Ah, I didn't guess that Grosso Valtz lobbia was yours. Had it on my watchlist already; too bad about the small size.It is rare to find hats branded only with the name "John Valtz" which I suspect is a pseudonym given the location of the hat shop in the photograph posted by Stefan. As can be seen from the image, this is a humble farmhouse in the Cervo valley, while the Grosso&Valtz headquarters has more the appearance of a workshop for making hats. The hat is beautiful and perhaps readjusted at some point in its long life. I assume that John Valtz survived the Second World War because in the very rare hats seen, some have post-war finishes, shapes and characteristics. Now I don't have the chance to go and see those two in my possession, but they are Grosso&Valtz. One is for sale here https://www.vinted.it/items/4206275...o-valtz-biella-nuovo-size-53?referrer=catalog
it has an impossible size and moth walks carpet, but it is a homburg
From an Italian site concerning industrial landscape
The Grosso Valz & C. hat factory was founded in Andorno in 1885 on the initiative of 15 hat makers as a general partnership. The hatmaker Maggiorino Guasco was at the helm of the company for many years.
In the 1920s the company renovated and expanded the premises for the conversion of the manufacturing cycle from manual to mechanical, thanks to the purchase of the first machines.
Subsequently the building was sold to the Valeggia family who set up a wool dyeing factory there.
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