.jpg
Screenshot_20210204-215506_eBay.jpg
 

Daniele Tanto

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,231
Location
Verona - Italia
My friend Neal Blangiardo says it is probably Austrian.
The history of Venezia is another, very different. It was a duchy from the seventh century AD to 1297 and ever since, it was a republic until 1797. It was given to Austria from 1814 to 1866, then it became Italy. The Second World War changed the eastern borders for Italy, in favor of the nascent Yugoslavia.
The Borsalino is a hat from the fifties, Tyrolean style ;)
 

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
The history of Venezia is another, very different. It was a duchy from the seventh century AD to 1297 and ever since, it was a republic until 1797. It was given to Austria from 1814 to 1866, then it became Italy. The Second World War changed the eastern borders for Italy, in favor of the nascent Yugoslavia.
The Borsalino is a hat from the fifties, Tyrolean style ;)
Thank you, Daniele
 
Messages
18,410
Location
Nederland
Borsalino Qualitá Superlativa. My friend Neal Blangiardo says it is probably Austrian.
Notice the almost undetectable joint of the leather in the last picture. Amazing! Really Qualitá Superlativa. View attachment 307395 View attachment 307396 View attachment 307397 View attachment 307398 View attachment 307399 View attachment 307400 View attachment 307401 View attachment 307402 View attachment 307403
Good to see it found a home, Max. I think the felt is going to be wonderful. The designation "superlativa" wasn't used much on the older hats.
 

Just Daniel

One Too Many
Messages
1,451
Buy, this one is getting to me, $1400 for a soft Stetson Premier, with the four medal presentation. Whew. I know Justin just sold one for comparatively very little, but his did not have the sweat stamp.

Did anyone see where this one sold originally, if it was on our market? I missed it completely.

FD3E4B1E-8967-4B66-B289-1AC8EF7D602D.png
F4548240-722E-4838-A4AC-7F6FDD37A683.png
 

TheGuitarFairy

Practically Family
Messages
608
Location
Just West of Boston
Buy, this one is getting to me, $1400 for a soft Stetson Premier, with the four medal presentation. Whew. I know Justin just sold one for comparatively very little, but his did not have the sweat stamp.

Have you seen many examples of "sold" items at these prices? I don't think many of these auctions from JP are based in reality, more like high flying times of yore. Most if not all of the auctions I'm seeing lately I suspect are third party sellers. Sometimes you'll even see same item for sale simultaneously but from different sellers at different starting or BIN prices.
There's a nice No1 dress western currently up with a 1.4k BIN ... Ya ... I've offered seller a completely fair market price for hat but was declined. I don't think these guys understand the US market.
 
Last edited:

Just Daniel

One Too Many
Messages
1,451
I think they are selling to the Japanese market where they may be getting these prices, I don’t have any personal confirmation.

With the numbers of hats for sale at generally the same prices over there, I assume the market supports those costs.



Have you seen many examples of "sold" items at these prices? I don't think many of these auctions from JP are based in reality, more like high flying times of yore. Most if not all of the auctions I'm seeing lately I suspect are third party sellers. Sometimes you'll even see same item for sale simultaneously but from different sellers at different starting or BIN prices.
There's a nice No1 dress western currently up with a 1.4k BIN ... Ya ... I've offered seller a completely fair market price for hat but was declined. I don't think these guys understand the US market.
 

Randall Renshaw

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,088
Location
Nahunta, Ga.
Randall? If you reblocked it to one size bigger, why didn't you have to add a strip of leather to the sweatband to make ends meet?
Thanks, Max.
I have been very successful stretching a good many leather sweatbands, in or out of the hat, since the time I finally got wise to sand a heavy taper in the sides of my wooden turnbuckle hat stretchers.
Even with two sized stretches!
Matter of fact, I’ve only broken the seam of one insignificant sweatband band—which was not in the best condition to start with.
A tapered stretcher puts less stress on the rear seam, and leather, as most sweatbands are tapered.
Most heads and foreheads are tapered.
A belt sander works well to sand a taper in the wood all the way around.
When out of the hat I rub in Lexol leather conditioner on both sides very heavily and let it dry for a few days then put a 3” piece of packing tape over the rear seam on the back side to help hold the seam together.
Then stretch in small increments over a 3/5 day period.
Works very well on sweats that are in great condition...and with crowns that are going to get reblocked.
Course, you have to be willing and able to sew the sweatband back in.
Or, just tell Ignacio about this new way and ask him to try it. :)
 

drmaxtejeda

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,354
Location
Mexico City
Thanks, Max.
I have been very successful stretching a good many leather sweatbands, in or out of the hat, since the time I finally got wise to sand a heavy taper in the sides of my wooden turnbuckle hat stretchers.
Even with two sized stretches!
Matter of fact, I’ve only broken the seam of one insignificant sweatband band—which was not in the best condition to start with.
A tapered stretcher puts less stress on the rear seam, and leather, as most sweatbands are tapered.
Most heads and foreheads are tapered.
A belt sander works well to sand a taper in the wood all the way around.
When out of the hat I rub in Lexol leather conditioner on both sides very heavily and let it dry for a few days then put a 3” piece of packing tape over the rear seam on the back side to help hold the seam together.
Then stretch in small increments over a 3/5 day period.
Works very well on sweats that are in great condition...and with crowns that are going to get reblocked.
Course, you have to be willing and able to sew the sweatband back in.
Or, just tell Ignacio about this new way and ask him to try it. :)
Muchas gracias. I will
 

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