Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Stetson No. 1 Quality

Frontporchcharlie

Familiar Face
Messages
52
Picked up this one the other day, I don't know anything about it other that it's a No. 1 Quality hat. Original price was $14.95.
1771003299647.jpg
1861.jpg
1857.jpg
1864.jpg
 

MikeinRome

One Too Many
Messages
1,358
About 1941-42 Stetson Number 1 Quality Vita Felt hat, with 3 1/2 inch brim with underbinding and 6 1/4 inch open crown. It has the smaller No. 1 Quality emblem seen in later hats and this is a very early example of it. It's also an early example of a Vita Felt Western Stetson. Purchased from a Lounge member but never posted on FL by him. The Lot Number is on the side instead of the front and it's very faint. All I can tell for sure is the first number is 7 and maybe the second is 7, but I won't attempt to guess the entire number. I don't think it's possible that this hat is any later than 1942 at the max.
PS - My Gene Autrey Number 1 Quality hat, Lot Number 7686, has the older large Number 1 Quality emblem, and he signed it in August 1941.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20260405_130624_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130624_HDR.jpg
    3.3 MB · Views: 48
  • IMG_20260405_130849_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130849_HDR.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 51
  • IMG_20260405_131136_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_131136_HDR.jpg
    3.1 MB · Views: 37
  • IMG_20260405_130938_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130938_HDR.jpg
    2.7 MB · Views: 50
  • IMG_20260405_130930_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130930_HDR.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 54
  • IMG_20260405_130501_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130501_HDR.jpg
    3.1 MB · Views: 41
  • IMG_20260405_130522_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130522_HDR.jpg
    3 MB · Views: 43
  • IMG_20260405_130431_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130431_HDR.jpg
    3.2 MB · Views: 47
  • IMG_20260405_130344_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130344_HDR.jpg
    3.5 MB · Views: 52
  • IMG_20260405_130327_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_130327_HDR.jpg
    3.3 MB · Views: 50
Last edited:

MikeinRome

One Too Many
Messages
1,358
About 1940 Stetson Number 1 Quality with 3 1/2 inch brim as finished and 7 inch open crown. Lot Number 7618. Purchased from a Lounge member but never posted on FL by him. I started to say this was a late 30's hat, but since it's become apparent that the Stetson Lot Numbers seem to run up to about 1942, I've amended my date estimate.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20260405_141828_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_141828_HDR.jpg
    3.6 MB · Views: 48
  • IMG_20260405_141856_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_141856_HDR.jpg
    2.9 MB · Views: 46
  • IMG_20260405_141938_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_141938_HDR.jpg
    3.5 MB · Views: 50
  • IMG_20260405_142104_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_142104_HDR.jpg
    2.7 MB · Views: 40
  • IMG_20260405_142050_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_142050_HDR.jpg
    2.7 MB · Views: 37
  • IMG_20260405_142129_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_142129_HDR.jpg
    2.3 MB · Views: 41
  • IMG_20260405_142353_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_142353_HDR.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 40
  • IMG_20260405_142317_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_142317_HDR.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 35
  • IMG_20260405_142439_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260405_142439_HDR.jpg
    2.5 MB · Views: 51
Last edited:

MikeinRome

One Too Many
Messages
1,358
Stetson Number 1 Quality. Has 4 1/2 inch bound brim. The open crown measures 6 1/2 inches but the mfg tag says the Depth is 7 inches, so hat seems to have a lot of shrinkage. Looks like there's a Lot Number that's too faint to read. I guess this is a 1930's hat. I think the Block Number is 406 on mfg tag.
I sent this hat to be cleaned and stretched. I also had the crown reshaped to copy a crown that Jesse John did to a hat some months back, because I wanted something different from my other hat crowns. Thanks, Jesse!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20260407_151819_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260407_151819_HDR.jpg
    3.7 MB · Views: 49
  • IMG_20260407_151832_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260407_151832_HDR.jpg
    3.3 MB · Views: 47
  • IMG_20260407_151843_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20260407_151843_HDR.jpg
    3.5 MB · Views: 45

MikeinRome

One Too Many
Messages
1,358
Stevenson in Manhattan is where I would go with my dad as a kid. He bought a lot of hats there. I still live there. I like to tell folks I like on the upper west side…
Back around 1990, I had a serious girlfriend who lived at the corner of West 57th and 8th Avenue, where I'd sometimes stay.
 

MikeinRome

One Too Many
Messages
1,358
Stetson Number 1 Quality with 3 1/4 inch brim and 5 1/2 inch open crown. The Lot Number looks like either 48X5 or 43X5 to me, and the fact that it has an inventory tag pre-dating the brown tags suggests it's before 1920.but it might date right around 1920 at the latest.
The hat was advertised as a U.S. Forest Service hat having no brand markings!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20261030_131801_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_131801_HDR.jpg
    3.7 MB · Views: 5
  • IMG_20261030_131818_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_131818_HDR.jpg
    3.4 MB · Views: 5
  • IMG_20261030_131900_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_131900_HDR.jpg
    3.6 MB · Views: 5
  • IMG_20261030_131938_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_131938_HDR.jpg
    4.3 MB · Views: 4
  • IMG_20261030_132155_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_132155_HDR.jpg
    2.6 MB · Views: 4
  • IMG_20261030_132215_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_132215_HDR.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 5
  • IMG_20261030_132651_HDR.jpg
    IMG_20261030_132651_HDR.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 4
  • Screenshot_20261030-134036.png
    Screenshot_20261030-134036.png
    951.3 KB · Views: 2

VoodooSan

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,737
Location
Boise, ID
Stetson Number 1 Quality with 3 1/4 inch brim and 5 1/2 inch open crown. The Lot Number looks like either 48X5 or 43X5 to me, and the fact that it has an inventory tag pre-dating the brown tags suggests it's before 1920.but it might date right around 1920 at the latest.
The hat was advertised as a U.S. Forest Service hat having no brand markings!!
Yowza!!! That's KILLER, Mike!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
115,654
Messages
3,197,473
Members
59,266
Latest member
shyyour
Top