Skimmer or Boater & a Pith Helmet -New or Old?

[Martina]

Ok, it seems like now that I'm digging through some of this 'stuff' I have lots
more questions! Here are two hats that I've had for ages and ages that I'm
hoping to get some information on:

I read the Skimmer thread but no one talked about a 'painted' skimmer.
This first hat I'll show has a 2.25" brim in the front and back. On the sides,
it's just about 2.5 (it's between 3/8-4/8). Also, notice that it's white, well
not WHITE whit but more old white; on the edges here and there, I can see
the natural color of the straw. Inside, there are two rows of red stitching
that hold down the ribbon -the row closest to the crown goes all the way
around. The one closest to the brim is only for a short bit in the back. The
yellow tag says Medium and it's the original, as it's sewn to the brim by the
red thread. I guess maybe no one got around to wearing this hat...
SO it is a Skimmer or a Boater, old or a repro?

Here's the second one, the Pith. The brown/tan bands are faux leather. The
turquoise and white tag says "Dorfman Pacific Co., Inc, Oakland, California -94621;
it's located on the outside of the plastic? covering of the inside of the hat.
The other label, in the center of the crown says IHI Sun Proof Hat, Made in India.
The inner green linen was hand sewn to the outer tan fabric. The inner brown
band is not leather and it's backed by with a cream woven fabric (probaly to
make it stiffer. Lastly, if you lift up that brown band, you can see woven
pith? I am guessing it's pith; it feels a bit to me like bamboo and the lengths
would peel apart if you got one and stripped it downward.

Want to hear the oddest thing? I was checking this hat again for the post
and noticed that one of the flaps lifted. Behind the plastic is paper (the silver|
stars). The plastic and paper is made up in panels and this hat has eight.
Each panel is tucked behind the woven pith edge, that is behind the brown
band, and the panels can be lifted up!! Behind the panels are 2 receipts BUT
they're sort of part of the hat and 'squished' up against the entire inside of the crown.
This is SOOOOO interesting! One of the papers says Calcutta on it and a
bunch of other stuff AND it says Price: Rs 800.00 (Rupees right?) Anyway,
even if the hat's worth nothing, this part is so interesting! And no, I don't
see a date on there but the papers are creased and folded terribly!

Ok, now I promise to stop posting for a bit! Even I'm getting tired of seeing myself type!

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[Orgetorix]

No idea about the pith helmet.

The other looks like a repro to me. I don't know whether to call it a boater or a skimmer; some people say it depends on the brim width, but I think they are interchangable terms for the same thing. As I say, I think it's a repro, and a cheap one at that. Reasons: 1) no sweatband; 2) no liner; 3) the straw is thin and flat and looks suspiciously like shantung (paper) straw--the vintage boaters I've seen had thicker, more dimensional straw; and 4) the weave looks simple and cheaply done, not like the more complex weaves I've seen on vintage boaters. Honestly, this looks more like a novelty item than a real meant-for-wearing hat.

My vintage (1920s) boater, for comparison:

 

[Fletch]

The pith is from the '60s or after, because the Dorfman tag contains a zipcode. Likely '70s-'80s based on the lettering in the tags.

 

[Martina]

OK, crawling away now... head hung down in shame
I'll get the hang of this sooner or later!

 

[GregK]

Skimmer

I have one, and always thot it to be a "Skimmer". Bot it at a costumers store, used to wear it when driving my '35 Terraplane. (Was born that year too) Also at times in a play or musical.

 

[jboeke]

Hi Martina

I found your (2+ year old) post via a Google search and had a little bit more information about the Pith hat. For Halloween, I was Col. Mustard from Clue. I purchased my hat as a prop from an antique shop for $25 and wanted to know more about it. Your description matches the hat I have nearly identically. The only difference is that the color of the fabric backing the inside band is blue instead of cream.

I looked inside at the crunched up paper liner and mine actually had a readily visible date!

July 6, 1977

So, my best guess is that the hat was manufactured shortly thereafter.

Jonathan

 

[Fletch]

A pithy tale

This thread reminds me of the story of Orson Welles' first time on the radio. It was 1934, Orson was 18, and he and Joseph Cotten were rehearsing a dramatic show about a rubber plantation.

At one point someone had to say a certain line, and it always cracked Welles up. At some point, Cotten began cracking up, drawing a nasty lecture from the director for both of them.

The line was something about..."barrels and barrels of pith!"

The director got his though. On air day, the actor reciting the line didn't get past "barrels and barrels" before the entire cast and crew started howling. Never even got to pith.

Pith is actually a plant matter like cork, out of which the helmets were once made.
It's also used figuratively, to mean the essence or core of something. A pithy statement is short and to the point.