Stetson Three Hundred..... or....

[buler]

Ok, didn't find a mythical unicorn-hat. But I did receive these 3 Stetson One Hundred's today! Been waiting for these for a while. They were all owned by Colorado Gov. Dan Thornton. He was known for always wearing cowboy boots and a hat.

They are all size 7 3/8 (seller told me they were all 7 3/4... ). Each has Dan Thornton on the sweatband. 2 have one style of the "Stetson 100" mark on the sweat and the 3rd is a different size. The one with the different mark also has the "Stetson One-Hundred" on the liner and has "Stetson One-Hundred" on the sweat. It also has a badge on the wind trolley button. One of the other two has a tag on the back of the sweat that says "Open Road Nat. 100.00 7 3/8". All three have the window-paned rear sweat.

These hats were definitely worn. One is pretty dirty. I may drive them all to Optimo for a cleaning. Seller did not have the original boxes.

B

HAT #1:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/mrsony/hat1_5.jpg

 

[buler]

HAT # 2:

 

[buler]

HAT #3:

 

[buler]

Pics of the Gov

Here are 2 pictures I found of Gov Dan Thornton possibly wearing one of these hats.

 

[Garrett]

Nice find indeed. Congrats!

 

[Chinaski]

Buler? Buler? You are out of your mind with amazing acquisitions lately! You've done well, my son.

 

[zetwal]

And I thought the 300 was just a myth! Dare I whisper the rumor that a Stetson 500 may have been spotted out in Colorado?

 

[billyspew]

You are one lucky hat hunter

More pictures of them...?

Here
And here

 

[Lefty]

 

[univibe88]

Wow!! Amazing....and my size!

 

[Justdog]

300

:eusa_clap

 

[XPLSV]

OK...I've already ragged on my Mom for not finding me some nice vintage hats in the greater Milwaukee area...and now you're pulling hats out of my area in Colorado!!!

You've had some amazing finds this year! :eusa_clap

Bernie

 

[dhermann1]

You made me Google

And here's what I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_I.J._Thornton
Very very cool, to find the Stetsons of a famous Stetson wearer.

 

[Lefty]

So, did the Governor own these, or are these the model from the catalog - and how would anyone ever know which was true?

Here are 10 pages of ads from a 1952 Western Outfitter catalog.

B

 

[W4ASZ]

Gov. Thornton was a fine fellow according to what I have read. These hats bring good Mojo to your home.

 

[danofarlington]

So, did the Governor own these, or are these the model from the catalog - and how would anyone ever know which was true?

The most likely case is that the hats are the Dan Thornton brand, the way Wilson used to make kids' baseball gloves with the name "Mickey Mantle."

 

[Mr. Paladin]

Great find, Buler!

 

[gtdean48]

The most likely case is that the hats are the Dan Thornton brand, the way Wilson used to make kids' baseball gloves with the name "Mickey Mantle."

Judging from how the name is on that sweatband, it looks like an aftermarket addition. I don't think a Dan Thornton brand would be a move Stetson would try to their 100 line at all.

 

[buler]

Judging from how the name is on that sweatband, it looks like an aftermarket addition. I don't think a Dan Thornton brand would be a move Stetson would try to their 100 line at all.

The Western Outfitters ad shows the "Governor Dan Thornton" in quotes. I believe they are just marketing that particular brim/crown dimension as a lookalike to the hats he was known for.

My thoughts on the sweat marks are that a hat shop put those on the hats. Whether that was done personally for Mr Thornton or not I'll never know. I do know that the person I bought the hats from didn't "market" them as being worth more because he thought they were owned by a famous politician. I actually talked to the the seller and inquired about more info/history on the hats because of the marks. The story from the seller was that his dad bought a home that was owned by the Governor and received that hats at that time.

B

 

[Lefty]

That sounds good to me. Buler, please post these in the Historic Hats thread.

I'm going to sell my wife's Martha Stewart cookbook, now that DOA has made me realize that it's probably not Martha Stewart's cookbook.