looking for info on a hat maker

[cbuckalew]

I have an old, rather unique hat that I can't find any information concerning the maker. It has a label inside that says Wolverine Hats. There is a picture of a wolverine above the logo. The hat I have is tweed with leather panels on the front and back of the crown. Very weird, unusual, and even ugly hat. I can't find any information on the existence of a Wolverine Hats anywhere. Anybody ever heard of them or come across one before?

The hat is currently up for auction on eBay if intersted or would like to just see it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220614460054&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MESELX:IT

 

[AlterEgo]

This hat is definitely not a fedora, though due to the leather panels, I would hesitate to call it a true Trilby or Rex, though its overall shape, brim width, and tweed content align with those styles. May I assume that's genuine leather and 100% wool tweed?

Wolverine and that logo describe a company that once specialized in outdoor/camping clothes and gear and was acquired some years ago by Merrell. As such, Merrell would have the rights to the Wolverine name, but I have not personally seen any of Merrell's products offered under that brand, though it very well could still be extant.

I had a pair of Wolverine hiking boots in the mid-1970s and a couple of its rugged shirts. In its market segment, Wolverine occupied the lower echelon of middle ground in price and quality, so I'd say your hat is similarly situated. I can almost guarantee that Wolverine did not make its own hats, but, wishing to offer products from head to toe, it most likely farmed headgear out to a third party. Who that might have been, I have no idea.

Judging from its leather-and-tweed construction, overall appearance, and the company's niche, I'd say this unusual lid was probably marketed as a cool-weather hiking or perhaps fly-fishing hat. I had a friend who had a similar hat--combination leather and tweed Rex--but that was over 30 years ago, and my mental image of where the leather panels were is not crystal clear. You see, he wore it only twice since it was so butt-ugly, with a dreadful crush in the crown consistent with a hippopotamus having napped atop it.

I had an all-suede leather hat with practically the exact same dimensions as yours that I bought in 1977. I dubbed it my "alpine hat" and still have it, though bugs nibbled at the suede and made it unsightly. (You are lucky that such critters have not munched the wool in yours, which begs the question, is it synthetic?) Anyway, my sporty alpine prompted my buddy to produce the aforementioned hippo hat from his dad's attic footlocker. Accordingly, I'd estimate your hat was made from the mid 1960s to mid-1970s.

I see you're asking a whopping 99 cents, yet, as of this posting, have no bids. If it were anywhere close my 7 1/8 size, I'd buy it just for the hell of it, for I keep my hippo in the back yard, well away from all hats.