Pics of old Stetson labels

[ScottF]

Picking up where some others have done a lot of research already, I'm trying to gather pictures of old Stetsons and their labels (sweatband,liner) - I'll be organizing them on a website and gradually refining the information based on what we post here. I'm starting off by limiting the focus to pre-1940 Stetsons, and so far have photos of the ones listed below.

The ones that are sparse are: 'Clear Nutria (dress)', 'Extra Quality', 'Medalist', 'Nutria (dress)', 'Premier', 'Royal' (pre-1940 non-bowler), 'Select' (non-bowler), 'Superior' (dress). But I do have at least one example of each of the following (tons of 'Standard' and 'No.1' (western)). Also, any oddball pre-1940 stamps/logos/tips that don't have an associated 'quality' listed (like Douglas Boss Nutria). Thanks.

Also, I have the handle stored for any pics I've saved, so I will definitely ask permission before putting on a website, and crediting. Also, I clearly will be needing help from guys like GWD, feltfan, Dinerman, jtl, etc., so before I let it out in the open, I'll run it by many of you. Thanks.

3X Beaver
Clear Nutria
Nutria
Excellent
Extra
Medalist
Premier
Select
Special
Standard
Superior
Medalist
Royal

 

[Dinerman]

Standard Quality

Note the inward slant of the "H" in John on both of the sweatband imprints.


Full View

Full View

 

[Dinerman]

Special- Note that the color of the reeds is matched to the color of the felt

Full View

Full View

from Billyspew

 

[Dinerman]

Select- similar, but different imprints on these two.

Homburg
Full View

Derby

 

[Dinerman]

Medalist

Full View

 

[Dinerman]

Oddball logo. I've never seen this on any other hat.

Full View

 

[Dinerman]

Stetson with "The Fray" Sweatband

Full View

 

[Dinerman]

Clear Nutria

Full View

 

[Dinerman]

[URL="http://thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=929771&postcount=164"]

 

[jimmy the lid]

Scott --

Everything that follows is said in a friendly way (and one that invites friendly discussion)...

But...

I have to admit that my first reaction to the website project is a negative one. The information, photographs, research, etc., etc., that are part and parcel of the Hats Forum are, well -- part and parcel of the Hats Forum! What I mean by that is that it is the Fedora Lounge itself that has given birth to all of that sharing of information. It is precisely the breadth and depth of the information to be found here that makes the Lounge -- and, specifically, the Hats Forum -- a special place. The concept of lifting that content to some degree and exporting it to an external website troubles me. I guess I don't understand the need for such a website or the motivation for creating such a site outside of this Forum. Isn't this kind of sharing exactly why we come here?

I'll leave it at that for now, but I wanted to at least express that point of view.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[ScottF]

Scott --

Everything that follows is said in a friendly way (and one that invites friendly discussion)...

But...

I have to admit that my first reaction to the website project is a negative one. The information, photographs, research, etc., etc., that are part and parcel of the Hats Forum are, well -- part and parcel of the Hats Forum! What I mean by that is that it is the Fedora Lounge itself that has given birth to all of that sharing of information. It is precisely the breadth and depth of the information to be found here that makes the Lounge -- and, specifically, the Hats Forum -- a special place. The concept of lifting that content to some degree and exporting it to an external website troubles me. I guess I don't understand the need for such a website or the motivation for creating such a site outside of this Forum. Isn't this kind of sharing exactly why we come here?

I'll leave it at that for now, but I wanted to at least express that point of view.

Cheers,
JtL

Valid point - I'm going to send an explanation via PM to you and a few others.

Thanks, Scott

 

[ScottF]

Well, the PM thing didn't work - could only send one at a time. So here we go:

The 'need and motivation' is the easiest to address: 'Discussion forums' don't lend themselves well to reference - we have adapted because we have no choice. Is such a proposed reference site necessary? Answer - no. I would like to do it because of my interest in Stetson history, and desire to organize information so that I (and others with a similar interest) can get to it more easily. Yes, I would ask others who have already spent time organizing discussions of such information, to contribute and to validate what I create on the website. Having information organized on a site specifically designed for reference would also make it much easier to see relationships between labels, etc., and further our research - and as designed, you could discuss information presented on the website, in the discussion forum.

Keep in mind - anyone (even non-loungers) can view the discussion threads on this forum, so all that creating a reference site does is make it easier to find information that PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY INTERESTED IN STETSON HISTORY are looking for (I emphasize that because the proposed reference site is not intended to cover everything on this discussion forum).

