The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[carouselvic]

Do I remember an OPS Borso with this version of the label?

Yes, I too have seen one.

 

[Hoss & da Posse]

New Hat/Old Borsalino

Just received my first Borsalino...a 30's decade beauty that I bought from fellow Lounger "Bond". He had it cleaned up and reblocked and a new sweat put in at Henry the Hatter in Detroit. Joe, the manager at HtH, was very easy to work with and went the extra mile to accommodate my special requests. The original ribbon was shot and I wanted black rather than matching the felt. Also wanted to incorporate some of the original ribbon for posterity's sake. Joe worked it into the bow nicely. He creased it per my request; 4.5" at the front and 3.5" at the back. Anyway, I am very pleased with the final results and see this becoming the "Ace" in my starting rotation...might even start calling it that. The headshot provides the truest representation of color

 

[alanfgag]

Very nice... enjoy! If you are able to post a photo of the manufacturing tag in this one, would love to see it.

 

[Hoss & da Posse]

Here are some images of the tag...manipulated to try and read the faded writing better. Also, the sweat had fallen out of the hat but these are the images of it as well.

Last image is of the back of the sweat where the size tag is located

 

[09alloy]

How did I miss this beauty? :eusa_doh: Great hat and looks awesome on you Hoss...Congrats!! :eusa_clap

 

[alanfgag]

Fantastic! Great that you have the original sweatband. Thanks very much for posting these additional pictures.

 

[alanfgag]

Borsalino Pocket Hat circa 1954

Never worn, weight 2.2 ounces. The felt is the softest, most pliable I've handled. With filling, it would make a fine stuffed animal. Not a hat for a crisp silhouette, but it does hold a crease very nicely.

58 years of rolled storage.

after steaming, blocking and flanging. A simple center crease seemed like a good choice.

 

[alanfgag]

 

[Aureliano]

Would you be surprised if I say that I love your Borsalino, Alan? That liner, Dio santo!

Are you planning on rolling it on occasion?

Edit: is it Argento?

 

[alanfgag]

Would you be surprised if I say that I love your Borsalino, Alan? That liner, Dio santo!

Are you planning on rolling it on occasion?

Edit: is it Argento?

Thanks Ale!... I had a feeling your might like this one.

This is a hat meant to reroll. I think I'll enjoy that, as I always struggle to bring more than one hat on an airplane trip.

The color is Palladio. I forgot to include the label... just added it.

 

[Jana]

I just found at an estate sale the same hat posted by Bud-n-Texas. I bought it for myself--I'm a woman with a giant head--and I look like a jackass in it. I just put it on ebay--it's a 7 5/8--but I'd rather sell to a hat lover than a re-seller. The hat looked like ten gallon when I took it out of the box--I put a crease in it myself so it would resemble the fedora it was. That was probably wrong? The decedent had 100's of hats--all in boxes and most t looked brand new. So did this but it had weird discoloration inside at the top of the crown. Does anyone want to buy this? I want it to go to a good home.

 

[buler]

Big Boy Borso

A beautiful o.p.s. Alessandria in big boy size.

B

 

[bond]

Nice one Buler, Mint, beautiful color!

 

[bond]

Jeff, the hat turned out beautifully! It looks like Joe even put back a Borsalino Sweat back into it?
Enjoy,

 

[RBH]

Very nice hat you found Bill.
You always have the best luck!

 

[bowlerman]

I'm enjoying the color on that rollable, Alan!

 

[Chepstow]

I found a nice documentation about. Borsalino. It a Google translate. The Original is German.
Very Intresting, in early time, they produced only with beaver hair. Now with Argentine rabbit hair, it makes the soft hat, Australian
makes it tough. But read self.


