Post New Hats Here!

[mayserwegener]

P. & C. Habig Wien Berlin "Special - Qualität Reine Handarbeit / Special Qualität" , 60 cm, 133 grams, possibly 1920s. This one is really fantastic and in near mint condition. It came with a P. & C. Habig Wien Paper Hat Holder. The seller said both belonged to his grandfather so it probably came with the Stiff Felt.

P. & C. Habig Wien Paper Hat Holder that came with the Stiff Felt, possibly 1920s

 

[Steve1857]

P. & C. Habig Wien Berlin "Special - Qualität Reine Handarbeit / Special Qualität" , 60 cm, 133 grams, possibly 1920s. This one is really fantastic and in near mint condition. It came with a P. & C. Habig Wien Paper Hat Holder. The seller said both belonged to his grandfather so it probably came with the Stiff Felt.

P. & C. Habig Wien Paper Hat Holder that came with the Stiff Felt, possibly 1920s

Absolutely wonderful, Steve. A truly magnificent example of a P. & C. Habig.

 

[Rmccamey]

How do you find those, Steve! Absolutely amazing.

Absolutely wonderful, Steve. A truly magnificent example of a P. & C. Habig.

 

[mayserwegener]

Absolutely wonderful, Steve. A truly magnificent example of a P. & C. Habig.

Steve, Thank you! I need to measure the Crown and Brim. It's a big one.

 

[mayserwegener]

How do you find those, Steve! Absolutely amazing.

Randy, Thanks! This one just popped up German Ebay. I have some interesting finds from Austria that I will be posting.

 

[Rmccamey]

Randy, Thanks! This one just popped up German Ebay. I have some interesting finds from Austria that I will be posting.

If there is an extra 57 in the mix, keep me in mind

 

[Frank Boskovich]

Silverbelly 100x with antique royal trim, navy accent and navy edge binding.

 

[Rmccamey]

Silverbelly 100x with antique royal trim, navy accent and navy edge binding.

A lot going on with the hat bands. Very nice! Post a few head shots for us.

 

[Frank Boskovich]

A lot going on with the hat bands. Very nice! Post a few head shots for us.

Thanks! It’s a hybrid fedora!! You can keep it Classic by removing the feather and leather wrap. Versatility for different styles of wardrobe.

 

[Dlaniger]

While I was rummaging around the old hat room, I came upon this Biltmore Rosellini wrapped up in a plastic bag sitting in a non descript box. It is a new old stock hat that I acquired some time ago. I have never worn it. I forgot I had it and can’t remember when I purchased it. Maybe right before the pandemic? What a pleasant surprise.

2 1/2 inch brim, color black oak, made Jan. 2005 in Canada. Satin finish. The Rosellini line was considered to be one of Biltmore’s finest dress hats. The felt is of good quality and sturdy. A perfect hat for cooler weather.

 

[StoryPNW]

While I was rummaging around the old hat room, I came upon this Biltmore Rosellini wrapped up in a plastic bag sitting in a non descript box. It is a new old stock hat that I acquired some time ago. I have never worn it. I forgot I had it and can’t remember when I purchased it. Maybe right before the pandemic? What a pleasant surprise.
View attachment 466373
2 1/2 inch brim, color black oak, made Jan. 2005 in Canada. Satin finish. The Rosellini line was considered to be one of Biltmore’s finest dress hats. The felt is of good quality and sturdy. A perfect hat for cooler weather. View attachment 466375 View attachment 466374 View attachment 466372 View attachment 466376 View attachment 466379

Nice hat! I really like the ribbon, pleasant surprise indeed.

 

[steur]

While I was rummaging around the old hat room, I came upon this Biltmore Rosellini wrapped up in a plastic bag sitting in a non descript box. It is a new old stock hat that I acquired some time ago. I have never worn it. I forgot I had it and can’t remember when I purchased it. Maybe right before the pandemic? What a pleasant surprise.
View attachment 466373
2 1/2 inch brim, color black oak, made Jan. 2005 in Canada. Satin finish. The Rosellini line was considered to be one of Biltmore’s finest dress hats. The felt is of good quality and sturdy. A perfect hat for cooler weather. View attachment 466375 View attachment 466374 View attachment 466372 View attachment 466376 View attachment 466379

Those are the best finds, Reggie. Been there, done that . Usually though I wear them once and then forget. Such a nice hat too; great ribbon work and a nice stitched edge. It deserves to be worn.

 

[steur]

A few of the hats I've been waiting for have come in this week (two more yet to arrive).

Aeroleger bowler hat. Belgian made (I think), but could also be French. No labels under the sweat. I bought it because of the really cool looking sweatband. Size 57 with therim at 5cm and crown 12cm. Likely made of woolfelt and at 160 grams not as lightweight as the name suggests, but maybe Belgium has some heavier air. Very nice bowler all in all, but too bad the postal services decided to use their gorilla to test the veracity of the story that you can stand on a bowler. You can, but the hat won't hold. I dented it out, but a few battle scars remain. A bit wide for me. An oldie, probably 1930's.

