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What Hat Are You Wearing Today ?

Messages
15,276
Location
Somewhere south of crazy
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Royal Stetson
 

Short Balding Guy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,873
Location
Minnesota, USA
I took a morning walkabout in a 7X Stetson thin ribbon fedora.

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This is a vintage hat and it worked hard. This hat has some verdigris from the metal reed corroding over time. Human perspiration and moisture in general has started the deterioration of the metal reed sewn into the leather sweat.

After the hour and half walkabout in the 63'f (17'c) weather my hat liner tip and sweat was wet with perspiration. Yes i did wipe it off with the cotton handkerchief in my slacks pocket. It was wet upon arrival at home. My typical hat care consists of: The hat is on a block with the leather sweat opened up. When dry this afternoon I will damp wipe all surfaces my head may have touched and put a drop of conditioner on the sweat and massage it in.

Thank goodness this vintage hat has a terrific barrier between the leather and felt/ribbon. The "plasticy" material deters moisture from penetrating through the leather to the ribbon. I have seen this called "onion skin." The reeding tape has the stitching not at the leather sweat line so there is not a straight line for moisture to travel to the felt/ribbon. As you imagine, reeding tape is not reeding tape. I have had 50's Adam hats were the reeding tape has shrunk over time making the hat size shrink. After tearing it out the leather sweat has gone back to the correct size and the hat is the right size.

Oh can I stray off topic which is what hat am I wearing. A Stetson 7X was worn!

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Cheers this morning, Eric -

BTW: Great discussion of reeded vs. non-reeded sweatbands here - https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/reeded-vs-unreeded-sweatband.44588/.
 

Robieman

A-List Customer
Messages
361
Location
Tennessee

Short Balding Guy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,873
Location
Minnesota, USA
Messages
15,083
Location
Buffalo, NY
This is a beautiful hat. I have a question please. On the sweat it says “kettle finish”. What does that refer to? Forgive me if this has been discussed before, I just don’t recall.

Eric's answer makes sense. If you search Google Books for <Stetson kettle finish> you will find some references that suggest the "kettle finish" was offered as an option from the "smooth finish." This makes sense in this hat, which has bit of tooth to the felt finish. It goes well with the character of the Real Nutria Quality - it is not as refined or formable as the more expensive Clear Nutria Quality.

Also unusual in this hat is the under brim taped binding. I have a number of Boss Raw Edge westerns from the 20s and 30s but this is the only one that has this finish and edge treatment.
 

Robieman

A-List Customer
Messages
361
Location
Tennessee
Eric's answer makes sense. If you search Google Books for <Stetson kettle finish> you will find some references that suggest the "kettle finish" was offered as an option from the "smooth finish." This makes sense in this hat, which has bit of tooth to the felt finish. It goes well with the character of the Real Nutria Quality - it is not as refined or formable as the more expensive Clear Nutria Quality.

Also unusual in this hat is the under brim taped binding. I have a number of Boss Raw Edge westerns from the 20s and 30s but this is the only one that has this finish and edge treatment.
Thank you for that. I wondered if it meant more about the finish of the hat. And I did notice the binding. It’s simply a beautiful hat.
 
Messages
17,524
Location
Maryland
Karl Misik "KAMI" "Mode de Paris", Wool, possibly late 1930s early 1940s. This hat is from my May 2015 NOS Czech find.

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Karel Misík O. F. Hess Unified Factory, Karlin Czechoslovakia. The Karlin factory only lasted a couple years post WWII as a hat factory. Here is what the factory & villa looked like pre WWII and the buildings & villa somewhat recently.

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Last edited:

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,876
Location
Denmark
Wonderful looking Kami, Steve. Fantastic ribbon treatment.
Thanks for sharing the photos of the factory then and now.

Karl Misik "KAMI" "Mode de Paris", Wool, possibly late 1930s early 1940s. This hat is from my May 2015 NOS Czech find.

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Karel Misík O. F. Hess Unified Factory, Karlin Czechoslovakia. The Karlinfactory only last a couple years post WWII as a hat factory. Here is what the factory & villa looked like pre WWII and the buildings & villa somewhat recently.

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18666071723_98ea5925a4_b.jpg


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19099063568_0a686eee51_b.jpg
 

quikrick

One Too Many
Messages
1,100
Location
Bay Area, California
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Bee Hats. This is a Porkpie..ish, telescoping diamond bash stingy.
So my routine is during lunch I go over to the marina which is only about 1.5 miles from my office. I woof down a sandwich and either take a nap or take some pics.
Today I met an elderly man wearing a light gray Porkpie! We complimented each others hats and hung out for a few minutes. That was cool, made my day.
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,795
Location
Central Ohio
Sorry for the repost. Wearing my 4X Resistol conversion again on this foggy morning here in the Central part of the Buckeye State. My thanks to the fellow Lounger who gave me the hat.

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Under different lighting. The picture of me wearing the hat is the actual color:
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A repost from yesterday:
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