Page 1
92
04:05
pw
BORSALINO
how to live it
The building is selected from ugliness. A tire-
dealer, a reform school or have a cold storage in
Compared to a surplus of charm and beauty. Even
in Spinetta Marengo, a totally bleak suburb
Alessandria, meanwhile, gray sky, the haze-
bell of the Po Valley and Milan Smogglocke superim-
like to fall on the building because of its taste.
A grid at the entrance to a military lock-
area can imagine rolling on rusty rails to the side
and releases the driveway. The gatehouse is vacant,
The windows are blind. The huge paved parking lot is to
third occupied by cars. Behind the building
raw concrete. On the flat roof is in mannsho-
hen letters of the company name. He, however, can only imagine
because the neon sign from wild-growing vines überwu
chert is. A receipt is not in sight. Neither one
Signpost or some other friendly characters.
Is this really the desired office? So here is one
Product can be produced that a worldwide reputation for exquisite
enjoys, and has been for almost 150 years? Here is actually
Lich still working? Doubt.
Suddenly, a window opens and a dwarfish little
Man in a green sweater gift bows out of it. "You have left
rum go, "he exclaims," ​​otherwise it enters. Is that clear? "
After all. A sign of life. Linksrum actually comes
on the rear side of the flat functional building, a glass door to the
The fore. And behind it as the tiny hindrapiert
Man and grins. "Benvenuti", he says, "welcome."
Immediately see a woman as beautiful as a tropical flower
slender, immaculate, with a smile. She says: "Follow me, I
lead immediately to our showroom. "
Relief. So much charm nothing can bad-married
need to. On the contrary. In fact, hanging, stacked, are in
Showroom dozens of precisely those products which the
Company in Tokyo, in Tel Aviv and New York alike
bring a first class reputation.
Hats. The legendary, the counterfeit, the elegant
Borsalino hats. The hats of the gangsters. The hats of the
Dandies. The hats of the gentlemen.
"Of course there was also previously been head coverings, but
the hat - the hat was invented Giuseppe Borsalino, "says
Flavio Tondo. Flavio is primarily an architect and two-
marily hat specialist. On behalf of the community, he has
Center of Alexandria built a hat museum - in
the rooms of a former factory of Giuseppe boron
salino. About this Tondo knows more than anyone else. Who
Borsalino really want to get to know so must history and
Presence reconcile.
"No other hatters," says Flavio Tondo, "has just
an approximate skill and perfection in the
Processing, the shape and the material obtained as
Giuseppe Borsalino. The man is a legend to this day. "
In fact, the hats are true works of art - in the
Museum in Alexandria as well as in the showroom
Spinetta Marengo. "Come," says the tropical flower
"I take you now into production. There you can>
Headdress.
'll Hatter, then at least you realize that man has a head, the mother said. Giuseppe was hatter. Namely
not any, but such a good, that its mark almost 150 years later, still enjoys the reputation of being the best in the world.
Page 2
04:05
93
pw
how to live it
BORSALINO
Page 3
see how a Borsalino hat is made. "She turns
order, pushes open a door and a staircase stalking hüftwiegend
down.
Giuseppe Borsalino was born in 1834 in Pecetto, a
Village in the hinterland of Alexandria begins, Flavio Tondo
the museum tour. His father, a farmer could, the har-
th soil of the Piedmont hills abtrot-just enough
der to support the family. At the age of twelve years
Giuseppe began an apprenticeship at the Alessandrin
Camagna Hatter.
Knowledge hungry, eager and full of energy, he goes
later to France, then the center of the
Hatter's craft, from which he champions. Six
Years later he returns with a precise vision and mission
back to Alessandria. He wants the best hats of the world
. produce Together with his brother, he founded Lazzaro
In 1857, the hat factory "Giuseppe Borsalino & Fratello."
Hot steam counter strikes. Noise. Dust. The air is so
stuffy, that they could easily be cut into slices.
Antediluvian machines roar and operate a
Blower. Behind small discs twirl hair.
"The felt of the Borsalino hats not made ​​of wool, but also
countries from animal hair, "Monica screams, the tropical flower
against the noise. "Initially, it was only hair plain;
Today we prefer to use rabbit hair. "
The fan replaces the hair of dirt and grease and swirls
them together into a fine layer. Is it
Argentine rabbit hair is particularly layer
soft. In Australian rabbits hair is the layer
particularly resistant.
Giuseppe Borsalino set from the outset on a soft hats,
Flavio told Tondo. No hard cylinder, not rigid
Melons. And it hit the nerve of time. For in
the measure, as automobiles became more popular, different-
also changed the habits and
the fashion for men. Soft, resistant
capable hats were suddenly in demand.
Giuseppe Borsalino but not only
invented the hat continues Tondo, but also
but also special machines
NEN for hat-making. In 1871 he moved his factory
in Via Tripoli, in a building complex, which now
Borsalino, the museum is housed. In the same year was
he modern machines come from Manchester, for which he
convert a commercial let. -Employed at this time
CONFIRMS the factory, 130 employees and was
300 hats per day.
It was the time of the second industrial revolution. The
Automation has been operated at full steam. Exactly
Giuseppe Borsalino needed to get out of the loose layer
of beaver or rabbit hair with a waterproof
Felt making: full steam ahead.
Again and again, the material at high temperatures
and heated under the influence of a lot of pressure, pressed,
centrifuged and re-heated. To precisely those velvet
soft yet extremely durable felt-developed
stands for the Borsa Linos hats so characteristic.
Undeterred by the steam clouds, like smoke from the
Mouths of smoke machines, Monica Tippelt with flat-
the deteriorating dress to the apparatus over. The women and
Men who stand behind the machines have nothing of
its floral elegance. They see
tired, processed.
It's no wonder every day if they
eight, nine hours in this sticki-
gene, dusty air must handle
. sen "We are working with historical
Machines, "says Monica, the Blu-
me, and smiles proudly. "These machines are almost 100 years
of age. We are in Italy and perhaps even in Europe the
only ones that have a craft and not an industrial
Hat-production run. Machines like these are otherwise
nowhere. Therefore we are able, the hats with the same
Precision manufacture of his time as Signor Borsalino. "
It may be that the old machinery really irreplaceable
Lich is. The realization that modern ventila-
treatment plants are, however, seems at Spinetta Marengo
to be passed.
Giuseppe Borsalino It was a very progressive
handsome man, says Flavio Tondo. In Alexandria, he left, the
Farmer's son, hospitals, sewers and
Educational institutions build. As early as 1880
He dared the leap abroad and created
the basis for his stop-
the success. Early 1900, more than
60 percent of the hats outside of Italy
sold. >
94
04:06
pw
BORSALINO
how to live it
Argentine rabbit hair
makes the soft hat, Australian
makes it tough.

