Vintage custom hatters and lesser known vintage production hatmakers

[Rabbit]

We have threads for all the main vintage hat brands.

This is the place to post your hats from all the vintage custom hatters and the smaller brands, and any further info on those businesses that you may have. There were so many of them that it's hard to keep track.

 

[Rabbit]

Tropp the Hatter Philadelphia 5.5" x 2 1/2" mid grey, dress weight, cavanagh edge

A wonderful dress weight felt with a denseness not unlike my Twenty hats of the late 40s/ early 50s (Resistol Beaver Twenty, Dobbs Twenty, Knox Twenty). The haptic is a little different, though, hard to describe and high quality; the finish is very even.
Note the unconventional stitchings of the reeded sweat to the felt, and the same thread being used on the taped rear seam. Overall extremely well constructed, I couldn't be more pleased. Another unusual feature - there is a plastic cover palpable beneath the liner, or to be more exact only beneath the crown roof section of the liner, not the sides. It is only palpable when touching the liner from the inside, not when holding the hat by the pinch.

Unsnapped & snapped:

 

[Rabbit]

Tropp the Hatter Part II

I received this beautiful specimen from Steve earlier this week. Steve had found some more info on this hatter when he first bought the hat which I'm re-posting here.
You'll also find this information and more photos on his website and in the Post New Hats thread.

I did some searching and found that this operation goes back to at least 1891. The original owner / hatter was a man named Morris Tropp (originally from Galicia / Austria / Poland) who was originally at another address and pops up at the one on the hat in the 1920 census (listed as Hatter). He is no longer around as of the 1930 census but his wife is listed as running the shop. It must have kept going because my hat appears to be from the 1950s.

Original location from the 1891 Philadelphia City directory. His brother? Wolf is also listed. I found Wolf had a hat shop at 77 Livingston St. Newark, NJ (1891 Newark City Directory).

1920 Census at 3315 N. 5th Street Philadelphia, PA

1930 Census at 3315 N. 5th Street Philadelphia, PA

Actually when these people arrived (1890) the place they came from (now Poland - eastern Ukraine) was part of Austria. Looking at the 1910/20/30 census data from that area in Philadelphia a good number of the people were from central and eastern Europe.

 

[Neophyte]

Joicy of Baltimore custom

 

[mayserwegener]

Nik, Your photos look fantastic! I am really happy the Tropp ended up in your hands. Thanks!

Alex, Your Joicy Baltimore is super. Beautiful thin ribbon bow design. BTW I still need to look into Joicy Baltimore (assuming Baltimore is the location).

 

[Rabbit]

Thank you Steve, same here. I'm very happy with the Tropp. A wonderful companion for grey flannel which is my favorite.

Below are several "unknown" hats from my ebay image files of past auctions that caught my attention. None of these hats are mine.

Sunnington XXXX

 

[Rabbit]

Sidney's Toggery

Rue de la Paix

 

[Rabbit]

Resko

Pimbell

 

[Rabbit]

Mannion

 

[Rabbit]

Hardeman

 

[Rabbit]

Cye Stacey

 

[Rabbit]

Cye Stacey cont'd

 

[Rabbit]

Edward Biskup

Walton

 

[Neophyte]

Snyders

This one, or one identical to it, is actually in my possession at the moment. The company name is Sidney's Toggery. I don't know if it's a custom or not, though. Here's some of my own pics of it.

 

[mikespens]

Very kool thread Nik, nice hats and pixs. Hope to add to this one someday.

 

[scooter]

This is a killer thread, some of these hats are just to die for! That Cie Stacy and Alex's Sydney are some pretty stellar examples. The Joicy and the Sunnington are simply breathtaking! Man, I love this stuff, these old hats are nothing short of spectacular.

 

[Rabbit]

Thanks for the feedback, Mike, and Scooter.

I'm looking forward to seeing more examples of those no-name hats.

This one, or one identical to it, is actually in my possession at the moment. The company name is Sidney's Toggery. I don't know if it's a custom or not, though. Here's some of my own pics of it.

Thanks for the info, Alex. I changed the name in my post accordingly. I recall that the hat was listed on ebay as "Snyders" with no information on the hat to back it up, so I assume it was a typo in the listing, with the real name being Sidney's Toggery.

 

[Rabbit]

Fabroc

Charvet

 

[Rabbit]

Thoroughbred

The felt color on this Thoroughbred is an unusual one. It's dark grey with a definite purple undertone. This hat was bought by a Lounger and got posted with better pics showing and confirming the felt color, but I can't find the post.

 

[seabass]

Quality Hat Work's, San Francisco