Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[Lefty]

speaking of the Stetson 100. . .

There have been quite a number of CBs, 100s, and other really high end hats for sale in the past few weeks.

 

[Michaelshane]

I thought that stetson 100 would be a good one for an Optimo rebuild.

 

[ScottF]

Stetson Fifteen mode edge

No business buying more hats, but couldn't resist this one. I have another old Stetson 3x and if this one is anywhere near as nice, it'll move right into the rotation.

Stetson Fifteen on ebay

 

[jimmy the lid]

Looks like a nice lid, Scott.

 

[warmentrout]

I'm midway through a similar project, but stuck at the sweatband (felt is ready to go, and I have the ribbon). I have only found one source for leather sweatbands, and getting no response from forum members, so assume that's it. Any luck building your own? I have some nice leather for it, just unable to find enough instruction to feel confident to start. Sorry, I know this post is fftopic: ...but I'm about desperate, and searches are yielding nothing.

But if not, good luck with your project - I'm sure the felt will be nice on that twenty.

Aaron Hats

 

[MattJH]

And finally, after several years of searching, my very first Cavanagh in 7 5/8 and it even has a 2 1/4" brim, which is pretty perfect for me. The two hats I wear the most have 2 1/4" brims (until I got my VS, at least). Cavanagh Edge, too. Awesome! I feel like I stole it, it looks practically new. How old is it if the seller is accurate in its original cost of $20? According to this thread, $25 for Cavanagh was in the mid-to-late fifties, and the 40's liner shown there looks exactly like this one, so I'm assuming (and hoping) it's from the 40's.

 

[Tomasso]

Vintage Jiffy; who knew!?!?

 

[buler]

I thought that stetson 100 would be a good one for an Optimo rebuild.

For that price I thought someone might buy it and rebuild it bigger. Great buy!

B

 

[buler]

Looks like a nice lid, Scott.

:arated:

B

 

[Lefty]

Stetson with a different style of liner

No. 1 Quality 7 5/8l.o.

 

[ScottF]

Aaron Hats

Thanks warmentrout - they are sold out, but I'll check them again later. I was hoping to find a 'one stop shop' for grosgrain and leather sweatbands, but while Leko has the sweatbands and a GREAT color selection of grosgrain, Farmhouse Fabrics has a much better quality grosgrain, but limited selection and no leather sweatbands. The Farmhouse Fabrics grosgrain is very similar in quality to vintage grosgrain.

 

[Jabos]

And finally, after several years of searching, my very first Cavanagh in 7 5/8 and it even has a 2 1/4" brim, which is pretty perfect for me. The two hats I wear the most have 2 1/4" brims (until I got my VS, at least). Cavanagh Edge, too. Awesome! I feel like I stole it, it looks practically new. How old is it if the seller is accurate in its original cost of $20? According to this thread, $25 for Cavanagh was in the mid-to-late fifties, and the 40's liner shown there looks exactly like this one, so I'm assuming (and hoping) it's from the 40's.

Nice hat. Congrats. Looks like your patience has paid off in spades. Post some pics of it on when it arrives.

 

[Mario]

Every time I start trying to figure out the ridiculous things I see sellers type or do for their eBay auctions, my face begins to explode outwards, and I'm sincerely afraid that if I spend too long pondering it, my face will become a crater of exposed brains and vertebrae.

A few weeks ago I saw a seller auctioning off an obvious fur felt fedora and stating multiple times in the auction that the hat was made of leather, because the leather sweatband had "genuine leather" embossed on it.

Your face is already sore and bulging, isn't it?

fftopic:
[rant mode]

Well. You guys over there on the other side of the pond should consider yourselves very, very lucky, actually.
Yes, you should! Every time I deliberately make the mistake and hit the U.S. ebay site, I feel that strange kind of greenish feeling coming over me as soon as I see the abundance of gorgeous hats listed there.

In comparison, on the German ebay I've yet to come across a half-decent Stetson or a Dobbs or you name it. But even if there are some nice hats (usually German or Italian), chances are you won't even find out. It's the way they are listed. Something like 'Found this hat in my attic. It's old and dusty. Great for theater or a costume party!'. :kick: Maybe you get some info on the size, ok, but that's about it. No info on make, age, felt, crown height, brim width or what ever. The photo that comes with it was taken under worst lighting conditions from the far end of the room with a cell phone camera of the very first generation. And in the end, after numerous enquiries, it turns out to be some really nice 60s Mayser Fedora that has almost never been worn. If you're lucky, that is. You have to work really hard to extract any useful information from sellers.

Well, that's the way things go on German ebay, so, in my opinion (granted: it's an envious opinion ), you guys should be really grateful and humble...

Amen!

[/rant mode]

 

[Feraud]

I love badly listed auctions!

 

[gtdean48]

No. 1 Quality 7 5/8l.o.

I was in on this one until it blew by my upper limit.
I am a touch surprised it went that high....[huh]

 

[Tango Yankee]

I was in on this one until it blew by my upper limit.
I am a touch surprised it went that high....[huh]

Really? I watched it out of curiousity, but I thought that a No 1 Quality in that large a size would fetch a premium price. I was surprised it went so low! It seems that many of the enhanced-cranium types around here often complain about the scarcity and therefor the higher price of large sizes.[huh]

Cheers,
Tom

 

[St.Ignatz]

I agree with you Tom. I think lefty got a very nice hat at a very nice price. I also think he has a very serious bug and we all know that that price just keeps going up.

Nice score Lefty. I was going to jump in on the bidding but I had a previously unknown attack of restraint. Go figure.
Tom D.

 

[MattJH]

Really? I watched it out of curiousity, but I thought that a No 1 Quality in that large a size would fetch a premium price. I was surprised it went so low! It seems that many of the enhanced-cranium types around here often complain about the scarcity and therefor the higher price of large sizes.[huh]

Oh, it's the economy. The Cavanagh 7 5/8 I won last night for $94 total is a great example. The only other 7 5/8 Cavanagh I caught on eBay was last year. It also had a 2 1/4" brim and it went for over $200. Yes, really!

 

[carouselvic]

Left, that odd oval is just a regular 60's oval that has been washed improperly. Here is one that I used spray and wash on.

 

[Lefty]

Vic - I mean the style of crest. I haven't seen more than a couple. Maybe it's just faded. Is it the same one that's on the No. 1 quality?

St.Ignatz - I only own around 11 hats. If I haven't specifically said that I won the auction, then I'm just posting it as an "item of interest."