 

[Chepstow]

Part 2

Page 4
04:06
95
pw
how to live it
BORSALINO
Borsalino hat manufacturer is the only one in which the hats are still made ​​by hand in fact: from the elaborate
Manufacture of felt hats-are shaping up to the brim 47 steps are necessary.
Page 5
96
04:06
pw
BORSALINO
how to live it
Teresio he sent his son to England, Switzerland,
to Belgium and Germany to the international
To study markets and practices. And although
Teresio because of the many languages ​​he mastered love,
was fully called "il Senatore," he had in his career
the factory in Alessandria from scratch to learn.
"Speaking of Senator," said Flavio Tondo, "about the boron-
salino hat shape is so typical of it to tell a story.
Whether it's true is debatable, but I like it very
well. "There once was a senator who was Lobbia, and he was
a champion of freedom and truth. For this
Why he had not only friends but also many enemies.
This waylaid him one night and gave him one on
the cap. Nothing happened to the senator, but his hat be-
got a dent.
The senator decided not to bow to, and as
Sign that he was not intimidated, he was wearing
from now on that hat with the dent. Then began the
Friends and supporters of Senator Lobbia also one
Hat to wear with depression - and turned Giuseppe Borsalino
her. Since then, the hat with a dent Borsa Linos trademark.
"In fact, we do still have a model called
Lobbia, "said the flower.
Even today, seven weeks and forty-two
Steps needed to produce a hat. The felt
must be boiled for hours in the dye baths, he must
molded, stamped, rolled. The brim must be pulled
and can be bent. The band and lining
the need for stitches. And at the very end, when the hat
passed all quality controls, he will end
exclusively with his label "Borsalino" provided.
"The inscription, written in handwriting, in 24-karäti-
gem gold stamped on the label, "says Monica. After the
Walk through the stifling production
reverberate even she has been a bit of fresh-
lost. The dress clings to the body, the make-
up is a little blurred. "That was the
craft part, "she says. "What the
creative part is concerned, we go
better in the studio upstairs. "
"As Teresio took over in 1901 the company," says Flavio Tondo
while on the tour through the museum continues, "Produce
te they already 750 000 hats a year. In the coming years
Ren, he managed to increase sales even further. 1913
Borsalino sold more than two million hats a year. "
Dream figures, given the fact that today, the company
Hats sold almost 100 000 a year. Even the Second
Borsalino World War could harm it. 1947-employing
te the factory workers in 1300 and sold its
Products to Japan. "Imagine," says Flavio
Tondo, "sold his Italian Borsalino Panama hats
to Paraguay, according to Colombia and Nicaragua. "The
is about as exotic, as if in a South American
Italy to sell ice cream.
"Excuse the mess," says Alessandra Gatti Mare.
"But we are in the middle, the new
To design collection. "Alessandro-
dra Gatti Mare has been since 1997-Borsa
linos chief designer. Per season
draws them together with a
hand-picked team of the 100
new hats. "Sometimes there are only
little nuances that we change, sometimes it is a com-
pletely new hat concept, which we design, "she says. "Even
hat the following fashion. Again - you have to say. "
"Quite right," said Flavio Tondo, "the hat was almost
completely fallen out of fashion. With the advent of
modern transportation took the man simply does not
Hat more, to protect against wind and weather. In the
sixties and then began the slow decline
by Borsalino. You see just how few of these models
Time we have exhibited here. "
In the seventies Borsalino again experienced a
Upswing, turned French studios as two movies. In
Borsalino Borsalino & Co. and embodied Alain Delon
Jean-Paul Belmondo and the type of the elegant and char-
diamonds gangster who is still with Borsalino hats
is associated.
"The Borsalino-type is not so much a gangster," hastens
To clarify Alessandra Mare Gatti, "but the man who
is casual, yet elegant. Who,
as the actor Johnny Depp, even
at informal occasions, yet classic
