WHAT HAVE I JUST WON? Update: It Arrived

[Lancealot]

I had been watching that hat for my girlfirend and let it get away. Glad to see a fellow Lounger got it.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Must be fly fishin' for the Loch Ness Monstor! Not only is it UGLY, it's also LARGE!

Carter, you bust me up! lol

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I had been watching that hat for my girlfirend and let it get away. Glad to see a fellow Lounger got it.

Waitaminnit. Now it's ugly, fishy and a GIRL'S HAT!?!

I'm just kiddin'. I getchu.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. A funny hat turned into a lively thread. It's what really makes this site fun and fascinating!

G

 

[cookie]

Calling for opinions.

I just closed on this interesting straw hat. Can anyone tell me what it is? That green feathery thing on the back brim; is that a fishing lure or some South American/Regional/Tribal symbolic thing?...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160281551852&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=006

Saw this comment on eBay listing today FWIW

Two hand made hat bands with what I believe are pheasant feathers were in a plastic bag (see pics) at the bottom of the box. I will send these as well but I believe they are for different kind of hat as they have hooks at each end and I would not put a hook into this very nice hat.

 

[Stan]

Hi,

A hatter I know will make up hook-on hatbands for customers that wish to be able to interchange them at will. I bet that's what they are....

Later!

Stan

 

[troy]

I'm casting my vote for the green thingy being a tassel. Please do let us know when it arrives.

Green thingy aside, it is a great looking hat!

 

[Woodfluter]

It is almost certainly a tassel on the end of a loop, very common in Mexico. You hang your hat on a nail on the wall by the loop. The tassel is just to dress up the loop a bit.

- Bill

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Aw foot, I bet you're right about the tassel. I am still hoping it's a lure because I think I'll feel funny about the tassel but I don't like undoing the integrity of a particular style of hat. Pix and description when it arrives.

Thx!

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Well, this should end the debate about whether the green thingy is a tassle or a fishing lure...

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

OK, seriously now, it's a tassel - just like some of you predicted.

But the funny doesn't stop there. As with many hats I've bought, I could see potential that wasn't readily obvious. When I pulled this one out of the box and plopped it on my head, my girlfriend couldn't contain herself. It was the same as when she watches "Funniest Home Videos". Doubling over, inability to breath, tears popping out along with laughter. Thanks, sweetie!

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

But even with it's unflattering shape and some flaws this is an interesting hat to me. The weave is a more organic, textured style, but done in a very fine fashion. The hat is not remarkably light or heavy. Just right. The fit is perfect -- much more of a 56 than the 57 marked on it. The crown is stiff as a pith helmet, real sturdy stuff. The liner is nice-ish, forgiving the bad registration in the printing process, and hey, it's got Xs in it so it MUST be great, right!?

The tassel, the stampede straps and the tattered attempt at a trim around the crown, were all concerns.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I dunno what the deal was with that broken leather trim, the PLASTIC decorative pieces and the glitter junk under all that. Here's how I addressed that, the shape, the straps and the tassel:

I replaced the trim with my own leather strap situation held together with a metal ring:

I dampened the brim and shaped it to more of a cowboy/outback style:

And by keeping the straps up and over the brim in the back, they're out of the way when not in use and they kind of mitigate the attention commanded by that blamed tassel.

 

[Stan]

Caught one already I see!

Hi,

Man! Now that's one effective fishing lure! Caught one right out of the box while standing in the living room. And here I thought I was Hot Stuff having a pond in the backyard stocked with catfish! I don't recognize the species, though. Is that a Florida Swamp Fish? lol

I think that shot ought to be downsampled and used as your new avatar! :eusa_clap

So, you wound up getting lucky on eBay. That's always an interesting place. You never really know what you're going to get until you open the box! I received another one of those off-brand OR clones last night, and I think it's made out of cardboard. It feels like it was once a pizza box. But, it does have a decent sweat and ribbon on it to be used in fixing that poor, dirty Stetson that had a dried up sweat and a 'ribbon' on it that looked more like a moldy grass snake. Mr. Pizza Box Felt will be stripped for parts and then soon become carburator gasket felt and bring new life to antique farm equipment (my other hobby). Nothing is wasted around this farm.

It's funny how it works out. I bought two off-brand hats for cheap on eBay hoping to get the bits I need to fix that well-worn OR and give it new life, and one of those off-brand cheapies turned out to be excellent (the Tanbark) and the other turned out to be lousy yet still be useful.

Veddy Interesting.

Enjoy you new fishing hat, buddy!

Later!

Stan

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

You have won a Mexican palm straw hat. Not sure what the
green thing is- never seen one before. The "MICH" is Michoacan,
not Michigan.

I have an old one with a nice block and like it quite a lot.
I'll be curious to hear more about it when it arrives.

And Feltfan was right on. Soon after I finished tweaking the hat, my gal wanted to go out to the local Mexican restaurant. So I wore the hat and I took a printout of what Feltfan wrote above to ask for correct pronunciation if they happened to know. I explained to out waiter about receiving the hat and wondering about "Michoacan" and he replied, "Meech'-Oh-Kahn, yes, that is where I'm from!" "My grandfather and his old friends wear hats just like that", he continued, "and the tassel, it's just for style, I think." It kind of took him back and he seemed pleased and sort of approvingly amused that I would be so proudly sporting this hat.

Thanks fellas, for the response to this thread. This hat is no particular prize but it's unique among the others at my house. I'll reserve it for dayhikes, canoeing and trail riding, when the straps might actually come in handy keeping it on my head. I generally like the thing.

 

[Lefty]

The tassel will always seem a bit strange to me, but you've certainly improved the hat and I love the story about your waiter. :eusa_clap

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Me too, Lefty. That tassel does not enthuse me at all, but I just can't destroy a hat's integrity that arbitrarily. For instance, it really pains me to replace sweatbands even when they need it. To me removing that awful green thing would be like when you hear about people trimming away the fringe edge on a vintage felt hat's bow edge or cutting away that extra thread detail that shows around part of the upper ribbon on an old Borsalino. They are style details that go with the authenticity of the hat and so is this so I'll live with it.

 

[carter]

Rainbows and pots of gold

HPG, I wish I knew how to photoshop (Is that a verb?) a leprechaun under that hat. It occurs to me that the green tassel may be worth a few free cocktails on St. Patrick's Day. Erin Go Bragh!

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

lol lol lol lol

Carter, I was countin' on you for a comment and you didn't let me down!

I'l just call that tassel, "me lucky charm"!

 

[feltfan]

But even with it's unflattering shape and some flaws this is an interesting hat to me. The weave is a more organic, textured style, but done in a very fine fashion.

I'm not sure it's strictly speaking a weave. Each strand is woven, but
I believe they are joined with a sewn thread. Hard to tell (since I know
very little about this sort of thing.

Gotta say I liked the flat brim on you more than your "saddle" brim.
Didn't think it was unflattering at all.

Gotta also say I have had at least one GF who thought my
Michoacan palm fiber hat was the best of all my hats. But
she mighta been laughing, too...

Loved the waiter story.

forgiving the bad registration in the printing process, and hey, it's got Xs in it so it MUST be great, right!?

I kinda like the bad registration... Mine's 5X, like yours...
Interestingly, mine is from 68 Bolivar street, while yours is from
156 Bolivar street. Must be the hat making district. Or must have
been, at one time.

 

[indycop]

Looks just like the weave and texture of my palm gus hat.