Canadian Stetsons

Fedora said:

The Stetson company in 1935, in order to navigate around the high tariffs, bought in to this company in Canada. It was the first time that Stetson had opened an operation in another country. This plant in Canada, kept making their own line of hats, and added the Stetson line. That Stetson book comes in handy. Fedora

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Redfokker said:

This is a wonderful old ad that our new friend Carole will cherish. Did I say welcome Carole?

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Redfokker said:

This is a wonderful old ad that our new friend Carole will cherish. Did I say welcome Carole?

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havershaw said:

I have an old Stetson Royal Deluxe I just reblocked. It has the same liner as all of my 40s Stetsons (no plastic over the liner), and a decal under the sweatband which is identical to the Philadelphia ones, in terms of size, color and font, which states the size and:

JOHN B. STETSON Company (Canada) Limited
BROCKVILLE, ONTARIO CANADA

The felt quality is excellent, just about as good as my Royal Stetson VitaFelt, which is my favorite felt of the vintage Stetsons. After examining Matt Deckard's Optimo, I feel like the VitaFelt is pretty much the same deal.

I haven't worn the Canadian Stetson because I reblocked and cleaned it, and I'm supposed to send it to Art to put the innards back in...but I keep thinking that I'll wait until I have a couple of hats to send him. (They're still coming to you, Art! Just might be a while.) But it's a nice hat. I couldn't tell any real difference in quality between this hat and other vintage Stetsons of the same felt line.

Aha! Just dug up some info. Stetson acquired the Wolthausen Hat Corporation of Brockville, Ontario, in 1935. Wolthausen was one of the largest manufacturers of men's fur hats in Canada, and once acquired by Stetson, they also made Stetsons. (I have a photo of it if it helps.)

Guess that's where my hat came from. I don't know if it's quite that old...but it did have a weird crown shape and bash I've only seen in really old advertising of the mid-30s.

Not that we were talking about it, but I was also sad to learn that only 3 buildings from the original, massive Stetson factory in Philadelphia remained after Stetson donated the land and the buildings to the city. In 1980, arsonists burned down those last three buildings, which were slated for renovation to commemorate the industrial age in Philadelphia. While there's nothing there to see, there might still be something left of the Wolthausen plant which made the Stetsons in Canada.

I'm pretty good at "urban archaeology," as you called it, but it's tougher when I'm so far away. I'll see what I can dig up on Wolthausen.

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carole wolthausen said:

Johan Wolthausen opened his first factory in Connecticut in the late 1800's. It was called the Hoydt Wolthausen Factory. I was use surprised to find the an old safe from the factory was for sale on e-bay last year. Still looking for a Brock hat. One of these days it will turn up.

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Ivano said:

View attachment 81625 New to the lounge but happen to have a decent quantity of what seem to be Vintage Brock Fedora's as well as several other names. Most if not all of them have never been worn. They have some original price tags on them. I am a novice when it comes to determining whether they are fur felt or just felt but any help in this regard would be useful. A good number of them have the Wolthausen Corp tag on them and a stamped serial number. Any guidance or advice would be welcomed. We also have some hat boxes from BROCK as well. I will try to upload a pic. Does anyone know if there is a market for these?

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hatophile said:

You have found the market for those hats right here.

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Ivano said:

View attachment 81625 New to the lounge but happen to have a decent quantity of what seem to be Vintage Brock Fedora's as well as several other names. Most if not all of them have never been worn. They have some original price tags on them. I am a novice when it comes to determining whether they are fur felt or just felt but any help in this regard would be useful. A good number of them have the Wolthausen Corp tag on them and a stamped serial number. Any guidance or advice would be welcomed. We also have some hat boxes from BROCK as well. I will try to upload a pic. Does anyone know if there is a market for these?

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steur said:

Welcome to the lounge and I must say: that is some way to make an entrance. Those look stunning and I do mean all of them. I'm sure we all would all love to see these hats one by one in detail.

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steur said:

Welcome to the lounge and I must say: that is some way to make an entrance. Those look stunning and I do mean all of them. I'm sure we all would all love to see these hats one by one in detail.

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Ivano said:

That was just a sample of them. There are about 100. I will start with a few this evening

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havershaw said:

I have no idea where in Canada Brockville is.

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Ivano said:

That was just a sample of them. There are about 100. I will start with a few this evening

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Bob Roberts said:

"Feeding frenzy"

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