The Cavanagh Club

[ScottF]

I've found a keeper, so here's my application hat for the Cav Club. It has a wide gold tag with black letters and rounded edges. Late '50s/early '60s?

Cav Edge, 2 1/4" brim, $25 price, frayed bow, dark brown with hints of red:

 

[mayserwegener]

I've found a keeper, so here's my application hat for the Cav Club. It has a wide gold tag with black letters and rounded edges. Late '50s/early '60s?

Cav Edge, 2 1/4" brim, $25 price, frayed bow, dark brown with hints of red:

Boy that is a nice one! Great proportions and fantastic wide ribbon - bow treament. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[ScottF]

Boy that is a nice one! Great proportions and fantastic wide ribbon - bow treament. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Thanks - the only issue I have with it is the crown taper at front and back. It would fit me like a glove if I could push the oval in a little on the sides, plus it would kill the unwanted side taper. But the felt color and bow are killer.

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks - the only issue I have with it is the crown taper at front and back. It would fit me like a glove if I could push the oval in a little on the sides, plus it would kill the unwanted side taper. But the felt color and bow are killer.

I actually like the taper. It reminds me some of my P. & C. Habig Camber. (Side Note: To me Cavanagh and P. C Habig (the old fedoras are rare) had a similar approach -> frayed bows, felt thickness, very fine finishing, ect.)

 

[ScottF]

I actually like the taper. It reminds me some of my P. & C. Habig Camber. (Side Note: To me Cavanagh and P. C Habig (the old fedoras are rare) had a similar approach -> frayed bows, felt thickness, very fine finishing, ect.)

I've been watching 'Mad Men', so getting used to that look. I wish I had discovered this hat earlier in the Winter - it would have been a great hat for cold drizzly days. As is, it's about to get mothballed for the Summer...and the Montecristis finally come out!

 

[HosManHatter]

Congratulations,ScottF! Don`t know very much about Cavanaghs here... but that fedora is one of the best-looking Cavs in the entire thread,IMHO. Unusual redish-brown(rust?) color too.Great score! Oh,and you are right about it having that "Mad Men" series look to it.

Enjoy!
HMH

(HMH is now jonesing for his first Cav)

 

[Brad Bowers]

1950s Homburg

Here is one of my latest acquisitions, a 1950s Cavanagh Homburg. The liner address tells us that the hat dates approximately between 1950 and 1961, though it could be a couple of years into the ‘40s.

It has the typical Cavanagh Homburg binding, where it’s stitched to the underside of the brim (even though, once curled, it’s on top), and folded back over itself and stitched down on the topside of the brim. A similar technique is used to bind Derbies, though their binding folds over from the topside to the underside, opposite of the Homburg. (Confused yet?)

Brim width is a nominal 2 ½ all the way around the outer edge of the curl, a width typical of a ‘50s hat.

The width of the sweatband is 1 ¾”.

Block number 5064, 5 ¾” crown height. 7 1/8, too small for me.

Brad

 

[Brad Bowers]

1930s Cavanagh Homburg

My other latest acquisition is this gem. I wanted it to compare to the ‘50s model, to see how things changed over a couple of decades. This one, I'm fairly certain, came directly from the Park Avenue Shop. Most of the Cavanagh hats sold during the 1930s came from the Park Avenue shop, as they didn’t begin doing a large business through their “Associates” around the country until the 1940s.

The brim width is a nominal 2 inches, certainly in line with a ‘30s hat.

The liner tells us that this hat comes from about 1936 onward, though it’s probably pre-1940, as it still has a taped sweatband seam. The width of the sweatband is 2 1/4".

Instead of a bow at the back of the hatband, there is a Cavanagh logo clip. Douglas has the only other one of these I think we’ve seen.

