The Official Stetson Nutria Quality Thread

[MikeinRome]

Thanks MiR.
I was hoping you would be kind enough to post your copy you obviously have privy to for the rest of the lounge as reference but ok.
So me not having the catalogue for reference what is Nutria Grade?

My understanding of what you are alluding to is that All Boss Raw Edge stamped hats are composed of Nutria fur in some form.
Not Clear, not Real but some composition of Nutria fur thus “Nutria hats” under the classification of Nutria Grade.
Do i have that right? Please correct me if wrong. I wouldn’t want others to be misinformed.
Thanks
B

Yes, so far as I know, all genuine Boss Raw Edge hats are made of Nutria of one or another level of quality. (later changed because there were also beaver grades of the Boss) However, if they are some grade higher than Nutria Grade, such as Real Nutria or Clear Nutria, then they will have a different stamp that spells out that higher grade. Such a case of that is shown a page or so farther in the catalog, where they show and explain the stamp for Real Nutria Boss Raw Edge hats. There's several pages of Boss Raw Edge hats in the catalog. I can't recall if any were made of Beaver, but if so, I'd imagine they would have a stamp saying that. I just wasn't focused on Beaver hats when I was researching this. I don't have a copy of that Stetson catalog. All you have to do is do a search on the Lounge. Or you can Google 1900 Stetson catalog and scroll down to where it's shown on the Fedora Lounge. I would provide a link to it, but I don't know how to do that sort of thing.

 

[BobHufford]

All you have to do is do a search on the Lounge. Or you can Google 1900 Stetson catalog and scroll down to where it's shown on the Fedora Lounge. I would provide a link to it, but I don't know how to do that sort of thing.

I got this ...

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/1900s-stetson-catalog-reprint.94429/

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Yes, all genuine Boss Raw Edge hats are made of Nutria of one or another level of quality. However, if they are some grade higher than Nutria Grade, such as Real Nutria or Clear Nutria, then they will have a different stamp that spells out that higher grade. Such a case of that is shown a page or so farther in the catalog, where they show and explain the stamp for Real Nutria Boss Raw Edge hats. I don't have a copy of that Stetson catalog. All you have to do is do a search on the Lounge. Or you can Google 1900 Stetson catalog and scroll down to where it's shown on the Fedora Lounge. I would provide a link to it, but I don't know how to do that sort of thing.

Ahh….thank you.
Your first sentence is quite a declaration.
I’m just a grasshopper with a few hats looking for facts about hats. I guess i get confused easily between fact and theory.
I can say you are the first on the lounge to define as fact “All Boss Raw Edge” stamped hats are composed of some degree of Nutria fur.
I must have missed that fact somehow.
Thanks for clearing that up.
B

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

I got this ...

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/1900s-stetson-catalog-reprint.94429/

Thanks Bob. Now that’s factual reference.
B

 

[MikeinRome]

I got this ...

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/1900s-stetson-catalog-reprint.94429/

Thanks a lot, Bob!

 

[MikeinRome]

Ahh….thank you.
Your first sentence is quite a declaration.
I’m just a grasshopper with a few hats looking for facts about hats. I guess i get confused easily between fact and theory.
I can say you are the first on the lounge to define as fact “All Boss Raw Edge” stamped hats are composed of some degree of Nutria fur.
I must have missed that fact somehow.
Thanks for clearing that up.
B

I'll have to look at the catalog again to refresh my memory and see if any of the dozens of Boss Raw Edge hats shown are made of Beaver. To complicate things a little, one page of the catalog mentions that Stetson makes imitations of the Boss Raw Edge in grades of 1X and Number 1 Quality. Presumably, these hats don't carry any Boss stamp, but are just look-alike hats....Edit: Looking at the catalog, Boss Raw Edge hats were indeed offered in Beaver. It's hard to read, but looks like offered in grades of 2X or 3X, can't tell what it says, and also offered in Real Beaver Grade. Might also be offered in some other grade of Beaver not listed here, such as Clear Beaver, perhaps. Just speculating. As I said before, I imagine such beaver hats would have a Boss stamp stating that they were of Beaver. So my first sentence about All Boss Raw Edge hats being made of Nutria has to be changed.

 

[MikeinRome]

Ahh….thank you.
Your first sentence is quite a declaration.
I’m just a grasshopper with a few hats looking for facts about hats. I guess i get confused easily between fact and theory.
I can say you are the first on the lounge to define as fact “All Boss Raw Edge” stamped hats are composed of some degree of Nutria fur.
I must have missed that fact somehow.
Thanks for clearing that up.
B

I hope you notice that I've gone back and amended or edited some of my statements about all Boss hats being made of Nutria, because they were also offered in grades of Beaver. In my hurry to answer you earlier today, I had forgotten about seeing the Beaver listings in the catalog.

 

[RossRYoung]

Good discussion gents, I’m glad to see the text getting reviewed as it is rather hard to read from the catalog.

‘Annie Oakley Clone’ hat that I somehow forgot to share here.

