What Hat Are You Working On Today?

[RickP]

Playing around with some blood core leather from Rosen Anvil. It makes a fun hat band!

Might consider beveling and burnishing the edge of the leather. Look into an edge burnishing creme called Tokenole ( comes in clear, brown and black tint) bevel or sand the sharp edge off the leather, apply the creme and rub/burnish it in with a piece of canvas... The clear allows any core colors to show through. Nice clean appearance

Turns it from this

to this

 

[HatsBySam]

Might consider beveling and burnishing the edge of the leather. Look into an edge burnishing creme called Tokenole ( comes in clear, brown and black tint) bevel or sand the sharp edge off the leather, apply the creme and rub/burnish it in with a piece of canvas... The clear allows any core colors to show through. Nice clean appearance
View attachment 757205

Turns it from this
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to this

View attachment 757206

Thank you for the advice! I definitely will get some!

 

[jeffgarf]

One last project being finished up before the end of the year. I bought this Lagomarsino western hat in nutria with the rope hat band shown in the first photo. I swapped it out for the calvary ribbon. I think it came out ok.



The top one looks blue, but swapping for the actual black ribbon made the fact that the hat actually was black go down easy.

 

[RickP]

Any Shudde Bros hat experts on board? A friends Mom called me today and asked if I could clean and freshen up one of her Dads old hats. ( shes in her mid 80s so this is NOT a new hat) . She dropped by and we had a good visit. Its from Shudde Bros in Houston, Tx. Under the sweatband we found some rolled up newsprint... no dates found but the mailing address label did NOT have a zip code.... had an ad stating that the store was now carrying Birdseye brand frozen fish lol. Im guessing 1950s.

Being a Houston kid I knew the Shudde Bros name was a good one for hats ( Ive got one on the wall myself) but other than name recognition I really didnt know much about the business. When it got here this afternoon it was a pretty nice cattlemans crease western, that from the feel makes me think it had a decent beaver content. Its a bit crunched but compared to some of my $20 ebay hats is actually relatively clean and in decent shape. No liner, but the sweatband is almost intact ( one repairable leather rip) . Interestingly the leather in the sweatband is rather smooth, and the stitching is about half the size of stitching we normally see on sweatband ( TINY stitches). No Liner, but it did still have a size tag folded under. No Union tag or other build info beyond a reorder tag with the size. Sweatband has the Shudde Bros Logo embossed of course, but the only other embossing is one that states "Custom built". I know they sold other brands ( my SHudde hat is a stetson 3x)... could this Custom built marking indicate a store built/ assembeled hat?

Ive got it brushed off, steamed and blocked back to basically an open crown, and its currently resting in a brim press overnight to flatten the brim out a bit. It should clean up nicely. Fun little project for a nice little old lady. Makes me smile inside that she wants to wear her Dads hat ( it does actually fit her fairly well). She even fell in love with a nice 1980s feathered hatband with a chunk of turquoise I had hanging around... made me happy because I sure wasnt gong to use it lol

Id be grateful for any general old Shudde Bros company knowledge so I can pass it on to the owner. I know their more recent history about how they donated the business to a group home out in Katy,Tx for a fund raising and job training program (Theyre still operating under the new owners, but theyre basically selling commercial hats and doing shaping). I thought it was a nice way to continue the name legacy when the last of the family retired

 

[shopkin]

Nice cane as well.

 

[RickP]

Did a little test shaping this morning. Kinda has the same vibe as one of my favorite old Stetson ads....

Waiting to hear back if she likes the flat brim or the curled brim... ( im crossing my fingers that she likes the brim curl) ...and the feathered band she picked looks great with the color. Fun project

 

[RickP]

Good news / bad news this morning..... Turning the sweatband out for cleaning resulted in 4 or 5 pieces. Oh well... time for a new sweatband. Ill salvage the embossed Shudde Brothers logos and affix then to the new sweat. I DID find a 1955 date on the folded up newsprint, so at least we have a ballpark date. AND..... after I cut out the crumbling old sweatband, I found the original Shudde Bros price tag... $12.50 in mid 1950s! looks like a model 1/KE if anyone has an old Shudde Bros catalog handy. lol Ill steam it off and move it over to the new sweatband as well.

And the felt got a gas bath this morning. A bit cleaner and drying out now

 

[RickP]

As a note of interest, Shudde Bros was founded around 1907 in Houston, tx and operated there until 2007 when the business was donated to a group home in Brookshire/ Katy, Tx for a hatters job training program for the disabled.. That part of the business is still in operation. ( nice way to carry on the Name)

Over the years their customers included John Wayne, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, Ernest Tubb. All 7 Mercury astronauts were preseted Shudde hats. In 1936 they were selected to restore Sam Houstons famous hat for the Texas Centennial. That hat is still on display at the Sam Houston home and museum in Huntsville, Texas.