Notice that this hat is also block number 5064, crown height 5 ¾”, essentially the same hat as the ‘50s Homburg I posted earlier. The reorder number is different. What’s odd about this hat is that it appears to be a size 7 1/8, though there is also a 3 right after it. If I think of the Cavanagh sizing system, this could be interpreted as 7 1/8 plus 3, meaning plus 3 lignes, or 3/32 of a hat size, since there are 4 lignes per 1/8 hat size. That would also make this 7 ¼ minus one. The funny thing is, this hat fits me just fine, and I’m slightly over 7 3/8! Even at 7 ¼ minus 1, it still should be too small. It doesn’t appear to have shrunk any, and I’ve not found Cavanaghs to run large. So, I remain confused.

On the inside of the sweatband there is a stamped logo. I can read “NAGH” and see some other shapes, though it’s almost impossible to tell what it is.

It looks very reminiscent of this logo, though this Homburg doesn’t have a Cavanagh Edge.

Many hats, however, were made using the Cavanagh Edge process but had their edges removed prior to leaving the factory as raw brims or bound brims. Perhaps the stamp signifies that.

Brad

 

[mayserwegener]

Beautiful Homburgs! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Brad Bowers]

I've been meaning to post this booklet for a while. It was probably included when one purchased a hat.

Brad

 

[rlk]

Cavanagh semi-Homburg

Super fine soft and light felt with plump Cavanagh Edge curled like a Homburg without the edge binding but shorter curled portion(just the edge up-turned-a pencil curl). Tall crown. John Cavanagh Patents demonstrated:
The clip at the rear seam:http://www.google.com/patents?id=OB...1#v=onepage&q=john cavanagh sweatband&f=false


Great shape except small moth holes under the sweatband edge at the base of the ribbon. Bullock & Jones San Francisco on the clip.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Beautiful! Can you get a front-on shot so we can see the side curl?

I'm not sure that the sweatband patent is the Cavanagh one, though, unless the outer ribbon is being held on by the sweatband buttons as well. I'm thinking it's more likely to be the Carter patent, which is on a Cavanagh of mine from the same period.

Brad

 

[rlk]

more details...

Sorry, it is a Carter but a little different from the others I've seen.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Thanks, cool shots of a fantastic hat! Looks like the color was "Pigeon."lol Too bad the rest of that label is missing.

Neat to see Bullock & Jones on the clip. I wonder how many of the Associates ordered/received those?

Homburgs with a Cavanagh Edge seem to be pretty rare. Great catch!

Brad

 

[rlk]

Thanks, cool shots of a fantastic hat! Looks like the color was "Pigeon."lol Too bad the rest of that label is missing.

Neat to see Bullock & Jones on the clip. I wonder how many of the Associates ordered/received those?

Homburgs with a Cavanagh Edge seem to be pretty rare. Great catch!

Brad

Thanks Brad. The organically ventilated front of the sweatband is unique too

 

[Brad Bowers]

Thanks Brad. The organically ventilated front of the sweatband is unique too

Just say it's from a long-lost Cavanagh patent designed to cut down on sweatstains on the front of the hat, where they are most obvious.

Brad

 

[zetwal]

The liner tells us that this hat comes from about 1936 onward, though it’s probably pre-1940, as it still has a taped sweatband seam. The width of the sweatband is 2 1/4".

I'm sure you mention it somewhere, but let me ask anyway. Are 2.25 inch sweatbands common on Cavanaghs? And one way or the other, is that a factor in dating them?

 

[Brad Bowers]

I'm sure you mention it somewhere, but let me ask anyway. Are 2.25 inch sweatbands common on Cavanaghs? And one way or the other, is that a factor in dating them?

I've got several Cavanaghs from the same period as this one, and they all have 2-inch sweatbands. Even my earliest Cavanagh (1928 or so) only has a 2-inch sweatband. 2.25 is probably less common, perhaps reserved for formal hats such as homburgs and top hats.

As a dating tool, about all you can say is that it's an older hat. You might have been able to get a 2-inch or so sweatband in the late-'50s, but more likely it was generally less than 2 inches by that time.
Brad

 

[rlk]

Cavanagh stingy

1-5/8" Cavanagh Edge brim and Cavanagh style bow minus the frayed edge. Color is correct on top photo.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Nice one, rlk!:eusa_clap We really don't see enough Cavanagh stingies here.

I'm used to seeing you in much wider brims, but this one doesn't look half bad on you.

Brad