I did something similar with a billiard discussion forum - we had threads similar to some of the history threads here and they ended up pretty much like the history threads here have - great for discussion, but not so much for reference. Issues include: people moving pictures to other locations so we lose them; photos and information stored over multiple discussion threads (the key point here is 'discussion threads', which are not designed for reference); lots of discussions with various opinions, the facts getting lost, or contradicting opinions that are posted as facts; repeated posting of the same pics (quoting, etc); no standard formatting of pictures. The list goes on and on, but the main point is that a 'discussion forum' is very different from a 'reference site'. The site I created started off by organizing existing information dug out of various discussion threads, then became a project of 'filling in the blanks' - much as this project is intended to do.

I also did something similar with pre-wwI baseball history; however, few people had any interest in the esoteric ideas I wanted to capture, as you can see if you visit the site (link below). In addition, I used the pre-wwI baseball website to discuss printing anomalies in baseball cards. We had some great discussions, and because it primarily interested me, I ended up being the one doing most of the research...but not all of it. That ended up being a published paper in a baseball history journal, and has been used by a number of my peers as reference material. Even though it was spawned by a discussion forum, it was great reference material, and served a totally different purpose from the discussions of the same material...Discussion forums are only an end-all for people who only want to discuss. Researchers need something different.

Here's the example of what I did with a very specific area of billiards history:
http://oldsplice.homestead.com/

...and pre-wwI baseball history (the main page changed on this one depending on my current interest):

Pre-wwI Baseball History

Scott --

Everything that follows is said in a friendly way (and one that invites friendly discussion)...

But...

I have to admit that my first reaction to the website project is a negative one. The information, photographs, research, etc., etc., that are part and parcel of the Hats Forum are, well -- part and parcel of the Hats Forum! What I mean by that is that it is the Fedora Lounge itself that has given birth to all of that sharing of information. It is precisely the breadth and depth of the information to be found here that makes the Lounge -- and, specifically, the Hats Forum -- a special place. The concept of lifting that content to some degree and exporting it to an external website troubles me. I guess I don't understand the need for such a website or the motivation for creating such a site outside of this Forum. Isn't this kind of sharing exactly why we come here?

I'll leave it at that for now, but I wanted to at least express that point of view.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[CRH]

...so before I let it out in the open, I'll run it by many of you. Thanks.
...

Nice try. The Google Bots are already on it.

 

[ScottF]

Nice try. The Google Bots are already on it.

Well, when I'm done with phase I, they'll only find a bunch of pictures of old Stetsons and their innards. Once that part is complete, I'll post a link here with further plans, and others can make suggestions as to appropriateness.

 

[CRH]

Well, when I'm done with phase I, they'll only find a bunch of pictures of old Stetsons and their innards. Once that part is complete, I'll post a link here with further plans, and others can make suggestions as to appropriateness.

Dude, turn around! I forgot my hat!

 

[ScottF]

Jtl, by now you have probably noticed that there isn't much interest in this other than myself and Dinerman, which is pretty much what I expected (not a bad thing - just a very esoteric reference site). So whatever info ends up being used from this discussion forum, it will be minimal and I seriously doubt anyone other than researchers will even notice it.

 

[billyspew]

I wholeheartedly love this idea.

I see Dinerman already posted one of my Special so I will post a few more of the details. Higher resolution ones available on request...

 

[billyspew]

Thought I'd put this one up... no sure who's it was or where the pics came from (I'm a bit of a magpie), but if it's yours and want me to remove I will.

Interesting Bowler..

 

[ScottF]

Thanks Billy,

Just in case there are any issues with this idea (and I completely understand the concerns) - I will begin simply with pics of my own Stetsons (owned now or ever), and those provided by you and Dinerman. Then I'll await reaction before adding any additional detail.

Quite honestly, as jtl and others are aware, I am also VERY interested in the history of circa-1940 - 60 Stetsons (Open Roads, Whippets, Playboys, etc.) - to the point of probably irking a few people who know much more about this than me - but would never consider delving into that area without a go-ahead and heavy participation (if not most participation) by jtl and a few others who have done significant research in that area. If this pre-1940 thing works out and jtl, etc. approve, I might set up a skeleton page for such hats and give the password to some of these guys if they feel like putting in info themselves.

I am known for getting excited about esoteric topics that would put others to sleep. Example - I quite often read my girlfriend the "Constitution" or essays from the 'Federalist Papers' when she is having trouble sleeping. It interests me and bores her (I'm a Libertarian, she's a Democrat )

 

[DOUGLAS]

I Like your idea scott. Let me know what you need.