Vintage Bradford Ridgetop Beaver 30 - help with its history

[hannah roberts]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and based in the UK. I've recently acquired a vintage Bradford Ridgetop Beaver 30 in Palomino, size 6⅞, apparently unworn and retaining its original Oklahoma City retailer labels.
I've been researching Bradford's connection with Resistol and would love to learn more about the age and history of this particular hat.
Are there any Bradford collectors here who might be able to share their knowledge?
I've attached some photographs. Thanks!

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and based in the UK. I've recently acquired a vintage Bradford Ridgetop Beaver 30 in Palomino, size 6⅞, apparently unworn and retaining its original Oklahoma City retailer labels.
I've been researching Bradford's connection with Resistol and would love to learn more about the age and history of this particular hat.
Are there any Bradford collectors here who might be able to share their knowledge?
I've attached some photographs. Thanks!

Hi Hannah. Ridgetop refers to the Rancher-like shape of the block & was used by Byer-Rolnik, & Resistol lines for about 50 yrs. The BR30 means it is a better blend of rabbit & beaver, & Glyco Tite was a process used in felting to condense & weatherproof the felt so that it would hold its shape after exposed to rain & humidity. The crown should be pretty firm to the touch but still have a soft hand. Some people refer to such hats as thumpers.

From what I can see of the liner crest in your pics the stagecoach graphics was used by Resistol across most of their hat lines in the late 1970’s / early 1980’s. Your BR30 grade hat would have been far superior to the Stagecoach line so don’t get the two confused.

Cant tell from pics but by the 1980’s Resistol lines were switching over from real leather to a compressed artificial leather sweat, which could help date your Ridgetop further.

 

[hannah roberts]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and based in the UK. I've recently acquired a vintage Bradford Ridgetop Beaver 30 in Palomino, size 6⅞, apparently unworn and retaining its original Oklahoma City retailer labels.
I've been researching Bradford's connection with Resistol and would love to learn more about the age and history of this particular hat.
Are there any Bradford collectors here who might be able to share their knowledge?
I've attached some photographs. Thanks!

That’s really helpful and interesting, thanks so much

 

[hannah roberts]

That’s really helpful and interesting, thanks so much

Any ideas what it could be worth ?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Any ideas what it could be worth ?

It’s small. Size matters. Whatever the market will bear.