Here’s a link to detailed pictures of the actual hat for AO, that sold for an impressive $17k and change. The hat did appear to be in NOS condition, the one I received has a little more character but still plenty of charm.

The obvious noticeable differences are the addition of gold foil for my Grand Prize and Real Noot stamps, but ironically both were sold out of the same city! They even share the same pebbled sweat, the only one I own with it.

 

[MikeinRome]

Good discussion gents, I’m glad to see the text getting reviewed as it is rather hard to read from the catalog.

‘Annie Oakley Clone’ hat that I somehow forgot to share here.

Here’s a link to detailed pictures of the actual hat for AO, that sold for an impressive $17k and change. The hat did appear to be in NOS condition, the one I received has a little more character but still plenty of charm.

The obvious noticeable differences are the addition of gold foil for my Grand Prize and Real Noot stamps, but ironically both were sold out of the same city! They even share the same pebbled sweat, the only one I own with it.

View attachment 535960 View attachment 535961 View attachment 535962

Wow! Great hat!

 

[RossRYoung]

Wow! Great hat!

Thank you Mike!

 

[carouselvic]

I hope you notice that I've gone back and amended or edited some of my statements about all Boss hats being made of Nutria, because they were also offered in grades of Beaver. In my hurry to answer you earlier today, I had forgotten about seeing the Beaver listings in the catalog.

Now this is something that I can agree with you on

 

[MikeinRome]

Now this is something that I can agree with you on

In my first discussions and research on the Boss Raw Edge, (on Join the Fray thread) I was really just focused on Nutria Boss hats and the main point I was trying to make was that no Boss hats were made in any felt quality less than Nutria. I was aware that they also came made of Beaver, but that's not what I was working on or worried about, so I put the beaver versions out of my mind. So when this particular discussion here began, I'd forgotten what I'd read before about beaver Bosses until I went back and reread the catalog.

 

[MikeinRome]

Stetson Real Nutria, 3 inch brim, 6 inch open crown. About 1940 hat because it has the 3 small panel mfg tag but no Lot Number on sweatband. Sweatband joint isn't stitched. This hat and the following one came from the same seller and shown as received. Sending both to be cleaned.

This Real Nutria hat might be the San Fran Jr model as shown in the 1937 Stockman-Farm catalog, shown on pg 8 of The Stetson Way thread. The last photo is from a 1940 catalog on the Miller Stockman catalog thread.

 

[MikeinRome]

I'll have to look at the catalog again to refresh my memory and see if any of the dozens of Boss Raw Edge hats shown are made of Beaver. To complicate things a little, one page of the catalog mentions that Stetson makes imitations of the Boss Raw Edge in grades of 1X and Number 1 Quality. Presumably, these hats don't carry any Boss stamp, but are just look-alike hats....Edit: Looking at the catalog, Boss Raw Edge hats were indeed offered in Beaver. It's hard to read, but looks like offered in grades of 2X or 3X, can't tell what it says, and also offered in Real Beaver Grade. Might also be offered in some other grade of Beaver not listed here, such as Clear Beaver, perhaps. Just speculating. As I said before, I imagine such beaver hats would have a Boss stamp stating that they were of Beaver. So my first sentence about All Boss Raw Edge hats being made of Nutria has to be changed.

Example of a stamp from a Boss Raw Edge made of 3X Beaver.

 

[MikeinRome]

Stetson Real Nutria, 3 inch brim, 5 3/4 open crown. 1940's hat based on design of sweatband logo. This hat has mothing, but it's not nearly as serious as the seller's pics made it appear.

Couple of photos of Real Nutria just back from cleaning at Paris Hatters. They also tacked the loose ribbon securely. I've also included a better pic of the mfg tag. The Block Number is #51 and I don't know what the other numbers are, unless it's the Reorder Number, since the hat doesn't have a separate Reorder tag.

 

[MikeinRome]

Stetson Nutria Quality, late 40's to early 50's. Has tags from that period, but sweatband too fragile to photograph them. 3 1/2 inch brim, 5 1/2 inch open crown. The seller called this color turquoise. It's sorta blue green, depending on the light. I'm going to reshape it, but shown here as I received it. The sweatband looked like brand new, but as soon as I tried to look behind it, it began to crack in several places.

 

[Blare]

Stetson Nutria Quality, late 40's to early 50's. Has tags from that period, but sweatband too fragile to photograph them. 3 1/2 inch brim, 5 1/2 inch open crown. The seller called this color turquoise. It's sorta blue green, depending on the light. I'm going to reshape it, but shown here as I received it. The sweatband looked like brand new, but as soon as I tried to look behind it, it began to crack in several places.

That’s a beauty

 

[MikeinRome]

Thanks, Blare. I'm not sure how well the hat's color photographs, but it's very bright, vivid, and doesn't appear to have suffered from fading due to exposure to sunlight. I might suggest "Jade" as this hat color.

 

[BobHufford]

Stetson Nutria Quality, late 40's to early 50's.

Very cool Mike. Great to see one in this color.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

6” open crown and 3” raw edge brim. The felt is in fantastic condition and is thin, dense, and very moldable. The sweatband is toast and will be replaced soon.