Quite a hat company

 

[RickP]

The Shudde patient has a new sweatband, and the ribbon is cleaned.... will get the ribbon tacked in place here after an urgent task is taken care of ( the puppy is needing a ball thrown). Now just need to a bit of smoothing work on some old creases in the felt that a bit more visible than I wish. That and figuring out to add the old Shudde embossing to the new sweat.

This one was a challenge... hats a 7-1/4 and the owner is on the small size of 7. Lots of Steam, hot air, and a chicken brooder bulb in a lamp with the hat on top and I actually got shrunk down to a 7 over the last couple days (Without developing any wonkey areas). I really dont recommend the process but it does work. If it hadnt been her Dads hat, I would have been helping her search for a proper smaller hat

 

[RickP]

My friends Mom came by today and picked up her Dads Shudde Hat that I cleaned up for her. She was thrilled and I was glad to see her thrilled lol. New sweat, cleaned and reinstalled ribbon, added a new satin liner and got her turquoise and feather band affixed. Still amazed that I actually shrunk this one down from a 7-1/4 to a 7. Fits a super nice mid 80s lady fine now... She wanted something different from the origional Cattlemans crease so now She be stylin!!!

When she got here she had a couple other "Dads" Stetsons that also need a little love. She wants them cleaned up so two of the grandsons can both have one of the grandfathers hat. A good note is that these hats already fit the grandkids well, so that really simplifys things. I LOVE this kind of project!

One is a really soft Royal Stetson, with a decent leather sweat, and an intact liner that just needs a little woolite. Felt is in decent shape but does need some cleaning and maybe a bit of pouncing. Love the weathered appearance of the ribbon on this one.

The other is fairly clean except for a few moth nibbles.. (One hole all the way through the brim... Ill shave off some felt fuzz from inside and at least plug the hole to stop the daylight from showing through). Bound brim and ribbon in nice shape. Sweatband in good shape but no liner ( I can fix that lol)

A little cleaning, pouncing, blocking the crowns and brims and a touch of steam and we'll be good to go. A new satin liner on the one will look great, but I sure wish I had a box of old period correct spare liners for projects like these lol..... All in all Im glad this is a fun hobby and not a business.... things this like this I do for friends at cost

 

[jeffgarf]

All in all Im glad this is a fun hobby and not a business.... things this like this I do for friends at cost

Same, and I think I'll keep it there for a while.

 

[shopkin]

You can quickly take all the fun out of a good hobby by trying to monetize it. Good hobbies are hard to find these days so don't screw it up.

 

[RickP]

Got some cleaning on the two Stetsons.... Gas bath on felt and they were dirty! Im going to have to add new gauze to the funnel and restrain the gas back into the cans ( naptha shouldnt be dark brown lol). Ribbons and the one liner are out of the woolite, rinsed off and drying on a towel. Ill find out in the morning what the grosgrain looks like. Hoping to reuse the original ribbons and keep them as close to what they used to be. The leather sweatbands both appear to be in good condition... They get some leather conditioner tomorrow before I risk folding them out. So far the stitching holding the sweat in is holding, but I am prepared to resew as needed. Just happy the leather is good. Both hats have John B Stetson Philadelphia tags inside. We have some rain moving in right now so I brought the hats inside to finish drying ( still have a few damp spots showing.... crossing my fingers theyll be fine by morning. theyre usually scary looking for several hours till they fully dry lol)

Did get a pleasant surprise on one after I gassed off some gack and oil matting the surface down on the darker hat.... its actually a semi longhair!. Felt on this one is in really good shape... It should brush up nicely. No moth damage on this one. Just waiting to see what the liner looks like after drying. Its a bronzish color so a light wash may have been enough... If I still see spotting in the morning Ill give it another dip in the woolite and do some light agitation. The gas revealed a perfectly readable Royal Stetson logo with its gold embossing intact on the sweatband! ( it was so ***ked up I couldnt see any gold before.

The other hat is a mix of good news bad news... The lighter color felt cleaned up nicely and the hat shapes well. BUT... theres evidence of a moth larve picnic is a few places... several including one small hole showing daylight on the brim right in front of the crown. Ill sand off some fuzz from inside the crown and get it packed and affixed down in the hole. At least then sunbeams wont get in the wearers eyes through it lol. The grosgrain brim binding is in great shape. Theres no Stetson Logo on the sweatband on this one, but there is a prominant gold embossed logo from the Hat store, so Im suspecting that it was either a store ordered hat or at some point the sweat was replaced. Since the liner was missing it will get some new satin inside. If the hat were mine, Id be perfectly proud to wear it moth nibbles or not!

