jimmy the lid
I'll Lock Up
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When I opened the box and took out this hat, I thought there must have been some mistake. It is absolutely jet black and looks as if it was made earlier this month and shipped to me by a custom hatter. No kidding, it looks like an absolutely brand new hat. So much so, in fact, that I thought that someone had simply taken an old sweat and sewn it into a new hat. Honestly, I was bummed -- until I discovered the Stetson tags under the sweat, one of which has a serial number that matches the serial number stamped on the back of the sweat!
The felt, as previously mentioned, is jet black. It is hard to convey this in photographs, but the first photo below, taken with flash, gives a very good sense of how this hat looks in daylight, as well. There is a very small hole in the curl at the very front of the hat -- but, other than that, the felt is in mint condition. It is amazingly malleable -- just like clay in terms of taking any shape that is squeezed into it. It is also extremely dense and smooth, but still fairly lightweight. Given what must be this hat's age, I'm wondering whether this felt was made using mercury, and whether the density and smoothness is a result of this process.
The curled brim on this one is 3". Open crown height is 5 1/2". The sweat is actually in amazing condition -- still extremely supple. It is taped at the back seam.
I would love to hear from those who might have an idea as to dating this one. My reading in the Snyder Stetson book suggests a time frame anywhere from 1900 through the 1920's, but I don't have enough info to really pin this down.
In any event, I thought it would be worth documenting this one fairly thoroughly...
Cheers,
JtL
The felt, as previously mentioned, is jet black. It is hard to convey this in photographs, but the first photo below, taken with flash, gives a very good sense of how this hat looks in daylight, as well. There is a very small hole in the curl at the very front of the hat -- but, other than that, the felt is in mint condition. It is amazingly malleable -- just like clay in terms of taking any shape that is squeezed into it. It is also extremely dense and smooth, but still fairly lightweight. Given what must be this hat's age, I'm wondering whether this felt was made using mercury, and whether the density and smoothness is a result of this process.
The curled brim on this one is 3". Open crown height is 5 1/2". The sweat is actually in amazing condition -- still extremely supple. It is taped at the back seam.
I would love to hear from those who might have an idea as to dating this one. My reading in the Snyder Stetson book suggests a time frame anywhere from 1900 through the 1920's, but I don't have enough info to really pin this down.
In any event, I thought it would be worth documenting this one fairly thoroughly...
Cheers,
JtL
