Pre-WWII Fedoras

[thecollegeguy123]

As I find out more about fedoras, the more I have realized that they can be seperated into two categories. The pre-WWII fedoras were sold open crown with no taper while the post-WWII came pre-creased with some or a lot of taper. I seem to like the prefer the pre-WWII ones over the newer ones. However, the only fedora I have is the Akubra Bogart, which is pre-creased and the crown has a slight taper. For my second fedora, I would like to have a pre-WWII fedora. Unfortunately, they can be expensive, so I searched for modern reproductions of them. They only two I could find were the Akubra Adventurer and the Akubra Federation. All other modern fedoras seem to have pre-creased tapered crowns. Is Akubra the only option for me, or have I missed something?

 

[jlee562]

The war wasn't the breaking point between open crown/pre creased or taper/no taper.

Most of my vintage hats are 50's/60's era and came open crown. Open crown hats lasted well into the 60's before being taken over by the pre-creased variety.

Stetson's new Stetsonian and Premiere stratoliner hats draw their roots from the 40's. But no, there are not a lot of open crown hats available off the rack.

 

[TheDane]

Straight crowns is not just "pre WWII". It's true, that they were popular during some years before the war, but before that, a lot of soft hats had tapered crowns. Pre-creased fedoras from major companies were also widely spread in the 40s and 50s. I don't think I have a single vintage Lee, that originally came open crown. During the first 5 decades of last century a lot of styles were produced at any given time. There are no strict "dates of change". Most changes have been slow - each stretching over several decades.

 

[splintercellsz]

Pending your hear size, pre-40s hats can be found for very reasonable prices. The larger the size the harder they are to find and the higher the cost.

I mainly focus my collection to the pre-wwii time frame (Mainly 20s and older) and have found that looking at every resource is your best bet. Patience pays off. Trust me.

The new stetsonian has s very vintage profile, and looks great!! You can also save up and go the custom route to have the hat of your dreams produced.

Also, many older hats will have the original owners creases in their memory so they really are not true open crown, unless they are deadstock or NOS.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[fedoracentric]

Precreased hats became far more common starting in the 1960s as local hat shops disappeared and the experienced hands that helped customers crease them and that manned those shops went away. So, I disagree very much with your thought that hats are somehow separated in two classes like that. Companies that specialized in more economical hats like the JCPenny Marathon often came pre-creased. Adams and Lee too offered many precreased. But Knox, Stetson and makers like Dobbs sold open crowns almost to the end. So, I disagree very much with your thought that hats are somehow separated in two classes like that. It isn't nearly as clear cut as that.

 

[thecollegeguy123]

Pending your hear size, pre-40s hats can be found for very reasonable prices. The larger the size the harder they are to find and the higher the cost.

I mainly focus my collection to the pre-wwii time frame (Mainly 20s and older) and have found that looking at every resource is your best bet. Patience pays off. Trust me.

The new stetsonian has s very vintage profile, and looks great!! You can also save up and go the custom route to have the hat of your dreams produced.

Also, many older hats will have the original owners creases in their memory so they really are not true open crown, unless they are deadstock or NOS.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

Thank you for telling me about the Stetson Stetsonian. You are correct, it does look like a great vintage hat.

 

[fedoracentric]

I recently saw one of Stetson's new open crown Stetsonians. I was very, very impressed with it. And I am shocked by that.

 

[thecollegeguy123]

I recently saw one of Stetson's new open crown Stetsonians. I was very, very impressed with it. And I am shocked by that.

Why are you shocked by that?

 

[fedoracentric]

Why are you shocked by that?

Because it is a new hat, factory hat, not a vintage hat. I was shocked at how nice the new Stetson was. The felt was thinner than the usual clumsy, thick stiff they usually have, it wasn't all stiff like a board, and the crown was easily shapable. They really did a great job with the one I saw.

 

[jlee562]

The new Premiere Stratoliner has my seal of approval, for what it's worth. They're well made hats.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Why are you shocked by that?

You need to have seen previous Stetson's. The new version has issues put it is a big step up for Stetson.