STETSON GUN CLUB

[hatflick1]

Recently on ebay sellers have been listing the Gub Club. Not the current outdoorsman style but the original version...small brim, pork pie shape, little Winchester rifle pin on the side. Anyone know the history of this peculiar hat? If truly designed for gun enthusiasts such as hunters, why the stingy brim? Was this hat popular in its day?
Just curious. This particular Stetson model never quite made sense.
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Seeking enlightenment...one hat at a time

 

[docholliday55]

The stingy brim is often an asset while hunting because of the brush one often encounters in the woods. A hat with a wider brim comes in contact with more brush and in such adverse conditions one may find himself spending more time hunting down his hat than the wild game he is hunting for. I have a couple of Gun Club hats and they are fine hats in my opinion.
doc

 

[MattC]

No hunting hat

I've got a charcoal "mohair" type pork pie Stetson "gun club." Just a promotion gimmick I think. Not a hunter's hat.

 

[hatflick1]

I appreciate both replies. I tend to also think of the Gun Club as promotional. It does have something in its design that resembles a hat given away at conventions. I have never seen a print ad for the style. Indeed it may depict a hunter or fisherman as some of the vintage Dobbs magazine advertisements did. Certainly with such a sitngy brim, you wouldn't have to sweep one side up like the British and Aussie 'diggers'.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

I think this is a neat hat, and I've wanted one since I saw a picture in the Stetson book. This one seems unworn, and even included the little rifle pin, QA notice, and receipt. I'm not sure of the age, but this looks like late 50's to me, and the serial number starts with "59", so maybe...

The felt is a hairy finish, chocolate color with some gray hairs mixed in, with an underwelted brim edge. Great for an autumn walk in the park.

 

[scotrace]

"The Stetson Book?"


(nice hat!)

 

[Joel Tunnah]

Sorry, "Stetson Hats" by Jeffrey Snyder.

 

[Feraud]

That is a great Fall season hat!

 

[Anders]

Wow, I've never seen that hairy finish before, but I like it a lot. Great hat!
Now I have to find one, or I'll never feel right when I'm out shooting.

Anders

 

[Pat_H]

This is a surprise. I saw the title of this thread and logged in to look at it, as I have a Stetson "Gun Club" hat that is in the style of an Australian drovers hat. I rarely wear it, as I don't favor that style.

I didn't realize the name had been used for other hats.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Wow, I've never seen that hairy finish before, but I like it a lot.

Looks cool, doesn't it? Here's another one with the same hairy finish, though it's not a Stetson "Gun Club":

 

[beatola]

There's different marketing terms and ways of doing that finish

I've heard it called:

kodiak finish
clipped fur finish
raw finish.

There's 2 ways that I know of how it's done...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Looks kind of rabbity to me.

.

 

[MattJH]

This is a surprise. I saw the title of this thread and logged in to look at it, as I have a Stetson "Gun Club" hat that is in the style of an Australian drovers hat. I rarely wear it, as I don't favor that style.

I didn't realize the name had been used for other hats.

From what I've seen, Stetson put the "Gun Club" name on all sorts of different styles -- "Gun Club" definitely isn't a style on its own, just a name. I've heard that they were promotional hats, but I don't know any details regarding the promotion, when it was, what it was for, etc.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Maybe the National Rifle Association?

.

 

[beatola]

nowadays

Nowadays no gun club hat has a brim bigger than 2 1/4" Don't know how far back this goes.

 

[Pat_H]

From what I've seen, Stetson put the "Gun Club" name on all sorts of different styles -- "Gun Club" definitely isn't a style on its own, just a name. I've heard that they were promotional hats, but I don't know any details regarding the promotion, when it was, what it was for, etc.

That's interesting.

Mine was actually sold under some other name (seems I ordered it from somewhere, as I wanted a beaver felt hat in an Australian style, not a rabbit felt one like Australian hats are). At that time, for some reason, I wanted the Australian style hat, which I've not been all that thrilled with thereafter.

Anyhow, it was sold by whoever sold it as a "drover" or a similar name. Gun club is in the lining. As it turns out, given as the brim is fairly flat, about the only time I wear it is when I'm shooting a shotgun.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

...I wanted a beaver felt hat in an Australian style, not a rabbit felt one like Australian hats are.

The labels Stetson uses such as "4X Beaver" unfortunately does not mean that there's any beaver in the felt. This has been discussed here before, do a search on it.
And the Akubra felt is pretty tough and respectable.

Joel

 

[Pat_H]

The labels Stetson uses such as "4X Beaver" unfortunately does not mean that there's any beaver in the felt. This has been discussed here before, do a search on it.
And the Akubra felt is pretty tough and respectable.

Joel

I don't doubt that. I should note, this was something I acquired a long time ago.

Indeed, my regular outdoor cowboy hat is now something like 20 years old or more.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Stetson seems to have a bunch of hats under the current Gun Club banner, including wider-brimmed Aussie styles like the Dune. Scroll down on this list:

http://www.qualityhats.com/

Of course, why anybody would get a Dune for nearly twice the price of an Akubra Cattleman, Stockman, etc., with today's painless Internet ordering is beyond me!