Homburg Nation

mmbarnes said:

I bought this Julius Garfinckel & Co. department store branded homburg 3 to 4 years ago.

Until recently, it sat in its box. The reason: whomever creased it years back, put the crease in about 10 degrees off center. The diagonal tilt drove me nuts but I was too timid to mess with it to try to resolve the problem. I put sending it off to a professional for resolution onto my gonna list.

A few weeks ago, I pulled it out and decided to mess around with it myself. After steam and some being rough (but not too rough) with it, the problem is largely resolved, though the felt exhibits some recidivistic tendencies.

The impression that I get is that it dates from no later than the forties. I base that on liner, sweatband and general construction quality. Of course, I readily admit my fallibility, so if anyone has other ideas, please give me the guidance.

Garfinckel's was the cream of the crop as far as DC department stores went. The main store was located across from the Willard Hotel. For quite some time it owned Brooks Brothers and Lord & Taylor's. The company finally went bankrupt in the 1990s. I occasionally visited one of its satellite locations when I was a child.

Julius Garfinckel was, from all accounts that I have read, an exceptional man. Kind, service oriented, and philanthropic. Yet he largely remained outside of DC's political and social hubbub. He remained a bachelor until his 1936 (if memory serves me) death. His favorite pastime was riding his horse in Rock Creek park. And he used to go riding there with Calvin Coolidge.

The felt quality and general construction is stupendous. I'm dying to know the company that Garfinckel's contracted with for the production of its hats during that period. The selling price was $12.50.

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Be well. Have fun.

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mmbarnes said:

The impression that I get is that it dates from no later than the forties. I base that on liner, sweatband and general construction quality. Of course, I readily admit my fallibility, so if anyone has other ideas, please give me the guidance.

The selling price was $12.50.

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Celia said:

Very nice, Fabio! It looks like it's in great condition too. The 'Attaboy' Trade Mark was registered on the 20 January 1937 by the Denton Hat Co Ltd (UK) and the hats became immensely popular.

Here's a quote from an article in the Manchester Evening News about Harry and John Greenhough, Who used to run the company after inheriting it from their father:

"Its trade name, Attaboy, was one of the best known and the company's products were used by stars of the time including Wilfred Pickles and seen in films such as the 1952 Alec Guinness drama The Card. Denton Hat Company's premises in Wilton Street, Denton, employed more than 300 staff and in 1964 produced more than 400,000 hats."

Source : http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hats-all-folks-1067834

The hats were also sold in Marks and Spencer's (well known british chain of department stores) under their own brand name.

Here is a nice little article about the Denton hat industry: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hats-all-folks-1067834

And some old adverts:
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I hope this helps a bit. The paper label inside the sweat is the union stamp, unfortunately they used the same one for a very long time, so it's not very useful for dating the hat.

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fabiovenhorst said:

Thank you! It helps a lot! Indeed, I've got some similar info online, but I did not find a way to date the hat. Pictures of any other Attaboy hats are rare too.

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Celia said:

Very nice, Fabio! It looks like it's in great condition too. The 'Attaboy' Trade Mark was registered on the 20 January 1937 by the Denton Hat Co Ltd (UK) and the hats became immensely popular.

Here's a quote from an article in the Manchester Evening News about Harry and John Greenhough, Who used to run the company after inheriting it from their father:

"Its trade name, Attaboy, was one of the best known and the company's products were used by stars of the time including Wilfred Pickles and seen in films such as the 1952 Alec Guinness drama The Card. Denton Hat Company's premises in Wilton Street, Denton, employed more than 300 staff and in 1964 produced more than 400,000 hats."

Source : http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hats-all-folks-1067834

The hats were also sold in Marks and Spencer's (well known british chain of department stores) under their own brand name.

Here is a nice little article about the Denton hat industry: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hats-all-folks-1067834

And some old adverts:
View attachment 68237

View attachment 68238

I hope this helps a bit. The paper label inside the sweat is the union stamp, unfortunately they used the same one for a very long time, so it's not very useful for dating the hat.

Click to expand...

fabiovenhorst said:

Finally arrived my vintage Attaboy homburg

Very hard to find any info about it...
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fabiovenhorst said:

Finally arrived my vintage Attaboy homburg

Very hard to find any info about it...
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Redfokker said:

Very beautiful Fabio, love the mfg name!

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Frunobulax said:

The hat's great, but I can't get past the name. Attaboy was the name of a chain of service stations in this area when I was a kid. They always looked like fairly questionable places with guys working there that could have posed for the cover photo of "Aqualung."

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fabiovenhorst said:

Thank you! It helps a lot! Indeed, I've got some similar info online, but I did not find a way to date the hat. Pictures of any other Attaboy hats are rare too.

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Celia said:

You may have come across it yourself by now, but here's another interesting article by Michael Nevell about the rise and fall of the felt hatting industry (from Denton and the Archaeology of the Felt Hatting Industry).

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...atting-Industry.pdf?origin=publication_detail

He mentions the Attaboy brand as well. Not much help in dating your hat, but I found it an interesting read nonetheless, with some details about the evolution of the hat production process with increased mechanisation.

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M Hatman said:

Here is my Homburg variant (Lords hat) the Knox "Americana".......
Cheers,
M
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belfastboy said:

I like the wider brim of the lighter coloured one. This style is my current obsession.

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M Hatman said:

Yes, I find I really prefer the wider, open flat brim of the american style. The older Stetsons are made this way too.......as did Stratton, in fact I was out and about wearing my Stratton "Beaver Finish" (fuzzy fur finish) Homburg today.
Someone tried curving the brim in (of the Knox) and making it look more European, it was obvious that the hat did not come that way......so I set it back and opened it up again......this will be a favorite to wear!!
Best,
M

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belfastboy said:

Do you own or have you seen any vintage Stetson St Regis Hommies in person? Is so, what is your opinion? I have seen them but always upwards of $200 and wondered if they are worth adding to my stable??? Thoughts?

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