Stetson Open Road Panama Straw.

[danofarlington]

I have never seen a Panama with a cattleman's crease. That is a great looking hat.

I should say a true, tight weave Panama.

That is one super Panama in terms of weave.

 

[Joshbru3]

Is that even POSSIBLE? Will most panamas hold up to re-crease?
I thought it was pretty much a "done deal".
Please document your process and progress!

I would say it really depends on the straw and how much stiffener is used. I would also say that age is a factor. A new Stetson straw is usually formed with hydraulic steam presses which press the shape into the crown. The shape can be un-done, but it needs to be done with LOTS of steam and patience. If the hat is relatively new and the straw is not dryed out, its possible. If the straw is old and dried, it makes things a bit more difficult. I have reshaped a better weave panama straw which turned out great. I have a feeling that this new Stetson Open Road will be pretty easy to re-block because since so much stiffener is used, once the steam is taken off the hat, the stiffener will stiffen up fairly quickly and keep shape.

Here's a 1940's/1950's Panama Montecristi that I re-blocked and reshaped by hand with some steam, water, and a TON of patience.

Before Pics:

After:

 

[Rick Blaine]

Outstanding!!!

i would say it really depends on the straw and how much stiffener is used. I would also say that age is a factor. A new stetson straw is usually formed with hydraulic steam presses which press the shape into the crown. The shape can be un-done, but it needs to be done with lots of steam and patience. If the hat is relatively new and the straw is not dryed out, its possible. If the straw is old and dried, it makes things a bit more difficult. I have reshaped a better weave panama straw which turned out great. I have a feeling that this new stetson open road will be pretty easy to re-block because since so much stiffener is used, once the steam is taken off the hat, the stiffener will stiffen up fairly quickly and keep shape.

Here's a 1940's/1950's panama montecristi that i re-blocked and reshaped by hand with some steam, water, and a ton of patience.

Before pics:

after:

 

[Doomstein]

I just picked up one of these Stetson OR-Style panama's at an antique shop here in Dade City, FL. Sweatband says it was sold out of a local department store in Dade City named Hardy's. This hat is a nice little piece of local color : D

 

[Rick Blaine]

NICE CATCH!
:eusa_clap
Lemee know if it don't agree w/ you or you feel like a trade, eh?

I just picked up one of these Stetson OR-Style panama's at an antique shop here in Dade City, FL. Sweatband says it was sold out of a local department store in Dade City named Hardy's. This hat is a nice little piece of local color : D

 

[Doomstein]

In case anyone is still wondering, these particular hats are very easy to re-shape with steam. I just steamed mine from Cattleman's crease to C-crown fedora with a snapped down front, and back to cattleman with a little upward western up-flip on the sides of the brim.

@Rick

Give me a few days to see if it suits me. It's cool, but I'm not married to it. Size is a 7 1/2. Let me know what you have in trade though, that may just budge if it's cool enough. Just an FYI though, the sweatband is brittle from age and is cracking and may eventually fall apart, so it'll probably need a replacement soon. A shame.

 

[DougC]

That is one nice hat!

 

[DJH]

The other day I had the opportunity to compare the Panama and the Shantung Open Roads side by side, in one of the western stores in Ft Worth.

The Straw for the Panama is quite nice, soft and consistent weave. The Shantung on the other hand was rather stiff and had a plastic feel, the paper material presumably has a coating to stop it desolving if it gets a little wet. The Shantung "straw" is really white, compared to a more natural light tan(ish) for the Panama.

The Panama also has a decent sweatband, which feels as though it is proper leather.

Strangly, the quality of the finishng was actually better on the Shantung hats. There was quite a pile of Panamas and in every case the ribbon was fitted too high on the hat, by about one ribbon width - I could see all the stitching holding the sweatband in place and the curve of the brim break. Odd that Hatco would let them leave the factory like that - Mr Deckerd needs to take over QA there as well as his other duties.

The Panamas were priced at $150 ($80 for the Shantungs, I think) a decent price, other than if you bought one, you'd have to fix the ribbon.

 

[RJR]

I have both,DJH is correct on all counts.

