Portland OR hat museum? CW top hats

[mayserwegener]

Steve I remember your post on your visit to Tonak the museum. Could not find the thread. Do you have it saved?
I remember also Besdor's trip to the Borsalino-Hat-Museum-Pictures

Ed, Here are some photos I took of the Novy Jicin City Museum permanent hat exhibition (Johann Hückel’s Söhne, Anton Peschel, Brüder Böhm, Anton Pichler, TONAK, ect).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26044488@N04/sets/72157626379615437/

One of the displays! (1860-1900)

I haven't been to the new visitor center. I did tour the TONAK factory (was the J. Hückel’s Söhne factory) but they would let me take photos.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Thanks Steve that is a great museum too.
The Broso and tonak museums are well worth seeing for sure. Wish we had a good one here in the US. Hatco should step up and do one.
Here in Louisville the Louisville Slugger Museum was build a few years ago by the Hillerich & Bradsby company and always is a busy tourist spot. http://www.sluggermuseum.com/

 

[Blackthorn]

Ed, Here are some photos I took of the Novy Jicin City Museum permanent hat exhibition (Johann Hückel’s Söhne, Anton Peschel, Brüder Böhm, Anton Pichler, TONAK, ect).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26044488@N04/sets/72157626379615437/

One of the displays! (1860-1900)

I haven't been to the new visitor center. I did tour the TONAK factory (was the J. Hückel’s Söhne factory) but they would let me take photos.

great picture, mayser!

 

[mayserwegener]

Ed, You make a good point about U.S. Hatco. I think having some current manufacturing presence would be helpful.

One day I have to get to the Borsalino museum. A friend of mine recently received a special tour of the Borsalino factory and museum. He sent me some photos but he didn't want me to post them on the Internet.

Also want to visit the Museo dell' Arte del Cappello di Ghiffa (located in the old Panizza factory).

http://www.museodellartedelcappello.it/informazioni.htm#

There is also Bad Homburg city museum that has a permanent hat collection. Another place to visit!

http://www.taunustipp.de/Hutmuseum.html

Plus a few others............

Blackthorn, Thanks! You might want to check out the Flickr link I posted.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

Mayser, thanks for those very interesting links! I would have never know there was such a thing!

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks! There is also a hat museum in Lindenberg, Germany. This was a straw hat making center and Mayser moved there from Ulm in 1991.

http://www.lindenberg.de/index.shtml?en_tourismus-hutmuseum

There are also a couple of hat museums in France but I would have search around for links.

 

[besdor]

I believe the Borsalino museum is closed now for renovations.

 

[bowlerman]

Thanks for posting those links again, Steve. Great photos. I continue to wonder what on earth a zipper running lengthwise across the crown of a bowler could possibly be for. Ventilation? Seems like that could only be reasonable if you are bald. Hair would surely get caught!

 

[mayserwegener]

I believe the Borsalino museum is closed now for renovations.

My friend had a private tour of the museum a couple months ago but he was on business with Borsalino.

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks for posting those links again, Steve. Great photos. I continue to wonder what on earth a zipper running lengthwise across the crown of a bowler could possibly be for. Ventilation? Seems like that could only be reasonable if you are bald. Hair would surely get caught!

Thanks! I have no idea about the zipper hat. The curator said they have a bunch of unusual hats (battery fans, ect) in their collection (~ 6000 hats and growing).

 

[bendingoak]

I was relating MY experience with the owner when I called to obtain more information about her museum. I had planned to take a trip to Portland, OR earlier this year and am always in search of museums both big and small wherever I travel and the Hat Museum turned up in a Google search. I called the museum and as I was explaining my reasons for wanting to visit her museum while stating the number of hats I had in my collection she rudely cut me off to say "so you're a beginner", or something to that effect, this was back in February and I haven't thought about it since then. Now, I don't consider myself a beginner in hat collecting since I have been doing it for over a decade and I was insulted she took it upon herself to tell a perfect stranger over the phone their own skill level on hats when my own expertise was not the point of me calling. Further, after that the conversation went downhill because her tone to me indicated she did not want to be bothered so I just cut the conversation short and have no desire to visit the museum. I don't really care about others' experience with her, I am just judging her based on MY experience and that is what counts for ME. I looked on Yelp and sure enough there is a review that describes Alyce exactly how I encountered her on the phone:

http://www.yelp.com/filtered_reviews/la59jt_lazx3VeI3Sj1O5Q?fsid=l0NCQlLEUudXmd7keh_LAw

Tulsa, OK
1.0 star rating
8/18/2012

They really need to assign someone other than Alyce to do the tours. She was rude, defensive and wouldn't let us look at what we really wanted to see out of her line of sight. This was my second time to go. I had no interest at all in the room of 'funny hats' made of fake fur, fleece and foam rubber. I was there to look at the history and construction, being a milliner and hatter myself.
Her particular and personal attitude about the 'history' of hats, giving credit to "British Creationism" of Fashion hats is really presented in an insulting manner.
Also for being in the Northwest Pacific region there are not really ANY examples of the awesome work of our own Native people. The few Native hats of other lands are glossed over in an unattractive and downplayed part of this "museum" under the stairway next to the gift shop and not given much credit.
When my very good friend, a resident of Portland asked about handicap accessibility she nearly had her head bitten off!
There really are some fine examples of millinery and hattery but being rushed through and disrespected is NOT my idea of a good time. I cannot recommend this tour. Your money would be better spent buying a book. At least you won't get snipped at!
I have never in all of my 54 years ever been treated with such disdain in a place I have paid admission to.
For a 'museum' that depends entirely on admissions and donations to keep going, Alyce is not doing you any favors.

Just wanted to shed some light of this yelp person. Aylce remembers the person. They were not happy because she would not let them photograph the museum. She doesn't snap at people and she gets asked from time to time about wheelchair access and she replies that it does not have any and she even tells people who don't ask that people must be able to climb stairs because of the house. The house is a landmark house and can not be changed. its part of he shtick when people are greeted.

As for your phone call. She never makes the statement a newbie or the like of. She always say ( no matter the amount a person has in their collection) " thats a good start" meaning you can never have to many hats.

Aylce is a sweet woman who has a love affair with that house and hats. The yelp review does not sound like her.