Yummy gray dress felt! Love this one a whole bunch!
Stefan, I don't think they were made by Wegener. The paper labels and construction don't match up. The 3 that have the same paper label format were probably made by the same company but not sure about your Homburg and my Windsor. I have searched the Windsor trademark and haven't come up with anything. I have some trade publications from the 1950s that I still need to look through. I think it might be a good idea to search the Manhattan trademark.Karl, thanks. You're right: they are fine hats, just not as refined as some of the higher end hats. Considering they were half the price of a Borsalino back in the day I think it's safe to say they were popular hats.
Steve, they were on my "to do" list.
It leaves us a bit stuck for the moment. Wegener as the maker was a bit of a stretch, I admit. Their hats seem to run large on me for the most part and the Windsors seem more true to size. And it could very well be that the trademark was used by different makers over time. Another puzzle to solve.
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My guess is the Windsor and Manhattan Trademarks were owned by a Distributor like Friedrich W. Schneider.
Stefan, Looks great! Again no mark and I can't put anything together from the paper label format.
Stefan, Super! This one was made by Mayser Ulm for Hut Seidl München. Hut Seidl München was directly linked to Mayser Ulm.
My guess is the Windsor and Manhattan Trademarks were owned by a Distributor like Friedrich W. Schneider.
Friedrich W. Schneider, Trademarks, 1951
The distributor could source hats from different hat companies. The problem is defunct companies (I have lists of German Hat Distributors / Wholesalers from this time period) are not present on the DPMAregister Trademark search. Friedrich W. Schneider (Stetson Europe) are still in business so some of their Trademarks from 1930s are still listed.
https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/einsteiger (Search "Friedrich W. Schneider" under "Applicant/Proprietor:".)
Steve, thanks for the extra information and the work you put in'I really appreciate that. It does make sense that these hatbrands were owned by a wholesale company like Schneider. Interesting to see that both Stanton and Mistral have more than one listing.Stefan, Super! This one was made by Mayser Ulm for Hut Seidl München. Hut Seidl München was directly linked to Mayser Ulm.
"With the participation of Anton Seidl, the owner of the J. A. Seidl hat factory in Munich, the company is transformed into a GmbH (private limited company) in 1914. The partners are Carl Mayser and Anton Seidl, who takes over sole ownership of the Mayser hat factory four years later (1918).
In 1924, Anton Seidl introduces production of ladies' hats and is thus able to double production. The name Mayser, which stands for high-quality hats, is registered at the patent office in Berlin.
In 1929, the competitor in the Allgäu region is bought out and integrated into the Mayser company.
In 1940, Curt M. Zechbauer, the son-in-law of Anton Seidl, takes over management of the company and transforms it into a general partnership."
Here is a Mayser - Hut Seidl München. You have one too.
http://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/3-mayser-hutfabrik/page-2#entry345
Steve, good to see that bowler restored to form. Must have been a heartstopping experience to see it damaged like that. Bob did a great job in both shaping it back to form and installing the new ribbon.Hch. Klipper Offenbach a. M. "Extra Quality" early 1900s. I posted this old German Stiff Felt a few months ago. I took a real liking to it but the ribbon was damaged so I decided to buy some Mokuba (Japan) Silk ribbon which turned out to be a good match. I contacted Bob at Black Sheep Hat Works (BSHW) and he graciously accepted to install the new ribbon / bow. Unfortunately when the Stiff Felt arrived at BSHW the box had been crushed and the Stiff Felt had major crown dents. Bob did a masterful job of fixing the dents, cleaning up the felt and installing the new ribbon / bow. The bow design matches the original so of the time period. A big Thank You to Bob!
This is the original damaged ribbon / bow that Bob replaced.
Shipping damage and Bob's repair of the crown dents.
Bob had to remove the liner and discovered some writing on the top and sides of the liner (also on the sweatband).
I decided to investigate and I received the following information from Florian Hardwig of TypeDraws.com History of Typography forum. Florian, Thank you for this great information!
>I am a collector of German and Austrian vintage hats. I have an old Melone/Bowler hat and the following writing was found on the back of the liner.
I don’t see how the script could help with the dating. The first image includes a line saying “R. 1857”, but that doesn’t tell us much.
The sign on the inside is more revealing: “H[einri]ch Klipper Offenbach, a.M.” is in Behrens-Schrift, a typeface that was first cast by the Rudhard’sche Gießerei in 1901. The sign can’t be any older than that. Behrens-Schrift was immensely popular in the first and second decade of the 20th century, but it’s impossible to rule out a later date.
>Do you think the 22 1/2 might be Zoll?
That sounds plausible to me. I don’t know about hats in particular, but at least in some areas, Zoll remained a common unit until deep into the 20th century.
Also what about the single letter on the inside of the sweatband?
No Fraktur, but rather a bold Antiqua with ball terminals, as it was common in the time and period, cf. this piece of fascia lettering from Heidelberg. It could be either a ‘J’ with a spur, or bifurcated base (as in a Tuscan), or simply a minuscule ‘r’. A wild guess: Would the manufacturer have felt the need to denote the right-hand (rechts) side?
>Do you have any idea why "Extra Quality" was used on the liner? In most cases you see "Extra Qualität" (see below). Could this be time specific?
I assume the English spelling was chosen because it appears underneath the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
http://typedrawers.com/discussion/2294/german-script-assistance-antique-melone-bowler-hat#latest
I need to go through the pre WWII German Hat Newspapers to see if I can find any of these trademarks. I don't have much information post 1950 because I am mostly focused on Pre WWII documentation. Most of the distributors that survived WWII also were present pre WWII like F.W. Schneider.
Stefan, Thanks! Luckily I wasn't aware of the extent of the damage. Bob did a fantastic job.
Looks as good today as it did in the store window when it was new. Estimate of it's age?Mayser, Size 58
Found this nice Mayser last Sunday in Düsseldorf, looks like the last owner had no time for his hat [emoji16]condition is like new! Model Stetin Spezial - Color in a nice Deer brown the photos are a bit to bright.
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