Out of the gate.....ITS.....ITS.....THE EQUESTRIAN DERBY

[Joshbru3]

I know that there are threads dedicated to derbies and bowlers, but these equestrian derbies are so different from regular derbies and in my opinion so much more rare, I felt that they deserve a thread of their own. Several of the fedora lounge members wanted to see detailed pictures of this 1930's Stetson Equestrian Derby that I just got, so Im going to start this new thread with those pics. LETS SEE THOSE EQUESTRIAN DERBYS!!

1930's Stetson Equestrian Derby:

First, I just have to say that the pictures do this hat no justice. In person, its just amazing. I thought that the felt would be very thick and very stiff and I must say that actually, the felt on this derby is not only extremely light weight, but about as thin and stiff as my 1920's summer weight Stetson Derby. The brim is fairly short and the the side curls actually make the sides of the hat very straight looking verses rounded. The felt is extremely soft and pounced very finely. The condition of the hat is spectacular and feels as if I just bought it brand new from the shop. There is NO leather sweatband, only a VERY comfortable cloth one. The pull-string is run through a leather strap that is sewn to the cloth sweatband and there is a very soft piece of felt cloth in the front of the derby which fits very snug against my forehead. I must say that this is THE MOST COMFORTABLE DERBY I HAVE EVER WORN. Not only does the cloth sweatband conform to my head perfectly, its very soft and with the felt cloth, its actually a pleasure to wear. Its very light weight makes me forget im even wearing it. I kind of wish all my derbies had cloth sweatbands. The quality of everything on the hat is just awesome. Heres some pics:

 

[Joshbru3]

1930's Stetson Equestrian Derby (cont)

 

[monbla256]

VERY INTERESTING Derby !! I remember when my daughter was in Equitation classes when she showed her Saddlebrd mare back in the mid 70s and we bought a grey derby from a firm in Louisville, Kentucky. As I recall, it was made by Christy's and was stiff as a board since it was basically a "helmet" for her head. I have been riding saddle horses in shows since 1967 (actually don't ride or show anymore ) and i remember only one older trainer who went in the ring in a derby. From older pics in horse mags, it looks like men wearing derbies in the ring came to an end post WWll . Here's a link to some info on the store that sold your derby :


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Simon_&_Co.

Nice example of a specialized lid

Onward thru the Fog

 

[fmw]

Hurry! They plan to release the foxes right after tea.

 

[hatophile]

I say, old chap, brilliant derby you have there!

Really, though, Josh that is an excellent find, probably a lot of history in that hat.

 

[eto]

Nice one, great find.

 

[Joshbru3]

VERY INTERESTING Derby !! I remember when my daughter was in Equitation classes when she showed her Saddlebrd mare back in the mid 70s and we bought a grey derby from a firm in Louisville, Kentucky. As I recall, it was made by Christy's and was stiff as a board since it was basically a "helmet" for her head. I have been riding saddle horses in shows since 1967 (actually don't ride or show anymore ) and i remember only one older trainer who went in the ring in a derby. From older pics in horse mags, it looks like men wearing derbies in the ring came to an end post WWll . Here's a link to some info on the store that sold your derby :


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Simon_&_Co.

Nice example of a specialized lid

Onward thru the Fog

Thank you, monbla256! As much as I love horses, they have never been fond of me. Ive tried riding several times and each time they try to buck me off of them. This one time I was riding very slowly on a farm. Someone was leading the horse for me and on the farm they were burning a huge pile of leaves. The leaves must have been staked up about 7 feet and the flames went even higher. The horse saw the fire, and started charging towards it with me still riding. It took 3 people to slow the horse before I met my fiery death. So, yeh, they don't like me very much.....

 

[Joshbru3]

I say, old chap, brilliant derby you have there!

Really, though, Josh that is an excellent find, probably a lot of history in that hat.

Nice one, great find.

Thanks very much hatophile & eto! I really wish there was a hidden picture of the rider and the horse hidden under the sweatband, but I checked and there was nothing. This hat probably has a lot of history. Its in my top 5 favorite hats of my collection.

 

[dhermann1]

Very interesting. What specifically denotes it as an equestrian derby, the cloth sweatband? I like the model name, "The Chase". Tally ho!

 

[monbla256]

Very interesting. What specifically denotes it as an equestrian derby, the cloth sweatband? I like the model name, "The Chase". Tally ho!

From the ones such as my daughter wore and others I've seen, it is the style of sweat and usually the hardness/stiffness of the felt as well as any imprinted info relating to it being an equestrian model of hat. My daughters had the name of Meyers Co. in Kentucky on the liner as well as ".... made by Christy's of London for ..." on it.
You can still buy them from most saddle and tack shops which deal in Saddleseat tack.
Onward thru the Fog

 

[Joshbru3]

BUMP!!! There has to be some more Equestrian Derbies out there.

 

[monbla256]

There are a bunch here and they have 'em in colors as well

http://www.nationalbridle.com/product-p/1-3323.htm

http://stores.hartmeyer.com/-strse-2000/standard-derby,hats,-hat,ladies,Dark-Navy,6/Detail.bok