Couldn't find anything on the hatter, but they were probably located in this building.

 

[steur]

Let's do another one.
Sools woolfelt hat in black. Unsure about the maker, because all of the labels are gone. Sools had hats made by various manufacturers with Mossant and Laubin as the ones I've seen most often. Size 57 with the brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Really nice proportions to the hat. Even has a bit of reverse taper. First time I've seen a woolfelt hat for Sools, but that could be because they didn't survive. Weighs in at 138 grams. Also an early one.

There was a label there once (picture above). The square size points towards Mossant as the most likely maker.

 

[GHT]

A few of the hats I've been waiting for have come in this week (two more yet to arrive).

Aeroleger bowler hat. Belgian made (I think), but could also be French. No labels under the sweat. I bought it because of the really cool looking sweatband. Size 57 with therim at 5cm and crown 12cm. Likely made of woolfelt and at 160 grams not as lightweight as the name suggests, but maybe Belgium has some heavier air. Very nice bowler all in all, but too bad the postal services decided to use their gorilla to test the veracity of the story that you can stand on a bowler. You can, but the hat won't hold. I dented it out, but a few battle scars remain. A bit wide for me. An oldie, probably 1930's.


View attachment 466383 View attachment 466384 View attachment 466385 View attachment 466386 View attachment 466387 View attachment 466388 View attachment 466389 View attachment 466390 View attachment 466391

Couldn't find anything on the hatter, but they were probably located in this building.
View attachment 466392

And there was me thinking that The British Royal Mail had the monopoly on customising parcel contents.

The ladies that make my hats use The Royal Mail. The inside of the cartons that they use have a centre circle of stiffened card that the hat sits around then an insert of triangular sections that lock together. Somebody, somewhere has given it much thought. I'm tempted to think that it was an ex-postal employee.

The appearance of your bowler has a good, sympathetic with age, aesthetic, perhaps you could get away with calling it, Patina.

 

[GHT]

Let's do another one.
Sools woolfelt hat in black. Unsure about the maker, because all of the labels are gone. Sools had hats made by various manufacturers with Mossant and Laubin as the ones I've seen most often. Size 57 with the brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Really nice proportions to the hat. Even has a bit of reverse taper. First time I've seen a woolfelt hat for Sools, but that could be because they didn't survive. Weighs in at 138 grams. Also an early one.

View attachment 466393 View attachment 466394 View attachment 466395 View attachment 466396 View attachment 466397 View attachment 466398 View attachment 466399 View attachment 466400 View attachment 466401 View attachment 466402
There was a label there once (picture above). The square size points towards Mossant as the most likely maker.

What a coincidence, yesterday I happened to come across a Sools fedora on Etsy that looked like it had been through the Belgium postal system. For a minute there, I thought that I wouldn't find it again.
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/400768569/vintage-french-sools-paris-brown-stetson

 

[steur]

And there was me thinking that The British Royal Mail had the monopoly on customising parcel contents.

The ladies that make my hats use The Royal Mail. The inside of the cartons that they use have a centre circle of stiffened card that the hat sits around then an insert of triangular sections that lock together. Somebody, somewhere has given it much thought. I'm tempted to think that it was an ex-postal employee.

The appearance of your bowler has a good, sympathetic with age, aesthetic, perhaps you could get away with calling it, Patina.

It seems to be part of an international agreement, Robert
It has patina in spades and the hat is still perfectly wearable, so we roll with the punches.

 

[steur]

What a coincidence, yesterday I happened to come across a Sools fedora on Etsy that looked like it had been through the Belgium postal system. For a minute there, I thought that I wouldn't find it again.
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/400768569/vintage-french-sools-paris-brown-stetson

That description on Etsy is a bit of a mess and I don't see the "Stetson" brand anywhere on the hat. Laubin didn't have a Stetson license; Mayser held that for mainland Europe and Failsworth held it for Great Britain. Sools hats are almost always a safe bet though. Let me illustrate that in the next post

 

[steur]

I commented yesterday that I really like these lottery hats; hats with poor descriptions, bad pictures and no size given. Mainly because they are cheap and I'm in the fortunate position to have the most common hatsize. To illustrate: this Sools hat is one of those lottery hats I bought.
Mossant Castor Hudson (beaverfelt) homburg for Sools in blue called bleu mattan (matt blue). Size 56 with the brim at 6cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Doesn't get much better than this; the felt is fabulous with a great hand to it and the colour, while being distinctly blue, is still subtle. Weighs 138 grams.

 

[steur]

Last one (for now). The Transatlantic trade is still going and this hat was part of it. Kindly provided by @M Hatman (thanks Mark).
Knox Premier Westlite in silverbelly. Size 56 with the bound brim at a generous 7cm and hte crown at 11cm at the center dent. The felt on this one is stellar. Shapes easily and holds without steam and the hand is smooth and soft. High quality hat. I have another Westlite in the collection, which is also a fine hat, but not as good as this one. Weighs 125 grams. and has that really cool Knox windcord button.