Stetson felt question

[fedoralover]

Does anyone know how the different Vintage Stetson felt lines equate to each other? In the vintage line up you have some that just say Stetson, others are the Royal, Royal Deluxe, Imperial and also the Premier. Then there are the playboy, stetsonian, sovereign and a few others. Now I've also seen vintage stetsons that say Stetson 20, or Stetson 25 and even Stetson 100. I know that the 20, 25 and 100 stand for the price of the hat at the time it was sold. But did stetson make a different quality of felt for each one of these lines? Or did they simply take a Royal Stetson and put a Stetson 20 on it, likewise did they take a stetson 100 and put an Imperial label on it? Art or Andy, you two are the ones most likely to know, but if anyone else has a clue I'd really like to know. I e-mailed stetson and asked but they haven't answered.

regards fedoralover

[Fedora]

I can't add much, but according to my Stetson book, the Premier and Clear Nutria at one time in their history was their finest felt. The most expensive. Stetson used the "x" system on their beaver blends. Here is how they originally used it. 3x =30 bucks, 4x 40 bucks, all the way to 10x (100 % beaver) at 100 bucks. I think as times changed, so did the way and the names that they gave their felt lines. While the x system was used in their western hats, it was used in the dress lines as well. The standard felt on real early stetsons, both staple and dress was call no. 1 quality. I would be interested in finding out when the Royal and Imperial line came out. I assume the 30s. I know the Royal Deluxe was added in 47 or 48. I would have to check the book to see for sure. That is one weakness of the book that I bought. Not enough info on the felt lines. Plenty of history on the company though. I am afraid much of what we would want to know has been lost. Hopefully Art or Andy can tell us more. Fedora

[fedoralover]

That fills in some gaps, but still leaves open the question if they cross labeled some hats. For instance consider the Open Road and Stratoliner. The Open Road continues to be made and was and is produced in many different quality lines. From a 3X all the way to a Imperial. Whereas the Stratoliner was only produced in a Royal stetson line. At least that is the only line I've ever seen it in. The Stratoliner and the Open Road look very similar, but the brims were flanged differently. The Stratoliner had more curl in the back. They were discontinued in the early 60s and hence are more rare. Now it makes sense to me that the Royal Stratoliner and the Royal Open Road were probably the same hat body with just a few finishing differences. Whereas you will see Open Road 20s or 25s on the sweatbands, but you will also see Open Road Royal Deluxe's or a Royal Open Road. I would like to know if there was a different felt for each one of these or if they would take the same felt body that was going to be a Royal Deluxe and also used it for a Stetson 25 or something like that. Knowing this can help one to discern their quality and value. Since a stetson 100 could possible be the same as a Imperial Stetson. Or a Stetson 25 could be the same as a Stetson Royal Deluxe. Or they could be entirely different felt bodies. Inquiring minds want to know.

regards fedoralover

[Fedora]

I see what you mean. Perhaps our vintage expert Art will check in and fill in some gaps. I do know one thing. If you think you can get any info out of Stetson, forget about it. I use to have their 800 number given out to hat retailers and used it to talk to them a couple of times. You basically get folks who are young, and who have worked at Stetson or Hatco for only a few years. The employee turn over must be fairly high. They can tell you what is offered currently, but even after passing me around to a couple of different folks, I still came up empty handed. I made the calls in regards to the Indy fedora years ago in my quest. I did learn from those phone calls that the tallest hat they block in the dress hats is 5 inches now. Fedora

[havershaw]

Somewhere in this forum was info on this. I will try to find it...

arrrgh. must be on the old Fedora Lounge. if anyone has a link to that, I'm pretty sure someone...maybe MattDeckard?...got some info from an old-timer at Stetson, and they listed the various grades from lowest to highest, Imperial being the highest. I can recall for sure that it went Royal Stetson, Royal Stetson Deluxe, Imperial, but there may have been others inbewteen those and definitely there were others before.

Anyone know anything about the Stetson Custom V? I just picked one of those up and I dig it. I was curious if anyone knew anything about this felt line, as I had never heard of it before. I'm guessing it's 1940s, as it has no plastic on the liner but has the same Royal Stetson liner my other 40s hats have.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Havershaw,
I have one of the Custom V's myself and it's a beuatiful hat. There are some pics of it here: http://public.fotki.com/formerblueangel/vintage_hats/
Mine strikes me as 1950's. I collect Stetson hats ads and use those as a guesstimate as to a hat's age. I have a Steston Whippet and have seen ads dated between 1948 and 1952. So not always accurate but puts me in the ball park. WEll back to my Benny Goodman Story DVD.
Dusty

[havershaw]

That one's cooler than mine.

No, mine's good too...but I really like that one you've got there. You certainly have some nice hats. i think the bash on #10 is one of the greatest bashes I've ever seen. I'm going to try to copy that in my Cavanagh (if I ever get it off the block)...

[Dusty Rhodes]

Thank you sir! Another one of my Ebay finds and one of my favorite hats. BTW, #1 and 10 are the same hat. I have it in for a cleaning and reblock now with a local Hatter. The fellow will shape it back the same way it was when I gave it to him. I had Joe Peters Jr. look it over and he found a tag inside saying it was made at the Philly plant so we figured pre-1943 because that's when Steston moved to St Louis. I have not verfied that info through other sources but have no reason to doubt Junior as his reputation is quite well known on here and COW :-)
Dusty

[Fedora]

Hmmm. Before 43 means the Philli plant. I hope this is true. All of my Stetsons are from Philli

[Andykev]

I have to tip my hat to Fedora on this one, and for Art when he returns from LA from the Expo show. (hope you sold my hat).
My Stetson book states that the numbers were for the price at the time. I have owned and seen Art's Playboy. It is in my opinion a "cheaper" hat. No liner, and the Playboy name seems to imply the younger (hence less affluent) set. The felt of course is good from a vintage stand point.
Art's Playboy hat is very very clean, near mint. The felt is tight. No liner. Lightweight.

I have Stetson ROYAL, and ROYAL DELUXE, and the WHIPPET. The Royal Deluxe is very good, but an EARLIER ROYAL is better. It is very hard to judge the quality between the two. The Whippet has the best "shape" with the taller crown, but again it could have been made earlier and on taller blocks.

It is late, but Monday I will post Pics of the 3 or 4 Stetsons described. I also have a mint 50's..but don't right now remember the label style.