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As is being implied in several posts (if not outright stated), vintage felt that is soft and malleable is something that improves as the felt ages. We handle vintage felt today (after it has aged 70-100+ years) and declare that it is superior in everyway to even the best custom hat made today. What we don't know is, what did that hat feel like when it was new? For instance, I have a Stetson Catera (5X - 100% fur felt - likely rabbit) I purchased new in May 2021. When I got it, it was hard as a rock. one year later, after being reshaped a few times using water and steam and handled several times, it is getting pretty soft. I can almost dry crease it to some extent. Similar story to a 100% beaver hat that was custom made just at one year ago. I pulled it out of the box yesterday and it is noticeably softer than when it showed up on my doorstep. So, what will these hats be like in 5-10 years? I am just talking about the felt and the stiffeners used in the felt.
As Brent indicated in his thread bump post, "To each his own" on what makes a hat great. So to my mind (based on what I think I'm learning on this forum), the felt is probably the hardest thing to assess when judging the quality of a new hat to vintage hat (what will either of my hats felt be like in another 70 years). Although, the other things are likely much easier to judge: A comfortable and durable sweatband likely being first and foremost on a daily hat wearers checklist. I could go on from there about the liners, the Cavanaugh edge, etc. but others have certainly discussed those features in previous posts.
This post is either food for thought or indicates that I need to go back to school and learn much more on vintage hats (if so, please let me know that).
I don’t know that felt continues to change appreciatively over its entire life. We have some older movies, even including some home movies, showing what was new felt then where it’s very different (clay-like) than modern felt. We also have contemporary descriptions and accounts and lots of advertising of the time which all support that the better felt from what we now consider the Golden Age was different from the start. I agree that felt does continue felting and eventually becomes “dead” when that felting process stops. I also believe that it normally accounts for a minuscule portion of the felting process. The 1970s felts aren’t going to turn into 1940s quality if we wait another thirty years.
Again, in my opinion, the vintage hats not only had better felt they had better components, appointments, and better build techniques. A 100 year old leather sweatband that is thin, supple, and completely intact is an incredible thing, and I’ve yet to see it’s modern equivalent. I also don’t have any faith that modern sweatbands are going to be serviceable in 100 years…I’ll check back with you then.
Much modern felt is defined more by the stiffeners added than how it was felted or the fur used. Stiffeners break down over time and from exposure to sun and the elements as well as being handled. Modern felt, particularly modern western felt, can change a lot as it mellows as the stiffeners break down. According to my small sample size, higher end modern western felt such as pure beaver tends to change less over time. Many contemporary customers would consider the modern felt’s qualities to be a big improvement over vintage felt. Many modern buyers are looking for something else in their hats; such as a hat that doesn’t change its shape at all over decades of wear, and malleable felt is a detraction rather than a positive to such.
I have fur felt hats from most eras from the early 20th century to current production. It’s hard to argue that quality didn’t take a nosedive and by the late 1950s US felt wasn’t nearly as good as it had been. However, I really don’t want to focus just on the felt. A top tier hat from the 1940s or earlier is better than a modern custom not just because of the felt quality. Again, just my opinion.
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