The Stetson One-Hundred "100"

[HatsEnough]

I agree, Dinerman. I've had four Stetson 100s (I only retain one of them) and they were all, very, very different in weight, stiffness, thickness, etc.

 

[suitedcboy]

The one thing that we should all be able to agree on is that hat manufacturers have consistency in their inconsistency.
I have bought and worn extensively several each of a few Resistol and Stetson high end part beaver or all beaver hats. The same model hat will get better and worse every few years. I have 4 Resistol black Cattle Baron 100% beaver hats. The 14 and 4 year old hats are very well finished with high quality feeling sweatbands and have thinner but long wearing felt. The two others are 9 and a little less than two years old and are fine hats but fall well short of the other two. I have 3 Stetson silver belly 200X hats and two are fine hats but one is far superior and has been worn much more and in lots of rain and sweated in profusely with staining but the felt is none the worse for it.
I don't know about the others but Resistol has its own felt body plant and I would think that would lead to consistency.

 

[Jedwbpm]

I was under the impression that all Hatco hats were felted in the same plant in Texas. There might be different recipes for the felt but the same people and machines make them.

Jeff

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

A fairly recent pickup. I think this is the third or fourth 100 I've had. Every single 100 and every single 7XCB (close to a dozen?) I've had have been different. Different shades to the felt, different felt weights, different stiffnesses. Interesting to see the variations.

That comment points dead to what I was afraid of: they're all different! The more I read about Stetson, Stetson dating, felt, style, price...whatever...the denser the fog seems to get. It's as if, in a certain sense, the "old" (yes, old is the correct and respectful word) history, knowledge, expertise has swirled down some maelstrom of a drain. Of course, I know, I exaggerate. The problem is not so much knowledge, rather the ordening of it into comprehensible references.

BTW, reading these posts, I took my "100" out of the box, for a look ...wow... I like that hat! It's the one in my avatar.

Paul

 

[gtdean48]

I was under the impression that all Hatco hats were felted in the same plant in Texas....

You are right Jeff. Currently, the HatCo felt bodies come from a plant in Longview, TX to the assembly plant in Garland, TX.
The dye recipe for Stetson Silverbelly is different than that for Resistol as we have observed countless time.

I think you see a lot of variations in at least the color of 7X CB's & 100's because they are natural beaver felt bodies & depending on the fur of the runs, there could be differences.
I have 2 Natural beaver hats out of the Winchester Hat Factory & they are noticeably different shades.
I also think that 100's earlier on were done in both dress & western bodies, we see differences as well.
Plus, if each 100 was handled by a specific Master Hatter, then individuality could account for variances as well. JMHO

 

[suitedcboy]

The Stetson westerns I have are old enough to be St Joseph Missouri hats. Would those be Longview body hats?

 

[gtdean48]

The Stetson westerns I have are old enough to be St Joseph Missouri hats. Would those be Longview body hats?

Good question. I don't know when the Longview felt plant came on line but I'd expect it to be part of the Resistol operations acquired by HatCo.

 

[suitedcboy]

I may be all confused but I thought St Jo closed. Maybe it is open but makes no westerns and sold off some of the production equipment. I have seen things on Ebay listed as "out of the Stetson factory in St Jo". I have seen Stetson westerns on ebay by a couple of sellers who have listed a lot of hats that were supposed to be hats bought when they closed the plant. I do know I have a couple of hats that definitely have different sweats and liners I assumed were St. Joseph made and I have one that is a Resistol clone in every way but is a Stetson. The Garland made clone I assume is a longview produced body. I wonder if Longview bodies were used in production of St. Jo hats? If so, when did that start? I can't find anything in my searches on the 'net that seems reliable.

 

[rlk]

I may be all confused but I thought St Jo closed. Maybe it is open but makes no westerns and sold off some of the production equipment. I have seen things on Ebay listed as "out of the Stetson factory in St Jo". I have seen Stetson westerns on ebay by a couple of sellers who have listed a lot of hats that were supposed to be hats bought when they closed the plant. I do know I have a couple of hats that definitely have different sweats and liners I assumed were St. Joseph made and I have one that is a Resistol clone in every way but is a Stetson. The Garland made clone I assume is a longview produced body. I wonder if Longview bodies were used in production of St. Jo hats? If so, when did that start? I can't find anything in my searches on the 'net that seems reliable.

 

[suitedcboy]

Thanks. That is what I thought was the case but I did brief searches and found something with a recent date listing employee numbers.
It seems the St Jo westerns were St Jo felt as of the end of the 80's.

 

[Rodkins]

I figured I'd post one shot of my three Stetson 100 hats together before I split them up...

7 3/8, 7 5/8, 7 1/2

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

You are keeping the 7 3/8's right.

 

[Rodkins]

You are keeping the 7 3/8's right.

Yes sir

 

[jerrea]

ebay

I was watching a "100" on the bay, a beauty with box, sold for $417.00. Out of my league....:eusa_booh

 

[Chepstow]

Mike, stunning collection, respect!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I figured I'd post one shot of my three Stetson 100 hats together before I split them up...

7 3/8, 7 5/8, 7 1/2

I can tell you keep these hats in the "vault", awesome hats.

 

[randooch]

I received an S100 today, won on Ebay. It is indeed a 7 5/8, as it rests upon my ears, too big for me.

It needs a cleaning, but has no damage. (Clouds of fine dust arose each time I flicked the brim with my fingernail. )

Impressive, putty-like felt. I'm very disappointed that it's too big for me.

It has a (edit: reblock) date of 10-16-1972.

A few pics:

Oddly, the open crown is 5.5 inches, not 4.5, as indicated on the block tag.






Here's the staining, present all around the brim.


Stitching is tight all 'round.

 

[TipTop]

Randall, I'm confused by the tag, vs. the sweat embossing. Is the interior tag that of a local hatter that cleaned and blocked it? The embossing would indicate the owner's name and the retail store, right? And that would make it a notch older if true?? BTW, I like the tan color..about the same as mine...I much prefer that over the gray varieties.

 

[randooch]

Ray, you're probably right. No other stickers are present, so perhaps the folks at "Hussey's Hatters" replaced the original sticker with their own. Indeed, 1972 seems too recent for such a hat.

The tan hue is beautiful. Sigh.

Perhaps I could have it reblocked as a 7 1/2!

 

[TipTop]

Randall, Ritch Rand does a wonderful complete rehab job for $125 and yours should be less because you want to keep what's possible inside. And they always ask first: Does it fit, and if not, what do you want?

You could ask for Luke, who apparently enjoyed redoing my Churchill/Neiman Marcus, as he commented on its quality and that it was a pleasure to work with it.

Note fine rear pencil roll and top double-dent.

http://www.randhats.com/

Ritch Rand, Pres. MH MMD
WSP Inc. / dba
Rand's Custom Hatters
2205 1st Ave N
Billings, MT USA 59101

800-346-9815 toll free
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