Ill call it a productive day. Tomorrow Ill get some steaming, blocking, ironing, and smoothing done

 

[wsmontana]

My friends Mom came by today and picked up her Dads Shudde Hat that I cleaned up for her. She was thrilled and I was glad to see her thrilled lol. New sweat, cleaned and reinstalled ribbon, added a new satin liner and got her turquoise and feather band affixed. Still amazed that I actually shrunk this one down from a 7-1/4 to a 7. Fits a super nice mid 80s lady fine now... She wanted something different from the origional Cattlemans crease so now She be stylin!!!
View attachment 760743

When she got here she had a couple other "Dads" Stetsons that also need a little love. She wants them cleaned up so two of the grandsons can both have one of the grandfathers hat. A good note is that these hats already fit the grandkids well, so that really simplifys things. I LOVE this kind of project!

One is a really soft Royal Stetson, with a decent leather sweat, and an intact liner that just needs a little woolite. Felt is in decent shape but does need some cleaning and maybe a bit of pouncing. Love the weathered appearance of the ribbon on this one.
View attachment 760745 View attachment 760744

The other is fairly clean except for a few moth nibbles.. (One hole all the way through the brim... Ill shave off some felt fuzz from inside and at least plug the hole to stop the daylight from showing through). Bound brim and ribbon in nice shape. Sweatband in good shape but no liner ( I can fix that lol)
View attachment 760747 View attachment 760748 View attachment 760749


A little cleaning, pouncing, blocking the crowns and brims and a touch of steam and we'll be good to go. A new satin liner on the one will look great, but I sure wish I had a box of old period correct spare liners for projects like these lol..... All in all Im glad this is a fun hobby and not a business.... things this like this I do for friends at cost

Those are the best projects -- straightforward with appreciative clients. Good luck!

 

[RickP]

I got the ribbons/bows, and liners sewn into the two Royal Stetsons last night so they are pretty much done!

The lighter one got a new satin liner since it was missing, and I did a bit of moth larve hole mitigation ( sanded off some fur from inside and compressed it in the big hole on the brim with some fabric glue. After the glue set I sanded the plug down level with the surface... actually came out fairly well... ). Still some rough spots on the brim but the hole is no more. The ribbon shows some wear, but it matches the brim binding so well that I couldnt bring myself to replace it. The Stetson tags are still inside the crown, but the sweatband only has embossing from a hat company (Parlalos Bros in Duluth Minn) So Im thinking this hat was overhauled once before in the past. Other than the moth damage this ones a nice wearable little hat

 

[RickP]

The other one is my favorite. Not really what Id call a longhair, but it has enough fur sticking out to have a pattern when brushed. Wonderfully soft medium weight felt. The origional liner still isnt perfect after two woolite sessions, but at least the origional liner and sweatband are intact. The factory ribbon had lots of discoloring and had shrunk a lot ( it was causing some un-natural creases in the crown) So I fit a new slighty wider grosgrain ribbon and bow... it camouflages some discoloration that was at the top of the old ribbon on the crown really well. This hat wears wonderfully.

Sad part of these is that they are not my hats lol. When they pick them up, I WILL throw out the suggestion that if the grandkids done want then, that I would

 

[RickP]

I have a couple old felt covered hat blocks. On one the felt was tacked in place. on another it actually had two different felt covers that nested together. Ive read it was often used to "upsize" a block for a hat that was just a bit too big for the block. Using those covered blocks Ive noticed how much easier a hat body slides off after blocking. The one that was tacked down wasnt a perfect fit at the bottom and had a few wrinkles that stood out. Removed the old tacks, slid it off the block. Soaked in hot water, slid it back on and pulled out my old vaccumn press and bag this morning. Once it dries it will be a smoother form fit felt spacer for this block ( block is a 7-1/4 and with the cover its a 7-3/8). Just need to do a bit of wrinkle steaming, ironing, and drying.

Might be a good use for old ugly beater hats that never get worn

 

[HatsBySam]

Think this is the first time I’ve encountered a sweatband where the leather was in great shape, the vinyl tape was in great shape, but the thread holding the two together had completely rotted. I decided to try and salvage it, so I hand stitched the seam. Man, it took forever, lol, and certainly doesn’t look as nice as machine stitched sweatband seams, but it’s nice to be able to save the original sweatband for a 7X beaver cowboy hat.

 

[RickP]

Think this is the first time I’ve encountered a sweatband where the leather was in great shape, the vinyl tape was in great shape, but the thread holding the two together had completely rotted. I decided to try and salvage it, so I hand stitched the seam. Man, it took forever, lol, and certainly doesn’t look as nice as machine stitched sweatband seams, but it’s nice to be able to save the original sweatband for a 7X beaver cowboy hat.

most the old literature Ive read specified cotton thread for sweatbands. Ive found several hats like that... nice shape but the threads all dry rotted. I did a couple with cotton thread and I was breaking thread just pulling it through. Thats why I resew sweatbands with a bonded polyester upholsty thread... I dont want to do it again.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

…Shudde Bros was founded around 1907 in Houston, tx and operated there until 2007…

I forgot I had this. Shudde Bros made a move into downtown in Sept 1955. This card was inside a Shudde box.