Stetson Sweat Stamps/ LOT XXXX

[alanfgag]

I knew that would be an early one... thanks for adding it here.

 

[alanfgag]

Stetson Leghorn

Interesting factory reject stamp... lot 7740

 

[alanfgag]

The Stetson Special

Lot 7620

 

[alanfgag]

Stetson No.1 Quality campaign hat

Lot 7305

 

[alanfgag]

Stetson Standard Quality "Aristocrat"

Lot 75XX

 

[alanfgag]

Stetson Premier Quality Featherweight derby

Lot 5476 (educated guess on the 5 after Photoshop forensics)

 

[mikespens]

Lot 5476 (educated guess on the 5 after Photoshop forensics)

Fantastic Allen, the inside looks like the lap of luxury.

 

[Dinerman]

Stetson for Marshall Field.
Lot 5992

 

[Dinerman]

NRA tagged Stetson Panama

Lot 6(?)80. Maybe 6880?

 

[alanfgag]

Excellent, Spencer... thanks for adding.

It would be nice to have enough hats here to make a numerical (chronological) photo gallery of Stetson hat samples. I haven't seen a number in the 8XXX yet. It seems that this stamping practice did not emerge from the other side of WWII. I wonder what other developments in hat production accompanied this small change in stamping. Outsourced sweatbands, perhaps?

 

[carouselvic]

Lot #7762 early Vita-Felt 2 1/8" wide with corrugated front

Hat has the old gold and black size tag, but has the newer type of sweat resister.

 

[carouselvic]

 

[alanfgag]

I was going to go out on a limb and guess 5XXX but you were too quick on the draw. Great early western... thanks for posting this.

 

[Joshbru3]

I was going to go out on a limb and guess 5XXX but you were too quick on the draw. Great early western... thanks for posting this.

From your research, how does this sweatband stamp line up with others from a similar era?

 

[alanfgag]

From a timeline perspective, Victor's #1 is close to and slightly after my 2 black furry nutria westerns. This must be somewhere in the 1920s. The block (406) and depth (7") are the same.

I would love to see that No1 quality foil imprint up close. In addition to being a rare vertical format, it is the nicest quality imprint of this logo that I've seen yet.

 

[randooch]

What amazes me most about these great old western hats is how the heck they survived all this time with barely any evidence of wear. I suspect that the "stories they could tell" would be more about the action they missed than anything, but that would be just as fascinating to me.

I love the frayed ribbon end on this one.

 

[Walt]

What amazes me most about these great old western hats is how the heck they survived all this time with barely any evidence of wear. I suspect that the "stories they could tell" would be more about the action they missed than anything, but that would be just as fascinating to me.

I love the frayed ribbon end on this one.

I'm in love with that one. Sometimes cowboys kept hats they only wore on special occasions so they didn't get beat up. I'm always happy to see something that also wasn't found by those pesky flying critters.

 

[alanfgag]

Here is rundown of the LOTXXXX numbers we have logged thus far:

numbers Less that 2000/
4

numbers between 2000 - 4000
1

numbers between 4000 - 6000
7

numbers between 6000 - 8000
18

numbers 8000+
0

My guess using other Stetson dating tools is that the highest number hats are c. 1940
The lowest numbers are harder to pin down but I think the earliest hats are in the decade 1910 - 1920.
One rosetta stone entry courtesy of Dinerman's NRA panama, 6880 can be located between 1933 - 1935.
More rosetta stones needed!!

 

[carouselvic]

lot #7026

Here is another NRA Panama Hat. This one has the sweat resistor.

 

[splintercellsz]

I'd look, but I don't want to rip the sweat out in the process, lol!

When I have it sent for cleaning, I will see if the cleaner can take a pic of the numbers.