 

[Bugguy]

I just picked up this Stetson Shantung Qualifier at an estate sale this weekend - a Dee Pickett signature. I haven't seen anything about the Qualifier at the Lounge, though I may have missed it buried in a Stetson thread. I was hoping to get a light hat like this for the summer and got lucky @ $30. Its in great shape and is actually my size. Any idea when this might have been sold - 1980's? I haven't been into western, but as I try to get out of Cincinnati and head down to Nashville, I figure this is a move in the right direction.

 

[Landman]

It was probably sold in the mid 1980's. He won the world title in 1984.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Old thread


...on the way from Yankee-land! Lotsa' summer left, eh?

 

[TPD166]

Just listed a great straw Open Road in the classifieds:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?82745-Like-New-Panama-Straw-Open-Road-–-Size-7-3-8

 

[Joshbru3]

Modern Stetson Open Road Panama Straw (Original pics and redo photos) PART 1

I have wanted to buy one of these Modern Stetson Open Road Panama Straws for a while now. I finally pulled the trigger when I saw that Delmonico was selling out of all the sizes and stated on their website that they would not be getting any more in stock after their current stock was sold out. I paid $147.50 with free shipping.

Let me first say off the bat that these hats are ABSOLUTELY worth $150. Honestly. No, they are not a fine quality Monticristi, but they are also not $2000+ either. They are a very nicely woven Brisa/Cuenca weave. Panama grades are very similar to XXXXXXXX's in western felt......no one really knows what the number of "X's" mean. I have bought modern Stetson panamas in the past and this hat seems to me to be a grade 12-14 when compared to the several Grade 8 panamas I have bought in the past. The crown top weave is very nice and tight, and the rest of the hat is finished in a very nice, but slightly coarser weave than the crown tip. Whatever "grade" it is.......its a very solid hat.

I am not a fan of a cattleman crease in a fedora....and yes....I consider an OPEN ROAD to be more of a fedora than a western hat. I decided to re-block and re-flange the hat and also replace the ribbon. The sweatband is a very nice quality roan leather, so I left that alone.


Here's how I received the hat.........

It had a western style flange and Cattleman crease.

























Here are the pics after the hat was re-blocked, re-flanged, and the original ribbon was removed....

 

[Joshbru3]

PART 2

The original ribbon work wasn't terrible, but I wanted to replace the modern synthetic ribbon with NOS cotton/rayon ribbon that I own from 1958. Shockingly it was basically the same color. I just copied the original bow style but decided to add "V" cutouts on the ends of the ribbon.










Here is the hat totally finished before it was creased. I decided to add a modern Stetson liner to this hat because I love the way that liners look in panama straw hats.

















Here's the hat after it was creased and the brim was snapped down. I really love the way it came out

 

[DJH]

Looks good, Josh, better than the original style.

I agree about the cattleman crease. I like it on westerns, but for me the OR proportions are out of balance when creased that way.

 

[Mm25]

PART 2

The original ribbon work wasn't terrible, but I wanted to replace the modern synthetic ribbon with NOS cotton/rayon ribbon that I own from 1958. Shockingly it was basically the same color. I just copied the original bow style but decided to add "V" cutouts on the ends of the ribbon.










Here is the hat totally finished before it was creased. I decided to add a modern Stetson liner to this hat because I love the way that liners look in panama straw hats.

















Here's the hat after it was creased and the brim was snapped down. I really love the way it came out

Great pics, especially from inside to show the weave with the light coming through. I think it's a beautiful hat either way. I love the cattleman crease, but the final product is remade exactly as you want it and looks as sharp as any hat I've seen.

 

[RJR]

PART 2

The original ribbon work wasn't terrible, but I wanted to replace the modern synthetic ribbon with NOS cotton/rayon ribbon that I own from 1958. Shockingly it was basically the same color. I just copied the original bow style but decided to add "V" cutouts on the ends of the ribbon.










Here is the hat totally finished before it was creased. I decided to add a modern Stetson liner to this hat because I love the way that liners look in panama straw hats.

















Here's the hat after it was creased and the brim was snapped down. I really love the way it came out

Nice job of customizing.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Just great.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Geez...that Open Road Straw has a super nice pattern on the top of the crown, too, in the weave! I have seen some really sweet looking straw hats being worked on over the years from Josh....he has a great eye and a well learned knack for making an ordinary boring looking hat, look "damned fine" by the time he is done. Amazing work, fantastic looking hat!