Sweatband gold printing/branding

[Joshbru3]

Hey everyone,

Im not sure if this has been addressed before, but I tried doing a search and could not come with anything. Ive observed many examples of vintage and modern hats. Something that Ive always wondered about was the sweatband printing in older hats verses newer. By printing I mean the gold colored markings either saying the store where the hat was purchased or the manufactures marking/logo on the sweatband. It seems that in vintage hats, this gold printing always seems to not only be a deeper punch into the leather, but it seems that the actual gold colored ink doesnt wear off like the newer hats. I have a beat up old Champ at home with a pretty bad sweat band and the gold ink is still all intact and looks very nice. On the other hand, I have bought newer Dobbs and Biltmores where the gold lettering is fading after less than a year of use. Ive seen this example with many pictures of newer and older hats. Why does this occur? I mean obviously everybodys sweat reacts differently with the ink and the leather, but in general I would say that the vintage ink and leather seem to stand up to abuse much beter. Was there a certain chemical that the hat companys put into the gold ink to make it stay longer?

 

[Joshbru3]

BUMP

 

[Joshbru3]

Hey everyone,

Im not sure if this has been addressed before, but I tried doing a search and could not come with anything. Ive observed many examples of vintage and modern hats. Something that Ive always wondered about was the sweatband printing in older hats verses newer. By printing I mean the gold colored markings either saying the store where the hat was purchased or the manufactures marking/logo on the sweatband. It seems that in vintage hats, this gold printing always seems to not only be a deeper punch into the leather, but it seems that the actual gold colored ink doesnt wear off like the newer hats. I have a beat up old Champ at home with a pretty bad sweat band and the gold ink is still all intact and looks very nice. On the other hand, I have bought newer Dobbs and Biltmores where the gold lettering is fading after less than a year of use. Ive seen this example with many pictures of newer and older hats. Why does this occur? I mean obviously everybodys sweat reacts differently with the ink and the leather, but in general I would say that the vintage ink and leather seem to stand up to abuse much beter. Was there a certain chemical that the hat companys put into the gold ink to make it stay longer?

Well I found out why. Up until the late 50's-early 60's many hat manufactures used real gold flake/gold powder in the ink they used to stamp the leather sweatbands. Gold doesn't really react with the skin and oils. It held up very well and usually didn't rub off very easily. For some reason, probably to cut costs, hat manufactures started using gold "colored" ink on the sweatbands which wears very easily. Certain peoples body acids and oils tend to break down these inks quicker than others. Just another minor detail that makes vintage hats far superior than even the best "off the shelf" modern hats.

 

[Jabos]

Thanks for the information. I too had wondered why the gold stamps would wear so well.