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The Open Road Guild

DaveProc

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,118
Location
Rhode Island
Here is another addition to the Guild. A mid-50's Royal Stetson Open Road. Price tag of $10 indicates before 1956 when the price jumped to $10.50 it seems. Has plastic tip cover so 1953 or later.....it also has the black lettering which was used for a short time. Crown 5 3/4", brim comes in at 2 5/8" as advertised for this model at that time (4 3/4" in front as creased). Felt is VERY thin (think Borsalino thin) and you can blow a crease into it. Has a great feel which I was not entirely expecting. AND it is a nice light GREY!!!!:)
View attachment 570119 View attachment 570120
View attachment 570124

Sold at "the White House" El Paso. I have a few hats sold at a "White House" from Michigan to California...was this a sort of chain?
View attachment 570122
The liner Tip......
View attachment 570125
And finally the price......
View attachment 570126
I did not look behind this textured sweat as it is thin and I do not wish to damage.....
Am pretty happy to add this to my collection.:)
Very nice!
 

StoryPNW

One Too Many
Messages
1,136
Location
Pacific Northwest
Here is another addition to the Guild. A mid-50's Royal Stetson Open Road. Price tag of $10 indicates before 1956 when the price jumped to $10.50 it seems. Has plastic tip cover so 1953 or later.....it also has the black lettering which was used for a short time. Crown 5 3/4", brim comes in at 2 5/8" as advertised for this model at that time (4 3/4" in front as creased). Felt is VERY thin (think Borsalino thin) and you can blow a crease into it. Has a great feel which I was not entirely expecting. AND it is a nice light GREY!!!!:)
View attachment 570119 View attachment 570120
View attachment 570124

Sold at "the White House" El Paso. I have a few hats sold at a "White House" from Michigan to California...was this a sort of chain?
View attachment 570122
The liner Tip......
View attachment 570125
And finally the price......
View attachment 570126
I did not look behind this textured sweat as it is thin and I do not wish to damage.....
Am pretty happy to add this to my collection.:)
Great find!
 

Rmccamey

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,836
Location
Central Texas
Wow, that is an excellent example of an OR. Hope to see more of it in the future.
Here is another addition to the Guild. A mid-50's Royal Stetson Open Road. Price tag of $10 indicates before 1956 when the price jumped to $10.50 it seems. Has plastic tip cover so 1953 or later.....it also has the black lettering which was used for a short time. Crown 5 3/4", brim comes in at 2 5/8" as advertised for this model at that time (4 3/4" in front as creased). Felt is VERY thin (think Borsalino thin) and you can blow a crease into it. Has a great feel which I was not entirely expecting. AND it is a nice light GREY!!!!:)
View attachment 570119 View attachment 570120
View attachment 570124

Sold at "the White House" El Paso. I have a few hats sold at a "White House" from Michigan to California...was this a sort of chain?
View attachment 570122
The liner Tip......
View attachment 570125
And finally the price......
View attachment 570126
I did not look behind this textured sweat as it is thin and I do not wish to damage.....
Am pretty happy to add this to my collection.:)
 
Messages
19,001
Location
Central California
Nice to find one in a different color:

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Frontporchcharlie

New in Town
Messages
29
I found this beauty on Facebook marketplace for $30. I’ve shared this on a few threads, hoping somebody would expound some more about the hat. You can tell the open crown has never had a crease in it. It doesn't say Open Road anywhere on the hat, but the dimensions match an early OR. 2 3/4" brim and a 5 1/2" open crown. I don’t dare call it an OR because it's not one. I don't know what it is.
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The hat liner and size tag suggest it is from the 1960's to 1970 before the Stevens acquisition. The hat is pristine except for some moth wounds.
 
Last edited:
Messages
11,369
Location
Alabama
expound some more about the hat
In what way? I’ve seen your other posts as well. You know that it’s not an OR and neither was Oppenheimer’s hat but that’s beside the point. Your hat is a decent looking 3X Beaver but it leans more to the modern side of Stetson production, not a particularly popular era around here, at least in the lower grade hats. There are quite a few 7X CB’s and 100’s around here made during the same era and they remain popular. I have one of each. As to what model it may be, who knows? Stetson was terrible about listing model names in many hats. Models can sometimes be identified by looking through the Miller Catalog threads.
 

Frontporchcharlie

New in Town
Messages
29
In what way? I’ve seen your other posts as well. You know that it’s not an OR and neither was Oppenheimer’s hat but that’s beside the point. Your hat is a decent looking 3X Beaver but it leans more to the modern side of Stetson production, not a particularly popular era around here, at least in the lower grade hats. There are quite a few 7X CB’s and 100’s around here made during the same era and they remain popular. I have one of each. As to what model it may be, who knows? Stetson was terrible about listing model names in many hats. Models can sometimes be identified by looking through the Miller Catalog threads.
Hello again. I was just putting feelers out there to see if anyone might know what model it is. I guess I’m a little too excited about finding this hat, and thought maybe some like minded people might like to see it, looks like I was wrong. I like it and that’s all that matters I reckon.
 
Messages
11,369
Location
Alabama
I like it and that’s all that matters I reckon.
You're absolutely right and it is a nice hat. I have several that are very similar, just older. Also, yours appears to be a unique gray as opposed to the more common SB that mine are. That's just one of the things that makes your hat unique. The other is the three ply ribbon. That's very desirable in vintage hats and modern makers, as I understand it, have trouble sourcing it. It's just not that common.

Not anything wrong with your hat, it's just many around here, myself included, prefer hats of a certain vintage, say the 50's and earlier. If your hat had been from that era with the embroidered LD liner and the deeply stamped roundel with stars in the banner, you would have likely generated more discussion and a lot of the 'nice hat' response that's so often seen around here. I also think you have a hat that not many around here have experience with. Hard to discuss what you don't know.
 
Messages
18,171
I don’t dare call it an OR because I’ve gotten metaphorically slapped by a few purists.

I was just putting feelers out there to see if anyone might know what model it is
At one time the members of FL were all purists. If you would read thru the thread & others you would see that we used to designate such unmarked hats as NOR’s, for NOT OPEN ROAD.
 

DaveProc

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,118
Location
Rhode Island
Hello again. I was just putting feelers out there to see if anyone might know what model it is. I guess I’m a little too excited about finding this hat, and thought maybe some like minded people might like to see it, looks like I was wrong. I like it and that’s all that matters I reckon.
I like it, and I think you scored on the price.
 

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