The Dobbs Diner...

[Mario]

Dobbs Twenty

Dobbs Twenty

Size 6 7/8
Brim 2 1/2"
Crown 4 3/4" (bashed)
Ribbon 1 7/8"
Guild Edge

The color is some kind of taupe. In direct sunlight it appears to be gray, but with indoor lighting, it takes on a slightly brownish/beige tint.

There are a few month tracks, especially on the underside of the brim. Also, there is a dark smudge at the top front of the crown, and it appears that something sharp had pierced the felt at the same spot, even though it doesn't go all the way through. The sweat is split in a few places and some stitches have come loose, but I am reluctant to put in a new one at the moment.

Brad pointed out that the hat seems to be from the mid-50s, as the patent number that is given on the sweat dates from 1953. Great bit of info here.

 

[babs]

I won a Dobbs 40 Thin ribbon last week on the bay. The hat arrived Monday and I was taken back with the quality of the hat and pristine condition. I diffidently put this hat above my 7X clear beavers and think it can stand along side my Stetson 100s. Only issue is the Dobbs is sized 7 3/8 and I am 7 ¼ long oval. While the hat is sung front and back there is a noticeable gap between the side of the hat and my head. I am using a blotter reducer I found inside a aother hat I purchased. I hope I can adjust to the size. The brim is 2 7/8 and the crown 5" as creased and I love the crease in the hat

Jon, If that hat size issue becomes too much of an annoyance, I know a 7 3/8 noggin that would probably fit that hit.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Received my Dobbs Boater today, a first time for this hat style for me. Beautiful condition, almost looks like it was never worn. 3 1/2" crown, 2 1/8" brim. The ribbon is removable, fastens with hooks like a pugaree. No way to know if it's original to the hat, but it looks like it belongs on it. I don't see any sign that it was ever changed out.

Nice navy blue box, original to the family, but not sure it's original to the hat.

It does have the same adjustable sweatband attachment as ScottF's Cavanagh Derby (can I call it a lace and reed?). Something else interesting is the Dobbs slants upward into the hat, and every other Dobbs that I can remember from this era (that I've saved photos of) has the Dobbs name slanting downward. Odd.

Here's the adjustable elastic string.

It's actually a 7 1/4, but fits me surprisingly well, I guess in part to that fancy sweatband attachment.

Giving a very poor "Douglas"

I'm puzzled as to the age. I thought it might up be to early '30s from initial appearances, but doing some research, something doesn't add up. From the initials inside the sweatband, and the previous owner's sister's name and address on the outside of the box, I was able to determine the previous owner. He passed away this summer in the Boston area, so this must have come from his estate. He was born in 1925, and served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. That places the hat most likely around 1940-'42, perhaps having bought it around age 18, or else after 1945.

However, the details appear to be from an older hat. The price is also pretty cheap, even for a Norwalk-produced Boater. In 1930-'31, C&K Derbies and Cavanagh Derbies were going for $6 each. Would a Dobbs have been going cheaper than that a decade later? Doesn't seem likely, but I don't have any prices from 1940 to judge. (Lefty, are you listening? ) Still, that's a steep discount, even in 1930, unless Dobbs offered one at a much lower price point.

I've considered the possibility that the hat belonged to the gentleman's father, and they had the same initials. This fellow isn't a Jr., though. Or, it was an older hat that the young man acquired from his father, and had a store stamp his initials into it.

I suppose they could have been doing unstitched sweatbands as late as 1940 or so, but that doesn't seem to match with what we've found prior to this.

So, I'm left with a question on the age that I can't answer, though I'll keep digging for more information.

Brad

 

[billysmom]

Whatever the age, it looks good on you, Brad!

Sue

 

[babs]

Mario,
That's a beautiful Dobbs... I see a trend in a couple of your hats.. I'd really love to see how you do that fabulous bash. Work of art.. I think I saw it on another as well, achieving a superb reverse taper look, granted the proper block of the crown is essential.. Is there a particular procedure you go at a bash like that with?

 

[buler]

Another boater

Hey Brad, you inspired me to get pics up of this one I just picked up. Can't really help with dating these. Although this is identical except for the liner to the Dunlap straw that I posted here (DunlapStraw). The Dunlap was originally priced at $3 and had a taped sweat.

B

 

[Brad Bowers]

Hey Brad, you inspired me to get pics up of this one I just picked up. Can't really help with dating these. Although this is identical except for the liner to the Dunlap straw that I posted here (DunlapStraw). The Dunlap was originally priced at $3 and had a taped sweat.

B

Nice Dobbs, glad you posted it! Love that ribbon. Where do you find all of these?

I posted a reply about your Dunlap, as I found the design patent for it. It may help date it. Dunlap was generally a lower-priced hat, so the pricing makes sense in the Hat Corp. scheme of things.

Brad

 

[buler]

Nice Dobbs, glad you posted it! Love that ribbon. Where do you find all of these?


Brad

The ribbon is great in person. The colors didn't really come out in the pic. Where do I find all of these??? Sometimes I wish I had a video camera with me. This particular antique mall was one of my stranger experiences. The "group" of workers hanging out there were soooooo weird. I thought I might be on candid camera.

B

 

[CRH]

Nice Dobbs, glad you posted it! Love that ribbon. ...

