Stetson "Westerner"

[RHY]

I recently won an Ebay auction for a Stetson "Westerner". See Item number: 320290896867.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I got, since I can't seem to be able to find any references to a "Westerner" in the Stetson line.

 

[Hoss & da Posse]

Wouldn't have a clue, but a thought might be that it was so named to play off of the success of the 1940 Gary Cooper/Walter Brennan movie "The Westerner"...I think Brennan won an Oscar for his portrayal of Judge Roy Bean so the movie was probably popular.
Irregardless of the name, it appears you have a fine hat to wear and enjoy at an even better price. Congratulations on your find, Hoss

 

[Dinerman]

Looks pretty much like an open road. I'd say it probably dates from the '80s or so.

 

[feltfan]

You know you can post links to auctions once they have ended, right?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320290896867

I'd go with 80s or 90s, too.

I wonder why you're bidding on hats in such a wide range of sizes? 1/4-3/8.

 

[tonyb]

Yup, looks like a modern one. That's fine, though, if you're looking for a hat just to wear and not fret over. You got it for a reasonable price, so what the heck, eh?

Hope you like that style, though, because if it is typical of modern Stetsons of its type, it's gonna have enough stiffener in it for four hats. So changing its crown shape without taking it apart and reblocking it might prove difficult and produce less-than-satisfactory results.

 

[Stan]

It's a Resistol, not a Stetson, I think

Hi,

I'm 99% sure that's a vintage Resistol. Resistol used both the name 'Western' and 'Westerner' on their hats in the 1950's. I have a few of these, and you'd never be able to tell the difference from a Stetson Open Road without looking at the name printed on the liner or sweatband.

The photos don't show enough detail, but that 'cowboy on the horse' logo I partly see on the liner looks *exactly* like the one in the Resistol Westerner hat I'm wearing today, except my liner is white and yours is red.

BTW, the model name for that OR-style dress felt in the Resistol line is 'Saddler'. The only place you'll see it, though, is on the style tag if it's still in the hat or on the box (if you get the original box, that is). They didn't print their model name on the sweatband like Stetson did.

Oh, and if it is a vintage Resistol, the felt quality and amount of stiffener is equivalent to what Stetson offered back in the 1950's, so it'll be a very nice hat.

Later!

Stan

 

[Dinerman]

It has a stetson pin on the band and a stetson sweatband, though.

 

[Stan]

Hmmm.

Hi,

The Plot Thickens.

I just can't tell for sure about the sweatband printing. It does sort of look like it might be the usual Stetson label on the sweat. However, the quality is low and there's just not enough of it there to be sure. I pulled the image into Photoshop, and the more I mess with it, the less sure I am about what it really is.

The pin is immaterial, as they're easily swapped. I have a box with many Stetson, Resistol, etc. pins in it. I always remove pins and save them for later as I'm good at losing the fool things.

Then, again, there's not all that much of the liner image visible, either. What there is visible looks a lot like the Resistol liner in the hat I'm holding in my hand at the moment.

There is one thing I do notice different now that I pulled these images into Photoshop and messed with them. The pose of the cowboy *is* different in the photo than the one in my hat I have with me today.

In the photo, the cowboy is sitting upright and his arm is up in the air. On mine, the cowboy is leaning forward with his arm behind him. That's because the horse is jumping in my image. I can't see enough to be sure in the photo, but it looks like the horse is standing.

So, it is a different drawing. I only have the one Resistol with me today, although I have two others at home. I know that each one has slightly different artwork, probably due to being different production years. All of them have cowboy-on-a-horse artwork on their liners. Just how similar to each other they are, I've never really paid attention to.

I also have three vintage Stetson Open Roads, and none of them have any sort of a cowboy on a hose artwork on the liner. Does anyone else out there have a Stetson OR with such artwork on the liner?

Maybe this is something they did in more modern times, once Stetson and Resistol were part of the same company? Might someone have more-or-less copied vintage artwork? I admit that all my OR and OR-Style hats are vintage with the exception of one custom made one, which is new (but doesn't enter into this discussion).

Of course, liners are fairly easily swapped as well as pins. Perhaps it'll wind up being a Stetson sweatband and pin with a Resistol liner!

If that turns out ot be the case, then I'd figure someone put a Resistol liner into a Stetson hat for some reason. I'd really doubt that someone would put a Stetson sweatband into a Resistol hat....

Now I'm all curious as to just what this is! I will say that I'm no longer even 50% certain that this is a vintage resistol hat. I'm now just as confused as everyone else.

Later!

