Stetson "Philly" Fedora

[jimmy the lid]

Over the Labor Day weekend, I found two very special vintage Stetsons on the Bay. The first of these arrived today -- a beautiful chocolate brown Royal DeLuxe Stetson with a khaki green ribbon, in mint condition. One of the things that makes this hat special, in my view, is that it came from the Stetson company retail store at 1224 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The label on the box indicates that the hat was delivered to a gentleman living in the Philadelphia area, but it certainly appears that it was never worn -- in fact, as pictured below, the hat came out of the box in open crown condition. The open crown is 5 1/2" and the brim width is 2 5/8". The crown of the liner is covered with a translucent material (not plastic).

Snyder's "Stetson Hats" book states that all hats sold in the Philadelphia company retail store were stamped with the date of purchase. Snyder got this one right -- the inside of the sweatband is stamped December 15, 1948. The hat sold for $12.50.

The felt is medium weight, and holds the bash when shaped by hand. In a departure from my usual mode, I've decided to go with a center dent, which I think looks very appropriate on this lid. The color of the khaki green ribbon against the chocolate brown is truly beautiful.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[HamletJSD]

My word ....

That is beautiful ...

(searches for "awestruck smiley")

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Awesome, breathtaking, smooth...Words fail me! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[AlanC]

Gorgeous!

 

[feltfan]

Very nice and very interesting.

I recall that K.D. Lightner has a OR with the
same liner tag. I seem to recall that someone
had a homburg with the same liner that I speculated
was from WWII. I theorized that the liner tag indicated
that the liner wasn't silk, implying that Stetson was doing
its part to let the military have their share of silk (for
parachutes) and that this liner was, therefore, a good
way to date the hat as WWII era. Now I'm not so sure.

I suppose that 3 years after WWII Stetson could have been
using silk liners again if they had wanted to do so and there
would not be much cache in advertising that they are not
using silk...

 

[surely]

It looks like the pinch is slightly off center. Otherwise its PERFECT!!...

 

[Rick Blaine]

A STUNNER!

... and quite Whippet-esque. How'd I miss that one?

 

[jimmy the lid]

Many thanks, Gents!

Rick -- I had the same reaction. It really does seem quite "Whippet-esque," doesn't it?

Cheers,
JtL

 

[duggap]

Man, that hat does look like it was never on a head. It is a real special find.:eusa_clap

 

[jimmy the lid]

It looks like the pinch is slightly off center. Otherwise its PERFECT!!...

It's the lighting! It's the lighting! (Not that I'm a perfectionist about these things... )

Cheers,
JtL

 

[BJBAmerica]

Fantabulous!!!! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[besdor]

Jimmy, that hat is a gem. I have a Stetson Top hat from the Philly store. I know that the store was there for many years and sold a lot of hats but yours is a beautiful vintage hat. My size too!!
It's worth every penny you paid for it. You are luck Douglas missed that one.


Steven

 

[tonyb]

Man oh man, Jimmy, your collection is becoming something special indeed.
I happen to have a Chestnut Street lid as well, but mine, a sky blue Stetson 20 Ambassador, is a bit newer -- Dec. 23, 1957. And yes, of course I'll be wearing that hat on the 50th anniversary of its original sale date. Just last night I flipped my wall calendar forward to December to mark that date as a reminder to wear the blue smoothie and saw that I had already done so at some point earlier this year. I take it as a sign of creeping decrepitude that I have absolutely no recollection of having made that calendar entry.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Jimmy, that hat is a gem...You are lucky Douglas missed that one.

Thanks, Steven. I slipped a "mickey" into Douglas' drink just before the auction closed...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[DOUGLAS]

THAT IS AN AMAZING HAT

 

[barrowjh]

OH! what a beautiful hat. I'm partial to use of greens anyway, and I notice that green ribbon is sometimes used on brown felt, wonder if it was ever done the other way around - medium grey-brown ribbon on a khaki green felt. I should probably take a cue from the popularity of the former combination and absence of the latter; this hat is beautiful. keeps us searching! thanks for sharing the pics-

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Barry, You took the word right out of my mouth!!!

 

[carter]

AWESOME! THat is a TERRIFIC HAT! Congratulations. :eusa_clap

 

[LEUII]

Incredible.

 

[deanglen]

As if I could add to the awestruck responses, here's a shot: That hat is in a word, 'pristine', and that's a good thing.

dean