Interesting $1200 Stetson on eBay

[Brad Bowers]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14065&item=8157693726&rd=1

Seems to have an interesting provenance. Wonder what the felt's like? You certainly don't see ermine very often.

Brad

 

[MK]

.

Very interesting. Anyone shed any light on this?

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Was up before

Very interesting. Anyone shed any light on this?

This hat and case was up on Ebay a few months back and didn't meet the sellers reserve. Its a very small hat size. I know one hatter wanted it for a display piece.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

From what I have heard, Stetson ermine felt hats are the best ever made.

That said, I still think the seller won't get a buyer.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I doubt it will sell as well.
I no not about ermine hats.
It could have been high priced back in the day simply for the fact that it is a rarely used fur, then again it can be the grail of felts. I know Chinchilla hats cost more on average, though they make a truly crappy felt.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Like the case

I agree i don't think it will sell. The only high priced hat that really sell is a Optimo. :beer:

 

[Andykev]

Custom Stetson Hat

The Stetson Hat book mentions their custom shop made hats to order, and the sky was the limit. This offered hat on Ebay is spectacular, as it contains the original paperwork, and information about the owner. He obviously was someone of importance and stature in Havana, Cuba.

The fur is the highest quality, hand selected, and made by the best hatters in the factory. Leather case and all. Fine specimine. Too bad it is a small hat. I think the price is a bit steep also. IMHO.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Ermine... I wonder how they taste.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

To cute

I couldn't wear him or eat him either i'd have to make him a pet. Cute little fellow!! :clap

 

[jamespowers]

Ermine... I wonder how they taste.

I understand they taste like chicken---nuggets.


Regards to all,

J

 

[Canadave]

That pic shows how they look in winter. In summer, they're brown above and white below. Proper name is Shorttail Weasel (Mustela erminea). I guess "nice weasel hat" or "lovely weasel coat" doesn't sound quite as elegant.

BTW, I saw one of it's larger relatives, a mink, running along a snowy road while up north for Christmas.

David

 

[up196]

They taste like gopher . . .

Ermine... I wonder how they taste.

But remember to always eat a whole gopher, bucause a half a gopher would only arouse your appetite without puttin' her to bed again. Best to eat one after Pete and Delmer have had theirs.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Just

Just checked no bids yet!!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Nice looking hat with an interesting history, but too rich for my taste.

Maybe some hat museum would want it -- are there any hat museums? If, as they claim, this is possibly the last hat of its kind (the other nine hats being used, abused or destroyed), why wouldn't the Stetson company want it? I would assume if any hat maker had a museum, it would be that company.

karol

PS Anybody want to see the hat I bought off ebay, look up 8157857131 on ebay, the picture is still posted. Any of you familiar with the D bar J hatmakers? They have a website. I had never heard of them but figure some of you do. -- kdl

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Nice hat

Here is your hat

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8157857131

I don't know the maker. :

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Thanks, SHARPETOYS, for posting it. I wasn't sure how many of the i.d. letters and numbers, etc., I had to post; it went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Now I know I can end it after the ebay i.d. number.

The seller has a few other interesting western hats posted also, from the same custom hatmaker. I always wanted a boss of the plains type hat, even if it is not a Stetson. I is green and I wanted a green hat.

Well, it will be interesting to see if anyone bids on that $1200 hat. Ermine, indeed! Does sound better than weasel -- if only because we use that word negatively to mean someone who is sleazy and untrustworthy.

Like the word nutria. I had to look it up because I wasn't aware there was an animal with that name. (I thought it was some sort of synthetic material). Then, I look it up and the animal is a rodent that looks like a large rat. Can you imagine telling someone your hat is made of swamp rat?

karol

 

[android]

Nutria is one of the best felt materials besides beaver. Unlike hare, beavers and nutrias spend most of their lives in the water. This seems to make for a tighter, more water resistant felt.

A beaver/nutria blend used to be very common and was considered a high quality hat material.

 

[jamespowers]

Ah yes, the furry Nutria. I would prefer calling it a Wharf Rat more than a Swamp Rat but I suppose it is a matter of opinion.
Whatever the case, Nutria was a valuable fur and was used as a blend in many of Stetson's better hats. They even noted it on the sweatbands of the hats to make sure you knew that fur was in there.
A nutria, to me, just looks like a beaver without the shovel tail. The nutria has a rat tail instead. Both live in the water as andriod mentioned and their fur has very, very similar properties. Nutria culled from colder climates has the best fur because the fur is denser and thicker. You also do not have as many problems with the back hair of a Nutria while you do with that of the beaver. Pretty good properties for "rat" hair.

Regards to all,

J

 

[jamespowers]

Here are a few examples of what I mentioned earlier concerning the Nutria Stetsons. These are examples of the sweatband markings
Can you guess what era they come from?

Regards to all,

J

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Good info.

Ah yes, the furry Nutria. I would prefer calling it a Wharf Rat more than a Swamp Rat but I suppose it is a matter of opinion.
Whatever the case, Nutria was a valuable fur and was used as a blend in many of Stetson's better hats. They even noted it on the sweatbands of the hats to make sure you knew that fur was in there.
A nutria, to me, just looks like a beaver without the shovel tail. The nutria has a rat tail instead. Both live in the water as andriod mentioned and their fur has very, very similar properties. Nutria culled from colder climates has the best fur because the fur is denser and thicker. You also do not have as many problems with the back hair of a Nutria while you do with that of the beaver. Pretty good properties for "rat" hair.

Regards to all,

J

Thanks for the info.