" The Great British Hat Makers "

[KarlCrow]

Funny you should mention that, Karl. Of the four hats I bought this week none were actually my size (56). Two were 57, one a 55 and one a 58. All fitted me very well. So much for consistency in hat sizing!

cleaned my 55 meyser sold as a 57 and without me doing much apart from a slight hat jack to hold it whilst i steamed it, fits me fine now. And man that was so tight b4. *shrugs

 

[steur]

Went to a flea market yesterday and lo and behold: I found another hat (not many to find on the flea markets over here I must say). This one caught my eye right away. Another T&W Lees fedora in Eventide grey. Overwelt brim at 5cm (with contrsting stitching) and crown 10cm at the pinch. I have posted one of these before that was missing it's sweatband and I took the overwelt edge out of. This one has the sweatband pretty much unsaveable and the liner missing. There was no room for negotiations because the asking price was only 1 euro. I will have it restored by Penumbra hatco (replace the sweatband and add a liner). After it's done I'll post it again. This one was imported by Jacobs&Vles of Amsterdam (quite a few of their hats have shown up lately for some reason). House of England was a menswear shop with shops in Amsterdam, Hilversum and Bussum. This is one of their later hats, because the quality of their sweatbands on their earlier hats was far superior. The felt quality is still there though.

 

[Redfokker]

Went to a flea market yesterday and lo and behold: I found another hat (not many to find on the flea markets over here I must say). This one caught my eye right away. Another T&W Lees fedora in Eventide grey. Overwelt brim at 5cm (with contrsting stitching) and crown 10cm at the pinch. I have posted one of these before that was missing it's sweatband and I took the overwelt edge out of. This one has the sweatband pretty much unsaveable and the liner missing. There was no room for negotiations because the asking price was only 1 euro. I will have it restored by Penumbra hatco (replace the sweatband and add a liner). After it's done I'll post it again. This one was imported by Jacobs&Vles of Amsterdam (quite a few of their hats have shown up lately for some reason). House of England was a menswear shop with shops in Amsterdam, Hilversum and Bussum. This is one of their later hats, because the quality of their sweatbands on their earlier hats was far superior. The felt quality is still there though.


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Pretty impressive find for a shiny new Euro. The restoration story will be followed.

 

[M Hatman]

Went to a flea market yesterday and lo and behold: I found another hat (not many to find on the flea markets over here I must say). This one caught my eye right away. Another T&W Lees fedora in Eventide grey. Overwelt brim at 5cm (with contrsting stitching) and crown 10cm at the pinch. I have posted one of these before that was missing it's sweatband and I took the overwelt edge out of. This one has the sweatband pretty much unsaveable and the liner missing. There was no room for negotiations because the asking price was only 1 euro. I will have it restored by Penumbra hatco (replace the sweatband and add a liner). After it's done I'll post it again. This one was imported by Jacobs&Vles of Amsterdam (quite a few of their hats have shown up lately for some reason). House of England was a menswear shop with shops in Amsterdam, Hilversum and Bussum. This is one of their later hats, because the quality of their sweatbands on their earlier hats was far superior. The felt quality is still there though.


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You did well!!!!!!!
M

 

[steur]

Pretty impressive find for a shiny new Euro. The restoration story will be followed.

You did well!!!!!!!
M

Mike, Hatman, thanks. Can't really do any better than this. In the pictures it still looks a bit mottled (I took them before steaming). I'm confident it will turn out to be a very nice looking hat.

 

[steur]

Another hat revisit today (did one in the borsalino brotherhood too). I posted this T&W Lees fedora before, but the pictures then didn't really do it justice. It's more or less the same hat as the one above: Lees fedora in the colour eventide grey, but this one I took the overwelt out of. The sweatband was completely missing so I had to sow one in myself (the first one I did). Still one of my favourite hats. Brim at 5,5cm and crown 10cm at the pinch. Don't mind the grumpy look; it was still early.