dressed, slightly sloppy, a little cool, but
increasingly sophisticated. In character considered
Borsalino is the one-man
Mixture of Humphrey>
"The man is a Borsalino
Mixture of Humphrey Bogart
and Mikhail Gorbachev dar. "
Page 6
04:06
97
pw
how to live it
BORSALINO
It usually takes six to seven weeks, until a finished Borsalino hat finally gets the company logo stamped.
The inscription on the inside of the brim is written 150 years from 24-karat gold.
Page 7
98
04:06
pw
BORSALINO
how to live it
Bogart and Mikhail Gorbachev is that both self-confessed
Borsalino-carriers were "way, just for the record.:
Giuseppe Borsalino set from the beginning, even women's hats
her. But never made ​​the big breakthrough.
"Teresio Borsalino left four daughters," says Flavio
Tondo on. "One of them, a married Usuelli, over-
took over the business. In 1979, with the last Teresio Usuelli
Borsalino heir died, the company was in Milanese circles
passed from hand to hand. "That she has no non-
necessarily done well. On the contrary. The brand with the golden
Lettering fell almost into oblivion.
Until the early nineties, the industrialist-scion
Roberto Gallo bought the company from Asti. With the aim of
Brand again bring out great. And he has Alessandra
Mare Gatti appointed. And he has under the label "Borsalino"
a complete menswear line on the market
brought. For this he is once more on the export.
With Roberto Gallo keeps feeding innovation. Gallo buys a
Company in Lecce in southern Italy, in addition to the classical
Borsalino fedora hats and straw hats, sports also produce
to. He opened "Borsalino America Inc." to the
To supply U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. He founded a
Subsidiary in Japan in order from there, the Asian
Pry open markets. He builds a factory in southern China to
Sports caps for the labels Nike, Adidas and Ferrari Come hither-
. make He created the new line "Golf Life Collection" to the
To establish brand in the sporting field.
"Tradition and Innovation, which is exactly the tension,
where we want to move, "says Alessandra Gatti Mare.
For the traditionalists Borsalino is still the class-
siker ago, felt hats made ​​of beaver in beautiful quality hair, different-
refines the guanaco llamas with wool or cashmere goat.
Straw hats from palm leaves or Balibuntal, particularly fine
woven palm straw aufwän in the production of very
are responsible. And of course, expensive. "The finest
Montecristi Panama hat, "says the chief designer.
"It costs about 800 €. Felt hats cost depending on model
300-2000 €. "
Prepared for the new market Borsalino hats which rolled
or folded, and which, when opened, immediately
find their correct form. "In order to get it, have
We filed a long time and worked on the material, "says
Alessandra Gatti Mare. My favorite hat is "Icaro", the slight
hat most of the world. Made of pure rabbit hair, he weighs-rated
de times 47 grams For comparison, a normal Borsalino
weighs 75-80 grams
"I have already submitted an application to the municipality,
to expand the museum, "says Flavio Tondo to
Farewell. "After all, Linos Borsa long history
not end there. We have also in addition to our previous
Exhibits include the modern models. They are likewise
so artistic as the old hats. "
The tiny man with a bright green sweater beckons for
Parting out the window. "Come again soon," calls
he, "now that you know the way. Is that clear? "
In the gray haze of late afternoon, the building is sinking
together with its ugliness. What remains is the beauty that
a simple man from the land, invented 150 years ago because he
followed the advice of his mother.
Text: Sabine Holzknecht
Photos: Donata Zanotti
The museum in Tripoli in the Via Alessandria center is dedicated to Borsa Linos hats. It hat fashion shows from 1857 to today.

The Original German pdf.

http://www.sabine-holzknecht.de/dl/pw_0604_borsalino.pdf

 

[carouselvic]

A beautiful o.p.s. Alessandria in big boy size.

B

That's the first one of those I've seen, and I don't mean size.

 

[buler]

That's the first one of those I've seen, and I don't mean size.

You mean an Alessandria with an ops tag?

B