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Love the story and how it all came together for you. What a great job by @Randall Renshaw and it looks fantastic on you Mark! Enjoy!Sorry, it’s another long story!
Years ago, I went down an internet rabbit hole, chasing info on American-west-themed art. Somewhere along the way, I came across the works of an artist named William Herbert “Buck” Dunton. I also came across a 1932 photo of Mr. Dunton, wearing an awesome western hat. Neither the crease nor the curl were totally unique, but I had never seen them taken quite to the extreme as they were on his hat, and had NEVER seen them on a genuine period hat. I saved the photo, intending to someday engage a hatter to try to replicate it.
When I learned that Randall @Randall Renshaw had transitioned from being a collector, to doing refurbishing and re-creations, I immediately got in touch with him, and we quickly agreed that he should be the hatter to recreate the hat. I didn’t have one of sufficient size and color that I was willing to sacrifice to the project, but I was lucky enough to quickly score a Resistol Stagecoach Collection Timber Creek on eBay. It arrived about a week later, in as good a condition as I had hoped. In one of those odd quirks of life, the Timber Creek was originally sold from The Los Altos Western Store, a business I had actually patronized back in the 1980s, around the time the hat was being marketed for the first time. I asked Randall to cut that portion of the original sweatband, and attach it to his replacement, which he has done. It took Randall about three weeks to work his wizardry, including our discussing ribbon colors, binding colors, crown flourishes, and bow designs. When he was done, I paid him a ridiculously reasonable sum of money, and he shipped my re-creation back to me. I think he did a magnificent job of replicating Mr. Dunton’s hat, and it shall enter my EDW (Every Day Wear) stable, to be known as the “Buck.”
So here’s the photo of Mr. Dunton in his hat, a lithograph he did of a friend in a similar hat, the Buck on me, a closeup of the band adornment, the replacement headband, the custom lining, and the section of original headband.
This is EXACTLY what I had been envisioning, ever since I first saw that picture of Buck Dunton, lo, those many years ago. I am so freaking delighted, it's hard to put into words.
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