The Stratoliner Society {VINTAGE}

[Short Balding Guy]

Just found this

Gorgeous early version of the Stratoliner. They wear light given the lighter felt weight and non-reeded sweat. Congrats sir. Wear it with pride.

 

[Hagwood]

Just found this

Beautiful hat !

Enjoy wearing it !!

 

[DOGMAN]

Beauty... is the red manufacturing tag present?

Thank you.Only tag was the one I showed,and it just came off.

 

[DOGMAN]

Gorgeous early version of the Stratoliner. They wear light given the lighter felt weight and non-reeded sweat. Congrats sir. Wear it with pride.

Thanks.It's funny how excited I was to find this hat.

 

[DOGMAN]

Beautiful hat !

Enjoy wearing it !!

Thank you,Sir.I will start today.

 

[Hagwood]

Thanks.It's funny how excited I was to find this hat.

LOL, I know the feeling. I’m supper excited to receive mine. Supposed to get it tomorrow. It’s always exciting for me to find cool vintage stuff, let alone a great hat !!

 

[Hagwood]

Got my first Stratoliner last night and only my second vintage hat. Condition is amazing, with the original box and hat pin. I was a little nervous because it is a 6-5/8 and I am a 6-7/8, but I couldn't pass it up. After about 3 hours of work last night, misting, steaming and stretching, it now fits like a glove ! Love the color too, my wife says it matches my eyes.....

 

[Hagwood]

Lot's of cool stuff under the sweat, but I can't make some of it out. Has a date stamp of Nov, 1941 - just a month before Pearl Harbor !

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Lot's of cool stuff under the sweat, but I can't make some of it out. Has a date stamp of Nov, 1941 - just a month before Pearl Harbor !

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Outstanding hat!
Not that often do you get a date stamp in an old Stetson.
Hat, box, pin, date....super find!
B

 

[alanfgag]

Lot's of cool stuff under the sweat, but I can't make some of it out. Has a date stamp of Nov, 1941 - just a month before Pearl Harbor !

A date stamp is the holy grail of hat ephemera, tying together the other parts into a really great reference piece. What a great find! I've increased the contrast of your reverse sweatband shots. The sweatband imprints LOT7710 and 1 7/8 Soft would disappear during the WWII era. You might post some pictures on this thread too.

Thanks for posting the detailed photos. Is there a size label present on the rear of the sweatband?

 

[Hagwood]

A date stamp is the holy grail of hat ephemera, tying together the other parts into a really great reference piece. What a great find! I've increased the contrast of your reverse sweatband shots. The sweatband imprints LOT7710 and 1 7/8 Soft would disappear during the WWII era. You might post some pictures on this thread too.

Thanks for posting the detailed photos. Is there a size label present on the rear of the sweatband?

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Great info, thanks for that ! No size tag on the rear, only the red sticker:




What would the '1 7/8 SOFT' refer to, the weight of the felt ?

 

[alanfgag]

Great info, thanks for that ! No size tag on the rear, only the red sticker:
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What would the '1 7/8 SOFT' refer to, the weight of the felt ?

Sweatbands were stamped with several identifiers - their width (1 7/8" in this instance) and sometimes "stiff" or "soft", which likely refers to the type of hat, going back to when dress hats were predominantly stiff hats (derbies) or soft hats (fedoras). Other words show up too - "kettle finish" comes to mind.

Manufacturing details seemed to undergo change during the decade before WWII which we can guess at from the materials and markings that remain. The three panel manufacturing tag in your hat had a relatively short life, appearing in the late 1930s after the wider three part label that Stetson used for much of the 20th century (and perhaps earlier) and before the single panel narrow version that appeared shortly after your hat was made and continued through the war into the 1950s. You can see both and other subtle differences in two Stratoliners compared in this post. I have another early Strat with the same sweatband as yours (posted a page or so back from here) - mine has the later version of the manufacturing tag and no LOTXXXX number. I believe this one is earlier than the version with the embroidered tip liner... but I'm not really sure. Maybe both versions ran concurrently...

 

[Rmccamey]

Excellent find. Keep your eyes open for a 7 1/8 just like that! Wow, what a catch! Good luck to you and send pictures often!

Got my first Stratoliner last night and only my second vintage hat. Condition is amazing, with the original box and hat pin. I was a little nervous because it is a 6-5/8 and I am a 6-7/8, but I couldn't pass it up. After about 3 hours of work last night, misting, steaming and stretching, it now fits like a glove ! Love the color too, my wife says it matches my eyes.....

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Lot's of cool stuff under the sweat, but I can't make some of it out. Has a date stamp of Nov, 1941 - just a month before Pearl Harbor !

View attachment 187098 View attachment 187099

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[Hagwood]

Excellent find. Keep your eyes open for a 7 1/8 just like that! Wow, what a catch! Good luck to you and send pictures often!

LOL, I’ll do it !

I’m always on the hunt for vintage items, right now I’m looking for a Ronson Touch Tip desk lighter as seen in The Maltese Falcon. Very cool !

 

[Hagwood]

Sweatbands were stamped with several identifiers - their width (1 7/8" in this instance) and sometimes "stiff" or "soft", which likely refers to the type of hat, going back to when dress hats were predominantly stiff hats (derbies) or soft hats (fedoras). Other words show up too - "kettle finish" comes to mind.

Manufacturing details seemed to undergo change during the decade before WWII which we can guess at from the materials and markings that remain. The three panel manufacturing tag in your hat had a relatively short life, appearing in the late 1930s after the wider three part label that Stetson used for much of the 20th century (and perhaps earlier) and before the single panel narrow version that appeared shortly after your hat was made and continued through the war into the 1950s. You can see both and other subtle differences in two Stratoliners compared in this post. I have another early Strat with the same sweatband as yours (posted a page or so back from here) - mine has the later version of the manufacturing tag and no LOTXXXX number. I believe this one is earlier than the version with the embroidered tip liner... but I'm not really sure. Maybe both versions ran concurrently...

Man, you are a wealth of information, thanks so much. It was your previous posts with that similar Strat that made me pull the trigger on this one. When I first saw it I thought it was just missing the liner until I saw yours.

There is so much to learn on this site !

 

[Hagwood]

I also found this cloth like emblem taped to the inside of the sweatband. I thought maybe it was the emblem inside the top of the crown that had come off and he taped it in there for posterity, but all the ones I’ve seen are round.

 

[Hagwood]

Check out the great vintage ad I found.

In the September, 1941 issue of LIFE, and my Strat was made in Nov, 1941.

I’m trying to get ads for all the brands of the vintage hats I have to make a display area / hat rack.

 

[M Hatman]

What would the '1 7/8 SOFT' refer to, the weight of the felt ?

Refers to the sweat.....1 7/8 origional width, made up for a soft felt hat rather than for a stiff felt like a Derby....

 

[M Hatman]

April and November 1945.......

 

[M Hatman]

1944......