Thanks.
I'm curious about the overall price of the hats, which I'll have to adjust for inflation of course, and their relationship to the overall cost of a person's wardrobe. I know that people generally had fewer changes of clothes back then (or certainly pre modern washing machine), so figuring it out is a little bit of a chore.
For that matter, if a person wanted was looking at a good working hat (speaking of cowboy hats), and comparing it to the cost for a good working hat back in the day, how does that pan out? Its not instantly apparent.
Following up a bit, I found some ads from 1915 where Stetsons started at about $3.50 and ranged up to about $6.00. In today's prices, that's actually a price between $88.00 and $152.00. But the hats themselves aren't described, so I don't know if those are cowboy hats or otherwise men's dress hats.
Am I reading this right that a No. 1 Quality hat cost $60.00? That would have been over $900 in contemporary greenbacks.
These are dealer price lists showing wholesale cost per dozen.
Just curious if anyone has purchased a Nobel Stetson.
And if so do you have any pictures of it from the front?
All pictures i've found are only side pics.
I'm not a fan of a tapered crown and would like to make sure.
Just curious if anyone has purchased a Nobel Stetson.
And if so do you have any pictures of it from the front?
All pictures i've found are only side pics.
I'm not a fan of a tapered crown and would like to make sure.
Looks like a six month delivery lead. By that time we'll be back into straw hats for the summer. The exchange rate is in favor for US buyers for sure and I will look for some photos of it on here.I'm not up on the details of current Stetsons, but I recommend that you look at the Akubra Campdraft. It has the same dimensions as the Open Road, but comes open crown, so you can crease it as either a western hat or a fedora. It costs less than the Stetson, and the materials/manufacturing quality is comparable - many would say better. It's a VERY popular hat around here, lots of us have them.
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I'm looking at the Stetson site about to purchase an Open Road or Stratoliner and see there are a few versions of each model. Pricing of the most expensive model is easy to figure out it's about the material. My question is how do the others differ and what would you spec out for any similar hat to be worn in a state where it could get wet from rain and snow.
I'm looking at the Stetson site about to purchase an Open Road or Stratoliner and see there are a few versions of each model. Pricing of the most expensive model is easy to figure out it's about the material. My question is how do the others differ and what would you spec out for any similar hat to be worn in a state where it could get wet from rain and snow.
Brent -@jlee562 summed it up perfectly. I’ll add that I personally haven’t seen a modern Stetson Royal (not to be confused with the Royal DeLuxe) that has impressed me in any way.
I recently received my first modern Royal DeLuxe Open Road (OR). The felt was soft with a nice hand, but it’s thick and not very moldable. The crown is also too low for me and took some re-shaping to get it to work where the crease didn’t touch the top of my head. It’s not a bad hat, but it’s not great either, and I’m going to list it on eBay. I’d like to give the Pure OR a try, but not at anything close to retail pricing. At retail, I can have a custom 100% beaver hat made and that’s a better way to go for me.
I’ve got rid of most of my Akubra Campdrafts too. The crowns are at least 1/2 inches too low for my tastes (I like tall crowns) and the felt just doesn’t do anything for me. I will say that Akubra isn’t very consistent and some past felt has been much nicer than what I’ve seen recently; although, none of it has ever been top notch. That’s not a dig on Akubra as their price point/market placement isn’t to compete with the best hats out there.
Brent -
I like tall crowns, too. I have two Campdraft fedora, mainly because I have never been able to find a fedora with a taller crown. What have you found with taller crowns?
If you are looking for an Open Road style hat that will take rain and snow with no issues I would go for a Akubra campdraft. I have many Akubra hats and would not hesitate on wearing any in bad weather. Stetson hats are much more fancy, finished dress hats rather than work hats. I would call them city hats. If you are not going to be exposed to a lot of elements I would not hesitate on buying one. If you want to protect it and make sure there are no issues. I would use Scotchguard or some other similar product. Give it a hit every 3-6 months and water should bead off your hat.I'm looking at the Stetson site about to purchase an Open Road or Stratoliner and see there are a few versions of each model. Pricing of the most expensive model is easy to figure out it's about the material. My question is how do the others differ and what would you spec out for any similar hat to be worn in a state where it could get wet from rain and snow.