 

[steur]

Posted this one yesterday in the homburg nation thread, but it belongs here too. Moores homburg in grey (I have one of their homburgs in black too). The colour is called flannel on the label, which is interesting because a T&W Lees hat I posted recently had the same colour name, which makes me wonder if the dyes the factories used may have come from the same source. Size 57, bound brim at 6cm and crown 11cm at the pinch. Fairly stiff, even for a homburg, but very high quality hat. Moores was one of the largest of the English hat manufacturers. Located in Denton, near Manchester, where the factory still stands but is no longer in use of course.

 

[steur]

Another find I did yesterday. I was quite surprised by this one. This is an Englsih hat made for the German market. Its shape and finishing is however completely different from what I would expect from an English hat for the German market. The hat has straight sides and unusual finishing. The ribbon is narrow to medium. The felt quality and finishing is of very high standard however and it fits me like a glove. So all in all a very pleasant surprise. Battersby fedora in brown, size probably 56 (label inside the hat was removed). Raw edge brim at 6,3cm and crown 10,5 cm at the pinch. Lovely coloured liner without any covering of the crown patch. Very unusual is that the bow ends are not stitched to the hat and make a full loop. Battersby was located in Stockport, near Manchester. The factory was in trouble soon after the war (fur shortage in 1949 due to myxomatosis) and in 1956 merged with Woodrow&Sons and again in 1958 with Joseph E. Ward. In 1966 the company was one of the five to merge into Associated British Hat Manufacturers. This one I think dates from the early fifties.
Rest of the pictures in the second post.

 

[steur]

Battersby part 2

 

[RJR]

Battersby part 2

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Super find,congrats.

 

[steur]

Super find,congrats.

Bob, thanks. Now and again a hat pops up you don't expect and this certainly was one of those.

 

[KarlCrow]

Battersby part 2

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jesus, you did well!

 

[steur]

jesus, you did well!

Karl, thanks. Wait till you see the last two!

 

[mayserwegener]

Battersby part 2

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Stefan, Great find! I am not sure I have seen a English German Market Hat from this time period. I have seen some later Lees Hats and pre WWII Stiff Felts from various English Hat Companies.

 

[steur]

Stefan, Great find! I am not sure I have seen a English German Market Hat from this time period. I have seen some later Lees Hats and pre WWII Stiff Felts from various English Hat Companies.

Steve, thanks. Battersby is not a brand eou see that often. So far I have only seen homburg hats by them, so this one was a no-brainer.

 

[Redfokker]

Battersby part 2

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Stefan, you always show us the most unusual and storied hats. This is an epic find.

 

[steur]

Stefan, you always show us the most unusual and storied hats. This is an epic find.

Mike, thanks. And to think I left quite a few hats that were just as nice (well maybe a bit less) that I could (and maybe should) have bought as well. Can't save them all I guess.

 

[steur]

Here's a very interesting one I had to wait for quite a while. Well worth it though. Saml. Mortlock&Son extra quality hat in brown (chocolate according to the label). Size 59 (7 1/4 English), raw edge curled brim at 5,5cm and crown 10,5 cm in front. Just put a centre dent in this one. Not quite sure what to make of this. Looks like a homburg, but doesn't really fit the classic homburg make. There's no brim binding and the ribbon is very narrow (1,2 cm) for a homburg. The hat is unlined. Mortlock was based in London and not a manufacturer (a bit like Lock&Co) but a hatter. Judging by the label it could have been made by T&W Lees or Moores (who have similar labels). I think this one could be late thirties or forties. Sorry guys: this one will probably go to Italy as part of the third hat-exchange.

 

[KarlCrow]

Here's a very interesting one I had to wait for quite a while. Well worth it though. Saml. Mortlock&Son extra quality hat in brown (chocolate according to the label). Size 59 (7 1/4 English), raw edge curled brim at 5,5cm and crown 10,5 cm in front. Just put a centre dent in this one. Not quite sure what to make of this. Looks like a homburg, but doesn't really fit the classic homburg make. There's no brim binding and the ribbon is very narrow (1,2 cm) for a homburg. The hat is unlined. Mortlock was based in London and not a manufacturer (a bit like Lock&Co) but a hatter. Judging by the label it could have been made by T&W Lees or Moores (who have similar labels). I think this one could be late thirties or forties. Sorry guys: this one will probably go to Italy as part of the third hat-exchange.

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Cool

 

[jlee562]

I believe that would qualify as a Lord's Hat.