" The Great British Hat Makers "

[Mean Eyed Matt]

Steve & Stefan, I (or rather all of us here) thank you for all the information!
In my internet research I also saw the old location of HH
- with the beavers on top of the gable: Great!
The Tress logo is a bit of a mystery to everyone here,
but we've heard a few interpretations.
My thinking was that the paper label says Henry Heath,
which is why I assumed it was made by them.
Tress on the band reminded me of the hat store logos on the sweats
as we know them from other hats.
But why not the other way around!?

I guess we'll never really find out...

 

[steur]

T&W Lees of Stockport England. Camber style hat in brown (called French Brown on the label), with the brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Still has the high quality finishing of the earlier T&W Lees hats. Size 56 and weighs 107 grams. Really like this style, which I have not seen from them before.

 

[Steve1857]

Great find, Stefan. Particularly like the reddish brown colour and that wonderful T&W Lees liner.

T&W Lees of Stockport England. Camber style hat in brown (called French Brown on the label), with the brim at 6cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. Still has the high quality finishing of the earlier T&W Lees hats. Size 56 and weighs 107 grams. Really like this style, which I have not seen from them before.

 

[Christopher Smith]

Hi all! I purchased a Herbert Johnson homburg from eBay. I also have a Herbert Johnson fedora which I believe I posted in this forum awhile back. The fedora has a mark on the lining stating that they are a Royal Warrant holder. The homburg I purchased, which I am attaching pictures of, has no such mark or mention of being Royal Warrant holder. I know Herbert Johnson didn't receive their Royal Warrant until 1901. Could this hat possibly be from before then? I know they started using 38 Bond Street address in 1895. So I'm just wondering, could this hat be from between 1895 and 1901? Is there a way to check?

 

[Steve1857]

That is a very nice Herbert Johnson Homburg, Christopher. Great find.
It doesn't look like a Victorian Homburg to me though.
The Royal warrant dies out with the Monarch. So after 1910, when Edward VII died, if the new monarch, George V, didn't grant HJ a new warrant, they wouldn't be able to use it. I'd place yours around the 1920s. It's still a super find.

Hi all! I purchased a Herbert Johnson homburg from eBay. I also have a Herbert Johnson fedora which I believe I posted in this forum awhile back. The fedora has a mark on the lining stating that they are a Royal Warrant holder. The homburg I purchased, which I am attaching pictures of, has no such mark or mention of being Royal Warrant holder. I know Herbert Johnson didn't receive their Royal Warrant until 1901. Could this hat possibly be from before then? I know they started using 38 Bond Street address in 1895. So I'm just wondering, could this hat be from between 1895 and 1901? Is there a way to check?

 

[Steve1857]

P.S. Please post your HJ Homburg in the Homburg Nation thread.

 

[steur]

Hi all! I purchased a Herbert Johnson homburg from eBay. I also have a Herbert Johnson fedora which I believe I posted in this forum awhile back. The fedora has a mark on the lining stating that they are a Royal Warrant holder. The homburg I purchased, which I am attaching pictures of, has no such mark or mention of being Royal Warrant holder. I know Herbert Johnson didn't receive their Royal Warrant until 1901. Could this hat possibly be from before then? I know they started using 38 Bond Street address in 1895. So I'm just wondering, could this hat be from between 1895 and 1901? Is there a way to check?

Excellent find. Nothing to add to what Steve already pointed out.

 

[steur]

A new one added to the fold. The Holborn hat. Lords hat in black, size 58 with the brim at 5,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. As it came in a rather fetching Stetson hat box, I thought it was American made at first, but it's probably English. Holborn being the legal centre of London the style fits. Liner and textured sweatband suggest an early hat, likely late thirties. Could be forties as well though.
No label inside the hat, other than the price tag, which says 34,50. The size label is metric, which is unusual for an English made hat, so it's not completely certain that it is English made. The flags on the liner don't give anything away either, so a bit of a mystery.

 

[Steve1857]

That is a great find, Stefan. I'm leaning toward it not being English, though. Apart from the metric sizing, the price tag, if it is a price tag, doesn't make sense in terme of English currency back in the 30s/40s.

Still a very stylish Lords hat though.

A new one added to the fold. The Holborn hat. Lords hat in black, size 58 with the brim at 5,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. As it came in a rather fetching Stetson hat box, I thought it was American made at first, but it's probably English. Holborn being the legal centre of London the style fits. Liner and textured sweatband suggest an early hat, likely late thirties. Could be forties as well though.
No label inside the hat, other than the price tag, which says 34,50. The size label is metric, which is unusual for an English made hat, so it's not completely certain that it is English made. The flags on the liner don't give anything away either, so a bit of a mystery.

View attachment 326009 View attachment 326010

 

[steur]

That is a great find, Stefan. I'm leaning toward it not being English, though. Apart from the metric sizing, the price tag, if it is a price tag, doesn't make sense in terme of English currency back in the 30s/40s.

