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- 19,001
- Location
- Central California
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HAT ADORNMENTS: ribbons, bows, pins, pugs, leather, etc.
The Fedora Lounge no longer supports Tapatalk. Many of us are disappointed, but it looks to be gone for good.
- Messages
- 18,222
Bumping this sleeping thread back to life.
The remains of this old concho hatband came with the 1920-1930's Western Stetson & the 1920's horsehair hatband I bought recently. The leather is so old you can literally pop it apart. I haven't gotten around to removing them all yet & cleaning the conchos & buckle. They are pretty small, set on a 1/2" or 5/8" band with a slide style back. I was expecting perhaps nickel or coin silver. My surprise is they are stamped & I think it is tinned over a base metal, perhaps copper. I hope to know more when I get around to cleaning them. I'm doubting I'll find any hallmark.
The remains of this old concho hatband came with the 1920-1930's Western Stetson & the 1920's horsehair hatband I bought recently. The leather is so old you can literally pop it apart. I haven't gotten around to removing them all yet & cleaning the conchos & buckle. They are pretty small, set on a 1/2" or 5/8" band with a slide style back. I was expecting perhaps nickel or coin silver. My surprise is they are stamped & I think it is tinned over a base metal, perhaps copper. I hope to know more when I get around to cleaning them. I'm doubting I'll find any hallmark.
humanshoes
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,446
- Location
- Tennessee
I'm happy you revived this old thread Jack. Being an old leather guy I especially enjoy seeing the old leather bands from that era. I'm also blown away by those beautiful old conchos in all their patinaed glory. I'd never presume to tell a man what to do with his conchos, but I like those just the way they are. I'd probably put them on a new antiqued leather band and call it a day.
- Messages
- 18,222
Thanks for the input Rick. I was just thinking of some dish soap & a toothbrush maybe. No polish, & they wouldn't polish to a bright luster anyway. To be honest, I was expecting them to be old nickel silver. Maybe coin silver if I got lucky, so they have never been a bright luster. I had asked about any markings or hallmarks but never got a reply.
Back in the 1980's I had an old Mexican Alpaca Silver concho hatband on a larger brimmed black Gun Club that I really liked. Today all you can probably get is chrome or Sterling silver.
Not sure how I will use these yet.
- Messages
- 12,019
- Location
- East of Los Angeles
Those are wonderful! I'd probably have a hard time deciding whether or not to clean them before replacing the band. Then again, I don't really have a hat they'd be suitable for, so...
- Messages
- 19,001
- Location
- Central California
Sounds like somebody needs a western...or 12!
Come over to the side of the angels, Al. I’ve got the perfect toaster crease for you!
- Messages
- 18,222
Thanks Z! The auction listed them as Navajo & they are clearly a Navajo pattern. But I was assuming they were Navajo made & due to their age they would likely be nickel.
They are almost small enough to go on a watchband but would probably catch on everything. Using one would make for a nice slide on a Wild Rag too.
- Messages
- 12,019
- Location
- East of Los Angeles
Every "western" hat I've ever tried on looked like a costume item on me no matter how hard I tried to not let the hat wear me. I think I'm more of an "Australian outback" kind of guy; something like a Banjo Paterson.Sounds like somebody needs a western...or 12!
Come over to the side of the angels, Al. I’ve got the perfect toaster crease for you!
dkstott
Practically Family
- Messages
- 726
- Location
- Connecticut
I love my Banjo Patterson hat. It's my daily hiking, yard work and general purpose hat.
- Messages
- 18,222
My 1930's horsehair hatband cleaned up pretty good & brought the colors back out. The Stetson it has been on for probably the last 85-90 yrs is not ready yet, so I dropped it on my Rand Natural Beaver Tom Mix for some pics & the colors seemed to work well.
It did clean up well, HJ and looks good on that Rand. Very cool to find that catalog listing on those bands. What did you finally use to clean it?
- Messages
- 18,222
Thanks BB! I let it soak in a bowl of Woolite Delicate. Several times during the soak I would use a toothbrush to work the dirt out. Final soak was in a bowl of clean water then under the faucet to rinse out all residue of soap, etc.
If you read about cleaning horsehair they recommend mild soap & water, & never use anything like a conditioner that might have silicone or glycerin in it.
I’ve long been a fan of hitched horsehair hatbands. Especially the style produced by the prisoners/craftsmen at Deer Lodge State Prison in Montana. Because it was going to be used primarily on a lower end western hat I have, I was never willing to spend the money they ask for them out of the prison store and if you can find them in higher end hat stores, they bring even more. I’ve been looking to replace the self felted band on it for some time and ran across a seller offering this one and similar designs for just a little more than what ready made ribbons and bows are being offered for. Very similar to the Deer Lodge work.
- Messages
- 14,841
Looks really nice Greg! Do you have a link to the seller?
- Messages
- 18,222
I like the contrast to the black hat, BB.
Thanks, HJ. Been looking for something to put on it for about two years.
- Messages
- 12,019
- Location
- East of Los Angeles
That's beautiful, and wonderful craftsmanship! And it looks perfectly at home on that hat.
- Messages
- 18,222
Thanks Z! I appreciate that. I dropped it on this 1940's Carlsbad but it needed some brim ironing after being boxed up for a while. So I didn't even tighten the band up.
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This is taking sweatband initial pins or embossing to another level.