Stan

 

[tonyb]

BTW, the model name for that OR-style dress felt in the Resistol line is 'Saddler'. The only place you'll see it, though, is on the style tag if it's still in the hat or on the box (if you get the original box, that is). They didn't print their model name on the sweatband like Stetson did.

Stan

I've seen more than few OR-style Resistols called "San Antonio."

 

[tonyb]

.

I also have three vintage Stetson Open Roads, and none of them have any sort of a cowboy on a hose artwork on the liner. Does anyone else out there have a Stetson OR with such artwork on the liner?

Among my collection of Open Roads and their ilk is a Stetson with the cowboy-and-his-horse embroidered on the liner tip. But the cowboy is alongside the horse, feeding or watering it out of his hat, and not atop the beast. I have another old Stetson here with the cowboy-riding-his-horse liner.

While this particular hat looks for all the world just like an Open Road, nowhere does it say Open Road. Or any other model name, for that matter.

 

[tonyb]

And ...

I just pulled out of storage a kinda-vintage Resistol. On its "self-conforming" sweatband it is identified with the model name "Missoula." (And yes, that name is indeed embossed on the sweatband.) It certainly has a Western flavor, but it's not what we commonly think of these days as a cowboy hat. The brim is raw-edged, but it's only about 2 3/4 inches wide. It sports a 1-inch ribbon and a simple bow, without the "tails" seen on so many cowboy hats.

But ... while the liner differs some from the one depicted in the auction photo, but it is predominantly red. Its tip says "Resistol Self-Conforming Western" in brownish lettering on an oval-shaped golden field. Above that lettering is a cowboy on a bucking horse. The "Western" is done in what appears to be the identical style as the liner in the auction photo.

 

[tonyb]

I just can't tell for sure about the sweatband printing. It does sort of look like it might be the usual Stetson label on the sweat. However, the quality is low and there's just not enough of it there to be sure. I pulled the image into Photoshop, and the more I mess with it, the less sure I am about what it really is.

I've seen enough Stetsons with that logo embossed on their sweatbands to say with 99.8732197 confidence that what we have here is a Stetson sweatband, even though we see only a piece of that logo in the photo.

 

[Colby Jack]

I bought one a while back...I thought we had discussed this hat...
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=25257&highlight=westerner
Though mine was a bit more "cowboy" looking....I'd have kept it if it looked like an OR...

 

[RHY]

Thanks

I appreciate all your comments and suggestions. I hope to post some detailed photos when I get the hat to help clarify the debate on what the hat's pedigree is.

As for my range of bidding on 7 1/4 and 7 3/8, I have an inbetween headsize and take a large 7 1/4 or a small 7 3/8. I have had some older hats in 7 3/8 fit perfectly and some recent ones be too big. So I take my chances when I bid. The over sized ones, I send to my nephew.

 

[feltfan]

My apologies for not being clearer. Of course there isn't a big range
between 7 1/4 and 7 3/8. I buy 7 3/8, 7 1/2, and 7 5/8 hats,
depending. What I was trying to get at is that you might look into
whether you have a "long oval" or "wide oval" head. You can read
a lot about that here, by using the Search feature.

I, too, have a Resistol "Western" with a red liner. Remember that
all the hats we are talking about here, Stetson and Resistol, were
made by the same company in the 50s-present period. So
similarities should not be surprising.

 

[Pilgrim]

Does the hat have a raw edge brim, or bound? I bought a similar hat - with very stiff felt, typical of a western hat - last year. Here are photos of mine - and i note that it has a different color liner.

When it arrived:

After a bit of brim and crown shaping...notice that I have corrected the pinched-together crown on the hat:

Interior:

 

[RHY]

Pilgrim

It has a bound edge from the appearance on the photo from the auction. When I get it, I hope to post some detailed photos.

 

[Stetsonian]

Westerner

I had one of those a few years back. Exact same hat & lining except mine was done in a 'C' crown. It was my impression that mine dated from the 60's. I remember thinking at the time I owned it that it was a real odd duck. Sold it on eBay about 3 to 4 years ago. Yours is only the second one I've ever seen.

 

[RHY]

Another "Westerner"

Edit: No active ebay auctions as per forum rules, please. --AlanC

 

[Stan]

Not the same

Hi,

That last one referenced is not the same hat as the one you won.

I see the one you won as a thin dress weight felt with all the look of a Stetson Open Road.

This other one is made from the heavier felt and has the rope style ribbon common on cowboy hats. I see what is either an overwelt or an underwelt - I can't tell for sure which way it's going in that single auction photo. Anyway, it does not sport an edge ribbon.

That's a different beast, I think.

Later!

Stan