Still a very stylish Lords hat though.

Thanks, Steve. It has me a bit stumped to be honest. The price tag could have been added later or could have been blank if it was sold elsewhere. The hat came from a location in Groningen, but it is unclear where it was manufactured.
The only other one I have found doesn't get us any further: it is listed on an auction site in Poland.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Thanks, Steve. It has me a bit stumped to be honest. The price tag could have been added later or could have been blank if it was sold elsewhere. The hat came from a location in Groningen, but it is unclear where it was manufactured.
The only other one I have found doesn't get us any further: it is listed on an auction site in Poland.
View attachment 326081 View attachment 326083

Maybe Dave @DaveProc can research it. I’d bet he could come up with 10 generations of ancestry of the man who made it and tell you what he had for breakfast that day!

 

[DaveProc]

Maybe Dave @DaveProc can research it. I’d bet he could come up with 10 generations of ancestry of the man who made it and tell you what he had for breakfast that day!

Maybe.

 

[PanosChris]

Seems like a hot hat-hunting period in my local area.. Different hat styles and sizes... Here are two bowlers.

First one, unknown maker. I am guessing English, due to the sizing. Unlined, in near mint condition. The crown patch maybe says something to some of you.

I am guessing 30s. The best thing about it imo is that is full wool but still soft and flexible. It almost feels it wants to be creased and snapped.

 

[Steve1857]

Nice find, Panos. The crown patch with the eagle, 13 stars and 13 stripes says USA to me.

Seems like a hot hat-hunting period in my local area.. Different hat styles and sizes... Here are two bowlers.

First one, unknown maker. I am guessing English, due to the sizing. Unlined, in near mint condition. The crown patch maybe says something to some of you. View attachment 326336 View attachment 326337 View attachment 326338 View attachment 326339 View attachment 326340 View attachment 326341 View attachment 326342
View attachment 326343
View attachment 326344 View attachment 326345
I am guessing 30s. The best thing about it imo is that is full wool but still soft and flexible. It almost feels it wants to be creased and snapped.

 

[PanosChris]

Next, J.Moores & sons, the "Electric" hat, size 55. Cushion pads and ventilation holes on the sweatband. "Fit for a king". Stamped date 27 May 1927. Also wider brim but deeper curl and more flange.

 

[Steve1857]

That is truly wonderful, Panos.
Damn, why isn't it a size larger. I want it anyway

Next, J.Moores & sons, the "Electric" hat, size 55. Cushion pads and ventilation holes on the sweatband. "Fit for a king". Stamped date 27 May 1927. Also wider brim but deeper curl and more flange. View attachment 326346 View attachment 326348 View attachment 326349 View attachment 326350 View attachment 326351 View attachment 326352 View attachment 326353 View attachment 326354 View attachment 326355 View attachment 326356

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

A new one added to the fold. The Holborn hat. Lords hat in black, size 58 with the brim at 5,5cm and the crown at 11cm at the center dent. As it came in a rather fetching Stetson hat box, I thought it was American made at first, but it's probably English. Holborn being the legal centre of London the style fits. Liner and textured sweatband suggest an early hat, likely late thirties. Could be forties as well though.
No label inside the hat, other than the price tag, which says 34,50. The size label is metric, which is unusual for an English made hat, so it's not completely certain that it is English made. The flags on the liner don't give anything away either, so a bit of a mystery.

View attachment 326009 View attachment 326010

My very first feeling, Stefan, told me it was a German-made hat:
sweat, label etc. are very similar to some hats I've seen at flea markets.
The size tag would also fit this. In addition, the flags are in black-white-red:
These were the colors of the official flag in the Kaiserreich and also at the beginning
of the Nazi era (black-red-gold in between in the Weimar Republic and later BRD).
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagge_Deutschlands#Norddeutscher_Bund_und_Deutsches_Reich

Strange, however, is the combination with an "English" brand name
- which was quite common after the war in the 50s, but before?
So maybe this is a German production in/shortly after the war?
But this is all just a gut feeling with me!

However, Holborn is also a German family name...
Maybe Steve knows more?

 

[Rmccamey]

A couple of great bowlers, Panos.

Next, J.Moores & sons, the "Electric" hat, size 55. Cushion pads and ventilation holes on the sweatband. "Fit for a king". Stamped date 27 May 1927. Also wider brim but deeper curl and more flange. View attachment 326346 View attachment 326348 View attachment 326349 View attachment 326350 View attachment 326351 View attachment 326352 View attachment 326353 View attachment 326354 View attachment 326355 View attachment 326356

 

[PanosChris]

Some more local finds.
Clark Homburg in navy blue. Size 58, imported for the Norwegian market.

 

[PanosChris]

And another one. Wilson, camper style in greenish grey. Size 58, imported for the Norwegian market.