Very gentlemanly reply, Brad. I'll just crawl back into my cave and scrape the walls......

 

[Brad Bowers]

Very gentlemanly reply, Brad. I'll just crawl back into my cave and scrape the walls......

I guess I missed something somewhere along the way, as I didn't understand your reference.[huh]

Brad

 

[CRH]

I guess I missed something somewhere along the way, as I didn't understand your reference.[huh]
...

:eusa_doh:

I didn't have a reference, Brad. I'm just a cave man who looked out and ran back to erase everything I've ever scrawled on the walls to make way for that... that... that cool boater!

 

[Lefty]

Here's all I've got on Dobbs Boaters

20s

33

37
$5

Knapp-Felt from 23

 

[Lefty]

and then I checked ebay, and viola!
1942, $4

 

[Brad Bowers]

And Lefty comes through again!:eusa_clap

Okay, so a Dobbs Boater could be had for $4 in the early-'40s, so my initial theory is possible.

Thanks!

Brad

 

[Tooch]

Dobbs VVL

So, a couple of weeks ago, I engaged in the dangerous game of bidding while under the influence, and won an old Dobbs with a sketchy description and a single photo that showed a battered hat with a faded band, but healthy-looking felt. I took a chance, won the auction, and took delivery last Friday.

What arrived was a battered, but very interesting hat with light, pliable felt. The brown sweatband is stamped "Dobbs VVL." "Guild Edge and "Gilbert's" (presumably, the store where it was sold).

The brim is 2 3/8 inches, with a crown that, when open, is just over 5 inches and a 2-inch hat band that was once black (still visible on the reverse side), but was now whatever the intersection of black, brown and dingy is.

Interesting, but what had I bought?

OK, I could have asked you Dobbs experts. But that felt like cheating. So I did some Googling, and found a few old advertisements in the archives of The New Yorker. This one, from March 19, 1955:

Sorry about the resolution. If you can't read that, the text says, "The famous Dobbs VVL, the finest lightweight hat ever made is now available in the newest Spring shades with the famous Guild Edge. $20. and $40."

So I had a really lightweight hat, the Dobbs Very Very Light, dating no earlier than 1955 (because of the Guild Edge). Perfect for Arizona. But it needed work.

So I broke out the naptha and gave the hat a bath and a scrub. I steamed the hat back to a reasonable facsimile of an open crown. I gave the crunchy sweatband several doses of leather conditioner.

And I took the plunge and snipped off that faded hatband and dyed it back to black. Then I sewed the hatband back on. (That sounds easy, doesn't it? Actually, "sewed the hatband back on" conceals about two hours of frustrating needlework. Let's have a shout-out to the long-gone junior high school paper-pushers who made me take home economics.)

The end result, was a hat looking a lot fresher than it had out of the box, and rather less ... infectious.

Then, I gave it some shape.

And actually put the thing on.

I'm not completely satisfied with the job I did on the hatband, but I can live with it -- especially since it's probably the best I can do right now.

And it turns out that this is really a nice hat. It's light weight-wise -- 3.4 ounces, about half-an-ounce lighter than anything else I own. But it also feels light as in wearable on a warm Arizona day. The felt takes any shape you please without a fuss, though it moves out of that shape easy enough too.

I see the new acquisition joining the regular rotation.

Does anybody have more information on the Dobbs VVL?

 

[Mario]

Tooch, that's a very nice hat you've go there. Just by looking at the first photo, it's pretty obvious that the felt is very light and pliable. You did a great job at cleaning and bashing it, and you also wear it very well. Looking good! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I have absolutely no further info on the VVL, sorry 'bout that, but I like the fact that you've come up with the magazin ad.

Congrats! :eusa_clap

 

[babs]

Very sharp resurrection. That's a great color on that hat as well Tooch.

Newb-ignorant question of the day:

What's this "Naptha" I see you fellows refer to a bunch?
And where do I find it?
And what's it's purpose?

 

[Mario]

Naptha is a solvent you use for dry cleaning felt hats. It's also called 'White Spirits' in the UK, Wasch- or Testbenzin in Germany. Also sold in the US as Coleman Fuel. Come to think of it, there are different opinions here if all those names really refer to the same stuff, but whatever the name, it's all used for the same purpose: cleaning clothes, shoes and hats. According to Wikipedia, Coleman Fuel equals Naptha.

If you want to clean a hat with Naptha, you'll need to really dump 'n' dunk the hat in the stuff and let it rest there for at least a few hours. After that you take it out and let it dry. Naptha evaporates without leaving any residue or smell. The hat even keeps its bash. Naptha cleaning needs to be done outside, never in closed rooms, as it is highly inflammable and also very dangerous if you breath in the fumes. In fact, it's highly carcinogenic, so you need to take some precautions before you start cleaning.

Have a few links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naptha

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=40186

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=28593

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=29718

 

[babs]

Thanks.. Wow some good threads on it. I'll be probably sending my dunlap off instead.. The thought is way too scary. Yikes.

 

[Tooch]

Mario has the lowdown on naptha. I used Coleman fuel, since we have a lot of it lying around (we did a lot of camping and backpacking before my son was born, and hopefully will again, when he's older).

I used rubber gloves, outside, and agitated the hat in the pot with a paint stirrer. You want to be careful, but it's not too hard if you take precautions.