Stetson Quality Experiment "Think Tank"

[jonbuilder]

Here are pictures of my Steton 25 western I am quessing 60s based on thefback band

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Does anyone here have a Stetson "Fifteen, Twenty, Twenty-Five, Fifty or One Hundred that isn't a Clear Beaver or Open Road?

I'm working on a theory.

GWD, I'm re-reading this thread in full...learning curve.
My
Stetson "20" (Sovereign on sweatband)
Stetson "100"
7x Stetson
Neither of them mentions any beaver content whatever, anywhere.

Paul

 

[GWD]

I have to laugh, sadly, I started this thread thinking as a collective we could decipher the Stetson code. I tried and tried to find some sort of Rosetta Stone that we could use to find the hierarchy of all the monikers Stetson has used throughout the years. After several weeks I did start to find a pattern but it wasn't the quality of hats that I was seeing, it was the age of hats based on the liners and sweatbands.

As I started to lean in that direction Jimmy the Lid took the ball and started his "Field Guide"

I still have hope that someday someone will crack the code but I, like many more before me, have given up. [huh]

 

[Lefty]

Building from JtL's discussion of Royal Stetson Deluxe (the earlier designation) vs. Royal Deluxe Stetson in the OR Guild thread, when did Stetson switch around the terms?

From everything I've found on Vita-Felt, it was gone by the end of 1945. My Vita-Felt reads Royal Stetson Deluxe.

The Stetson Casual was a pretty short-lived model. From what I've been able to find, it was only offered in 45, 46, and 47. Here's mine, reading Royal Deluxe Stetson.

I believe that all of the cross-overs came right at the end of the war. Stetson had created an aggressive marketing strategy soon after the US entered the War, knowing that they'd really need to get a jump on things when the troops returned and production would need to increase. This is where JtL and RBH have shown that the thin-ribbon OR appeared, and when I believe that the shift from RSD to RDS probably took place.

 

[rlk]

They seem to have switched from the crown/brim edge stitched reed(shows as double row of small stitches) to the under-ribbon broader stitched reed at this time as well, another dating subject of interest.

 

[rlk]

ScottF's OR(Lower left w/later reed style) reed stitching has changed and stamp is slightly cruder and closer lettering vs my non OR(name and knot not bow on thin ribbon). All 3 RSdL's are different embossing stamps.

 

[gtdean48]

GWD, I'm re-reading this thread in full...learning curve.
My
Stetson "20" (Sovereign on sweatband)
Stetson "100"
7x Stetson
Neither of them mentions any beaver content whatever, anywhere.

Paul

I have 2 Stetson 25s that do not mention Open Road. 1 is an unbound brim with a 2 ply ribbon & the other is identical to an Open Road, just doesn't say so on the sweatband anywhere.

 

[ScottF]

[
ScottF's OR(Lower left w/later reed style) reed stitching has changed and stamp is slightly cruder and closer lettering vs my non OR(name and knot not bow on thin ribbon). All 3 RSdL's are different embossing stamps.

Just received the hat, and while the gf is out with the camera, I can't take pics, but....the stamp is clearer and more finely detailed than the auction pic - it's different, but not cruder. The main differences I see are that in your the griffin's feathers stick out of the wing and the banner is filled - I'm guessing that means older.

 

[rlk]

Just received the hat, and while the gf is out with the camera, I can't take pics, but....the stamp is clearer and more finely detailed than the auction pic - it's different, but not cruder. The main differences I see are that in your the griffin's feathers stick out of the wing and the banner is filled - I'm guessing that means older.

Perhaps a poor word choice. The sweatband reed attachment is the main difference. The lettering difference is harder to define. The reed attachment (stitching and sweatband)is the same as the later Royal DeLuxe Stetson.

 

[ScottF]

Perhaps a poor word choice. The sweatband reed attachment is the main difference. The lettering difference is harder to define. The reed attachment (stitching and sweatband)is the same as the later Royal DeLuxe Stetson.

Yep. Another difference I just noticed between my O.R.'s is that the Royal Stetson Deluxe has the very smooth sweat, while the Royal Deluxe has the rougher leather.

 

[Dinerman]

Though I've seen ads for 4x stetsons going back quite a ways, I've never seen them. I've seen 4x westerns from the late '60s through to the modern era, but the sweatbands and linings are of the more modern style. I've seen tons of 3xs, two or three 5xs and a good deal of 7xs, but I'm fairly sure I've NEVER seen a 4x like this.

 

[carouselvic]

That is a first for me as well.

 

[ScottF]

That is a first for me as well.

Well, there's one in my size that isn't going to slip under the radar

 

[jimmy the lid]

That is a first for me as well.

Ditto.

 

[Dinerman]

If that 4x brown leather round tag threw you for a loop, check this one out:
A 5X Stetson which isn't late '70s-now or an early clear beaver.

I want to say mid '60s? '65? '66?

 

[carouselvic]

Does the line above the stamp say "5X Beaver Quality"?

 

[Dinerman]

It appears to, and the seller confirms that it does.

 

[Dinerman]

 

[danofarlington]

need hatman input

I'm afraid though that the reality is that many of these designations were pure marketing hype and that the names assigned to them developed organically and without much regard to how these whims related to one another over decade after decade of trying to differentiate their product from others.

I haven't yet read all the pages on this long thread, but I wonder what hatmakers would say about the quality of different Stetsons if they held them in their hands. Myself, I can't tell much difference about quality, other than very fine beaver, which I have recently seen. Can a hatmaker tell which Stetson is better? If not, then it's another case of the "diamond ring ripoff," meaning, if a diamond ring has a flaw in it but you need one of those magnifying glasses to see it, then what does it matter? Why spend extra thousands of dollars for a more flawless diamond that no one could possibly know is flawless? In a parallel way, if people can't tell one hat's quality from the next hat, what does it matter, and why pay more on that score? But if you can tell, then it matters.

 

[Lefty]

The more you handle, the more you'll notice. There might always be some that are too close to call, but what you consider smooth or pliable will develop with experience.