My hat goes to a museum

[warbird]

One of the treasures of my hat accumulation has long been a hat that was made for the famed horse racing track and auction house Keeneland, in Lexington Kentucky. Many great horses from Man O War on down have been sired or sold at Keeneland. They used to commission, and still do to some extent, special items to be made for the track as gifts. At some point in the late 30's or early 40's they had a beautiful hat made with a distinctive logo to be used in the liner and on the sweat and called a Keeneland Hat. It isn't know for certain which company made it, but I have a few ideas, nothing concrete.

Several months ago I took the hat to Keeneland on a trip through town and they were quite enthralled by it. As far they or I know, there isn't another example of this hat still in existence.

Because I am moving I decided to sell off several of my hats, this one included. I listed it last week in the TFL classifieds and had a few interested parties. Keeneland contacted me again this week though and made me an offer to buy the hat. I am not quite sure how I feel about a hat going to sit in a museum, though it will be taken out for show as well. I usually like for hats to be worn and loved. However I guess most hats don't warrant a museum interest. And since they have never seen another still existing, I will be proud to have been a small part of the history of one of the legendary horse racing facilities in the US.

Here's a link to the ad I posted which has pics included.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?58311-Historic-Keeneland-Raceway-Hat-7-1-4

 

[DJH]

That is really cool. Great that you and the museum could get a deal sorted on this historic hat.

 

[zetwal]

I think giving it to the museum would be a great idea. And they agreed to pay 500 for the hat?! Take it!

:yo:

 

[HatsEnough]

Very interesting. Thanks for bringing up the hat again.

 

[RBH]

The perfect place for a special hat.
Really neat story and alot of folks will enjoy seeing a really cool hat.

 

[monbla256]

More museum's need folks like you! Though it won't be worn, it will be preserved for the future this way. Nice way to go

 

[mayserwegener]

Cool! Hopefully you can post photos of the display.

 

[bendingoak]

I would consider http://www.thehatmuseum.com/ it is the largest hat museum in the country and more people will see it. Just a thought.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

This is totally awesome!

 

[hatophile]

Great hat, and a great place for it.

 

[TheBeak]

Thats totally cool!

I agree with the "buy to wear and love" philosophy (same for cars, they need to be driven to "live") but there are rare instances that need to be preserved in a way that even a loving owner cannot provide if it is to be worn.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Glad to see your hat is going to a museum. When I'm finished with my research collection of Cavanagh, Dobbs, and Crofut & Knapp one of these days, they're headed home to Norwalk and their museum.

Brad

 

[juggles]

I live in Lexington and I do some TV work for Keeneland. I'll be at the sales next week and I'll try to visit your hat if I get a break. Keeneland is a fantastic track and I'm sure your hat will be well-loved.