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

[Wolfen]

Picked up these in the last few days

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250567099583&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380201577966&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

That gives me 3 Royal Stetsons in my collection.

 

[QMcK]

Hi,

I didn't bid on this because I was unsure about what size I would require. I really like the shape.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=268506475

 

[Mario]

And yet another 7 3/8 Whippet that went for big bucks ($338):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320479392191&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

God bless my tiny noggin!

 

[rlk]

Not a hat

 

[fluteplayer07]

This Whippet went for cheap; albeit an obscenely large 7 7/8:

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-MENS-ROYAL-STETSON-BROWN-FEDORA-WHIPPET-HAT-7-8_W0QQitemZ280457459811QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Men_s_Women_s_Accessories?hash=item414c913863#shId

Any of you guys the taker?

--flute

 

[carouselvic]

6 7/8

 

[fluteplayer07]

I knew that... I was testing you. *nervous laugh*

Still was cheap, though.

 

[Lefty]

That's crazy expensive for a 6 7/8. I cry at all the 6 7/8 and 7s of far better quality in every antique store.

 

[fluteplayer07]

Hey Lefty,
If I follow, the general trend is a direct relationship between increasing hat size, and increasing price. Any reason for this? The only thing I can think of is that people's heads were smaller back then, so larger hats are rarer, thus more expensive today.

--flute

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

I think many of the smaller vintage hats were worn by youths who outgrew them and put them in storage long before they wore them out. That's one reason for their prevalence.

 

[Wolfen]

Thank goodness I have a small head.

Picked this up today

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270522631809&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

[Lefty]

It's a bit more of a curve, cresting at around 7 1/2. I recently posted this somewhere else, but there is the theory that people used to have smaller heads. While no one has posted any numbers to support it, the abundance of tiny hats makes it look good. Then there's the theory that hat sizes haven't changed. It's got a little support by our micro-sample poll, which really did show a bell curve in the hat size of members here.

short answer: That's just the way it is. [huh]

 

[Lefty]

Thank goodness I have a small head.

Picked this up today

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270522631809&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

That's a great hat, and MISTERY felt ranks up there with Hankachif felt as one of the funniest pieces of hat marketing ever.

 

[Lefty]

I think many of the smaller vintage hats were worn by youths who outgrew them and put them in storage long before they wore them out. That's one reason for their prevalence.

If this were true, I'd expect to see just low to medium end hats, but as Garrett, Sue, Mario, and ebay show, there are, proportionately, just as many of the very high end hats in the small sizes as there are in the big ones. I can't imagine that many kids under 16 were getting the $50 and $100 hats in the 40s and 50s.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Now that you mention Hankachif...

That's a great hat, and MISTERY felt ranks up there with Hankachif felt as one of the funniest pieces of hat marketing ever.

The mailman brought this one today:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250569633319&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I took a chance on a snipe and got it. I'll post pics in the Dobbs Diner. It's very lightweight, as light as my Portis Tissue Weight.

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

I think that's a fair point Lefty. I'm not saying that mine is the exclusive reason, but merely one reason for the prevalence of small vintage lids (and not all the hats are in the expensive range).
What I find hard to believe is that in the space of barely one generation the average head has grown by around 3 hat sizes.
Yet, we do have a disparity in the hats that are out there.[huh]

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Tan Knox Premier

Two hats in one day - I was on cloud nine all afternoon at work. This was one I really wanted and, for a change, I got it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390146788569&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

It's a light tan, fills a hole in my hat wardrobe nicely. Pristine condition, just needed a brushing. There's a slight dust shadow from the previous crease on the crown, should clean right up. Pics will be posted in the School of Hard Knox.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

I think that's a fair point Lefty. I'm not saying that mine is the exclusive reason, but merely one reason for the prevalence of small vintage lids (and not all the hats are in the expensive range).
What I find hard to believe is that in the space of barely one generation the average head has grown by around 3 hat sizes.
Yet, we do have a disparity in the hats that are out there.[huh]

I agree, head sizes couldn't have ballooned that much since my dad's time.

It could be that the common sizes today were just as common then, and were more likely to be handed down to children and relatives who could wear them, sold at rummage sales, or donated to charity drives. Smaller hats might not have gone through as many owners.

 

[Tooch]

What I find hard to believe is that in the space of barely one generation the average head has grown by around 3 hat sizes.
Yet, we do have a disparity in the hats that are out there.

Hmmm ... According to the Centers for Disease Control, Americans have been getting taller (and fatter) over the past few generations -- at least since 1960.

"On average, both men and women gained more than 24 pounds between the early 1960s and 2002. During the same time period, mean height increased approximately 1 inch."

Full report is here (PDF)

That's not hat size, of course. But I don't think it's too great a stretch to assume that people who are taller and heavier than their grandparents have heads that are somewhat larger, too. I wouldn't be surprised if the same phenomena have been seen in other developed countries that have experienced changes in nutrition and health care.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Hmmm ... According to the Centers for Disease Control, Americans have been getting taller (and fatter) over the past few generations -- at least since 1960.

"On average, both men and women gained more than 24 pounds between the early 1960s and 2002. During the same time period, mean height increased approximately 1 inch."

Full report is here (PDF)

That's not hat size, of course. But I don't think it's too great a stretch to assume that people who are taller and heavier than their grandparents have heads that are somewhat larger, too. I wouldn't be surprised if the same phenomena have been seen in other developed countries that have experienced changes in nutrition and health care.

fftopic:
Americans getting fatter - no argument here. Anecdotally, I'm much taller than my father and paternal grandfather, and about the same height as my maternal grandfather, but my dad's punkin is larger than mine.