OTHER THAN eBAY Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[danofarlington]

Now that is a great fedora!

Kind of a Robert Mitchum look going on there.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Kind of a Robert Mitchum look going on there.

Thank you, I can think of few I'd druther be likened too than RM.
In truth, the actual events (and many of the film's locations) that inspired Mitchum's "Thunder Road" happened not five miles from where I now sit. People here still wax poetic about both the events & the subsequent visit from Hollywood & film it produced. And, thanks, I like the hat too. I see an upcoming daily go-to. Gotta find the right pin for it though.

Highest regards,

RB

 

[randooch]

Hopefully one of you beat me out on this Stetson. The size question (16 inches circumference??) made it a toss-up. http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=7500665

 

[Bourne ID]

I thought maybe I'd hit the jackpot yesterday and in a way I did. Traveled to Hershey PA , about a 3 hour drive from home, my son was involved in a school competition. While he participated, my wife and I traveled around the area looking for thrift shops, junk shops, antique shops and the like. We couldn't believe our good fortune as we found many shops along the main road over the course of 20-30 miles. In one Antique mall I came accross no less than 5 fur felt fedoras!! Unfortunately..these people knew their worth and were asking prices above what I felt like parting with. Four of the hats were 60-70's stingy brimmed Adams in sizes too small for me. One hat though really caught my eye, still in it's box, sitting high on a shelf, a Mallory homburg from the 30-40's. I came back to the hat three times before picking it up and carrying it around with me. I would probably never have worn it and eventually decided not to make the purchase.
All in all, we had a great time sifting through so many new shops and we did come away with many items at great prices. A really great trip!

 

[Sam Craig]

I thought maybe I'd hit the jackpot yesterday and in a way I did. Traveled to Hershey PA , about a 3 hour drive from home, my son was involved in a school competition. While he participated, my wife and I traveled around the area looking for thrift shops, junk shops, antique shops and the like. We couldn't believe our good fortune as we found many shops along the main road over the course of 20-30 miles. In one Antique mall I came accross no less than 5 fur felt fedoras!! Unfortunately..these people knew their worth and were asking prices above what I felt like parting with. Four of the hats were 60-70's stingy brimmed Adams in sizes too small for me. One hat though really caught my eye, still in it's box, sitting high on a shelf, a Mallory homburg from the 30-40's. I came back to the hat three times before picking it up and carrying it around with me. I would probably never have worn it and eventually decided not to make the purchase.
All in all, we had a great time sifting through so many new shops and we did come away with many items at great prices. A really great trip!

I gotta ask

How much was too much?

Sam

 

[Bourne ID]

Average price, about 40 bucks. If I'd seen a style that I wanted I would have purchased but I've got enough 70's stingy and I'd probably never wear a Homburg! Value is in the eye of the beholder!! I'm not really collecting, just looking for great hats to wear.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

There is a similar shop in Lafayette, IN. (assuming it hasn't been shut down by the cops yet). In the mid 2000's when I was at graduate school there, that shop was absolutely packed with great vintage at great prices, as were ALL the thrift stores. An awful lot of it was from local stores (I have identified at least 6 menswear stores that operated in Lafayette in the 1930s, from the labels on the backs of ties). And the antiques malls always had something for the discerning vintage enthusiast, too.

What is it about head shops and vintage clothes?

When I was in college there was a little "head shop" that also had hippie clothes and used stuff ... Sgt. Pepper jackets, etc.
They had a huge cardboard carton with men's hats. I bought a great old homburg out of it and reshaped it into a derby. I still wear it on very rare occasions.

 

[Sam Craig]

There is a similar shop in Lafayette, IN. (assuming it hasn't been shut down by the cops yet). In the mid 2000's when I was at graduate school there, that shop was absolutely packed with great vintage at great prices, as were ALL the thrift stores. An awful lot of it was from local stores (I have identified at least 6 menswear stores that operated in Lafayette in the 1930s, from the labels on the backs of ties). And the antiques malls always had something for the discerning vintage enthusiast, too.

What is it about head shops and vintage clothes?

I really do shudder to think of all the what-ifs I passed up over the years.

After I began reconstructing western hats into heavy-felt fedoras, I thought about the many, many times I've passed up perfectly good westerns in colors I'd really like to have now, just because I didn't need "another cowboy hat" at the time.
I also cringe at the way I went through open road straws ... Panamas, really .... because you could ALWAYS pick one up at the thrift store.
Dang, I wasted a lot of those. Wear them out over a summer and then toss em.
"Hello, my name is Sam and I am a hat-aholic."

There was a popular bumper sticker around here after the oil BUST of the '80s ... "Dear Lord, please bring oil prices back, and I promise not to **** it away this time!"

Sam

 

[randooch]

Know nothing of the brand, but that is a nice score. Overwelt & lovely color. Post some pix when it arrives! Looks late 5o's to early 6o's at latest. Perhaps far older, given the apparent proportions, looks in very good shape.

Well, it showed up, and what a beauty! I don't know what they meant "Sway"; that word appears nowhere on the hat. It has no lettering on the sweat, and the crest is generic-looking, so maybe it was refurbished at some point. The felt is unbelievably supple and dense, like nothing I've owned before! Here's some pics:

pardon the self-portrait . . .

 

[hatophile]

Good score, Randooch. That one reminds me of my Caxton in similar color and design.

 

[randooch]

Thanks! (I posted it on the daily hat thread yesterday, but it got buried pdq.) Something about the finer hats, the way they settle onto your head like a sigh . . . Ahhhh.

 

[hatophile]

I thought it looked familiar.

 

[mayserwegener]

Tropp The Hatter

I found this one at an antique mall a couple miles from my house for $35.00. It's a size 7 1/4 has a Cav edge but I couldn't find anything on Tropp The Hatter. I am thinking it's OEM but have no idea of the source.

 

[Alex]

I found this one at an antique mall a couple miles from my house for $35.00. It's a size 7 1/4 has a Cav edge but I couldn't find anything on Tropp The Hatter. I am thinking it's OEM but have no idea of the source.

That's awesome man, I wish I could find gems like that in my neck of the woods.

 

[randooch]

I found this one at an antique mall a couple miles from my house for $35.00. It's a size 7 1/4 has a Cav edge but I couldn't find anything on Tropp The Hatter. I am thinking it's OEM but have no idea of the source.

That has a very pleasant combination of colors. Good find!

 

[hatophile]

I found this one at an antique mall a couple miles from my house for $35.00. It's a size 7 1/4 has a Cav edge but I couldn't find anything on Tropp The Hatter. I am thinking it's OEM but have no idea of the source.

That's a keeper, mayser.

 

[mayserwegener]

Alex, Randooch, Hatophile, Thanks! This place has been kind to me. I found a Disney 15 and Stetson Royal Derby in my size a few months ago. Both were in very good condition which is rare for antique mall finds.

 

[mayserwegener]

Stetson Royal

I found this 1950s size 7 1/4 Stetson Royal for $38.00. It's a nice shade of green and in very good condition.

[/QUOTE]

 

[hatophile]

Excellent, Mayser, nice shade of green, too.

 

[randooch]

Found these on Etsy. I have high hopes for the green one being big enough for me, seeing as how the others are nested into IT!
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/45974437