Wind Trolleys: A North American phenomenon?

[Baron Kurtz]

I am struggling to think of an example of a non-American fedora from the golden era which bore a wind trolley. Let me be specific. The hat should have been manufactured outside of North America for sale outside of North America (so, i'm excluding Borsalinos, for example, made in Europe for sale in the American market). Any examples? maybe from Australia? [huh]

I've always found the wind trolley to be a useless contraption, and inelegant in the extreme. If your hat fits correctly it shouldn't blow off in anything short of a force 10 gale, in my opinion.


bk

 

[Fletch]

The Borsalino Bellagio I bought in the flagship store in Milan in 2007 has a trolley.

The hat, ribbon and button are lime green, a color not available in the USA, but the cord is black.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Nice hat. Great picture. I don't dispute that it has become more normal:

Golden era hats only, please. Them's the rules.

bk

 

[Lefty]

I just checked all of my ads. I see nothing in Cervo, Barbisio, Borsalino, Dunlap, Felchet, Mossant, or Panizza showing a lapel cord. However, I don't believe that many of the American manufacturers showed the cord in their ads. If a golden-era-non-US hat with lapel cord exists, I think we'll need to see a photo of a hat, rather than an ad.

 

[Fletch]

Nice hat. Great picture. I don't dispute that it has become more normal:

Golden era hats only, please. Them's the rules.

Serves me right speed-reading.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Interesting thought, bk. My '48 Borsalino has one, but it was made for the North American market.

Am I right in thinking that wind trolleys are more from the '50s, maybe the '40s, and not much before that? I don't know that I've ever seen hats from the '30s or earlier with them. Maybe I just never noticed.

Brad

 

[Bob Smalser]

I've always found the wind trolley to be a useless contraption, and inelegant in the extreme. If your hat fits correctly it shouldn't blow off in anything short of a force 10 gale, in my opinion.

Then I suggest you forego the coffee shop and remain in your car riding our ferries in winter. This one was only Beaufort Force 8.

 

[avedwards]

Your hat didn't blow in the water did it?

 

[Dewhurst]

If your hat fits correctly it shouldn't blow off in anything short of a force 10 gale, in my opinion.

Aren't opinions fun?lol

 

[Lone_Ranger]

The Borsalino Bellagio I bought in the flagship store in Milan in 2007 has a trolley.

The hat, ribbon and button are lime green, a color not available in the USA, but the cord is black.

I'd never heard of a wind trolly, until I came to the Lounge. I would have thought it was a "green" form of intercity transport. Now that I see a picture of one....well, it looks like something "Q" made for the "Double-Oh" section, for quietly dispatching a sentry.

 

[tonyb]

Then I suggest you forego the coffee shop and remain in your car riding our ferries in winter. This one was only Beaufort Force 8.

Heck, even on a relatively calm summer day the cross-sound ferries can pose a threat to one's hat. I suppose it says something about our climate (and confirms that the state ferries serve commuters much more than sightseers) that so little of their passenger decks are exposed to the elements. At least on the car decks the seaward progress of a windblown hat might be sufficiently interrupted by bouncing off cars to give its owner a chance at catching up with it.

 

[handlebar bart]

Must be a Pacific NW thing...........I use my wind trolleys an awful lot and have them on most of my lids.

 

[Bob Smalser]

Must be a Pacific NW thing......

Perhaps when you live in a spot that gets 60 inches of rain from November to May, and work outdoors in areas that get up to 150 inches in the same months, good hats become more than just fashion statements.

 

[handlebar bart]

Perhaps when you live in a spot that gets 60 inches of rain from November to May, and work outdoors in areas that get up to 150 inches in the same months, good hats become more than just fashion statements.

wind trolleys and 'tins' are definately the ticket

 

[Bob Smalser]

wind trolleys and 'tins' are definately the ticket

I just added one to the Worth and Worth house brand roll-up fedora shown in that pic, BTW. My favorite work hat.

 

[mayserwegener]

None of my older (30s-40s) Euro soft felts (Borsalino, Habig, Hückel) have wind trolleys.

 

[tonyb]

Is that the band and bow that came with that hat, Bob? I ask because the ribbon has a scalloped edge, which is certainly unusual. Or are they, and the wind string, your own handiwork?

 

[Splitcoil]

PACNORWEST represent!

I first realized the urgent need for wind trolleys when walking over the missile doors of a Trident sub on Hood Canal, rain blowing sideways, my hands mostly occupied with attache and laptop cases. Almost blew my Stetson off? Shoot, it almost blew my trench coat off. Holding your hat on your head with your attache is not very dignified. Wind trolleys can certainly be useful if you live/work somewhere with a lot of wind and can't walk around all day with your hand on your head.

But that said, it does seem to be an American thing. Something to be proud of, frankly.

 

[tonyb]

Anyone hazard a guess as to when the wind string (lapel cord, wind trolley, whatever) made its debut? And who might get the credit (or blame, depending on your take on 'em)?

 

[Bob Smalser]

Is that the band and bow that came with that hat, Bob? I ask because the ribbon has a scalloped edge, which is certainly unusual. Or are they, and the wind string, your own handiwork?

It's millinery ribbon from Judith M. The hat is 20 years old, has lived a hard life and was getting ratty and floppy. So I had it cleaned, replaced the hat ribbon, added a ribbon edge to the brim to tighten the brim back into a snap brim, and installed the wind cord.

I used to consider this old fedora expendable, but now that I've collected a half dozen or so "better" hats, I didn't realize how much I like it.