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German & Austrian Hutmachers

Messages
18,240
Location
Maryland
H
Just in from a shipment from Italy, An Antelope Echter Mayser. The finish on this is amazing and I see that others have posted about how much they enjoy the great finish on these hats and I have to concur. I am still cleaning it up and shaping it, but it's hard to keep my grubby mitts off of it to let it settle. May even wear this to a wedding later in the week.

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Jeff, Somehow I missed your post. That is a super find and a great finish. My guess would be mid 1950s.
 
Messages
18,240
Location
Maryland
Unfortunately, no paper label was found but I wasn’t able to dig too deeply without popping more stitches.

I did find a stamped 7 1/2 and a 5 on the inside. I assume the 5 is for the size as the circumference is 22 3/8”. Not sure what the 7 1/2 is for.

The hat and box has little value to me (even if restored) but I felt it was worth rescuing from the trash bin. The lady who sold it to me was sad that her sentimental treasure generated little interest at her garage sale :-(. I paid her asking price of $25 and promised I would find an appreciative new owner. To that end, I’d be happy to pass it along to an appreciative new owner for my cost of $25 + shipping. The hat box will fit in a box less than a cubic foot so shipping shouldn’t be too crazy. Message me if interested .

if there is no interest, I will take a shot at restoring the hat and box as a learning experience. I have no experience with restoring top hats but how hard can it be :) .


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Without a company mark I can't say who made it. The 22 1/2 is most likely the inside diameter and the 5 most likely the FP size. How tall is the crown in inches? The 22 1/2 could be inches or it could be in German Zoll. 1 Zoll = 1.04 inch. Here is a similar example but from a Stiff Felt.

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wsmontana

Practically Family
Messages
748
Location
Montana
Without a company mark I can't say who made it. The 22 1/2 is most likely the inside diameter and the 5 most likely the FP size. How tall is the crown in inches? The 22 1/2 could be inches or it could be in German Zoll. 1 Zoll = 1.04 inch. Here is a similar example but from a Stiff Felt.

36522187676_2c5509f79b_b.jpg


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Thanks for the link and the information — very interesting!

The crown is 5 1/2” and the inside circumference with the sweatband removed is 23”.

I ended up deconstructing the hat but didn't find any labels.

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I did find another pic of the what I assume is the retailer:
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Messages
19,926
Location
Nederland
Echter Mayser "Superbe 3 Star", 58 cm, possibly late 1950s. Made for the Mayser Flagship store "Hut-Seidel München". Anton Seidl, the owner of the J. A. Seidl hat factory took over sole ownership of the Mayser hat factory 1918. The Black Felt is finally finished and easily dry creases. This type of Bow work was common In the time period. Finally executed Brim Binding work. Excellent overall condition.

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"Hut-Seidel München" had their own Paper Label. Dieses Etikett bei Nachbestellung desselben Hutes einsenden / Please use this label when reordering the same hat.

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Open Crown

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Lovely hat and a great find, Steve. The bow treatment is particularly attractive.
 
Messages
19,926
Location
Nederland
Just in from a shipment from Italy, An Antelope Echter Mayser. The finish on this is amazing and I see that others have posted about how much they enjoy the great finish on these hats and I have to concur. I am still cleaning it up and shaping it, but it's hard to keep my grubby mitts off of it to let it settle. May even wear this to a wedding later in the week.

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Gorgeous hat, Jeff. Congrats!
 
Messages
18,240
Location
Maryland
Thanks for the link and the information — very interesting!

The crown is 5 1/2” and the inside circumference with the sweatband removed is 23”.

I ended up deconstructing the hat but didn't find any labels.

View attachment 723637 View attachment 723638


I did find another pic of the what I assume is the retailer:
View attachment 723639
Thanks. 22 1/2 Zoll does convert to ~ 23 Inches. Here is a Zoll to Inch converter if you want to check some other dimensions match.

 
Messages
18,240
Location
Maryland
P. & C. Habig Wien "Special", 57cm possibly 1950s. The Black Felt is of a heavier weight but still easily dry creases. . The Band is a medium width with a frayed Bow. The Sweatband is wide and made of very high quality leather. This Sweatband type is common with 1950s era P. & C. Habig Wien Soft Felt Hats. The wide 3 inch Brim makes for a great Form. I believe this Soft Felt Hat was possibly cleaned + restored by P. & C. Habig Wien.

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Open Crown

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Messages
19,926
Location
Nederland
I may have posted this one before, but I'm not sure. Anyway, here it is (again?) in its new form. This was one of those hats I took a chance on, but this time I wasn't lucky. Rather than having this size 54 hat languishing on my shelf until the end of days, I decided to refurbish it. So it has been sitting om a hat stretcher for months. There was not way I could get the sweatband to stretch that much, so I replaced it with a Barbisio sweatband I had lying around. Second change hat, because the felt was just too nice.
Hückel Durit in black. Now in a size 57 with the brim at 6cm an the crown at 11cm at the center dent. It did have a cloth crown patch, but I can't seem to find it right now. Well pleased with the results.

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The old sweatband.
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Messages
18,240
Location
Maryland
Stefan
I may have posted this one before, but I'm not sure. Anyway, here it is (again?) in its new form. This was one of those hats I took a chance on, but this time I wasn't lucky. Rather than having this size 54 hat languishing on my shelf until the end of days, I decided to refurbish it. So it has been sitting om a hat stretcher for months. There was not way I could get the sweatband to stretch that much, so I replaced it with a Barbisio sweatband I had lying around. Second change hat, because the felt was just too nice.
Hückel Durit in black. Now in a size 57 with the brim at 6cm an the crown at 11cm at the center dent. It did have a cloth crown patch, but I can't seem to find it right now. Well pleased with the results.

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The old sweatband.
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Stefan, I couldn't find this one on my sitte but I might have missed it. Looking forward to seeing it in action when the cooler weather arrives.
 
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Messages
18,240
Location
Maryland
J. Hückel´s Söhne "Flexible", FP 6 1/2, possibly mid 1930s. This Stiff Felt was for the Czech market and from a Czech seller. Great Form and Finish plus good condition. It has a Hanging Cord which is less common with JHS Stiff Felts.

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Hanging Cord

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J. Hückel´s Söhne Stiff Felts Post WWI Type 3 Paper Label Type. Also can see the Hanging Cord.

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Pellie

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,610
Location
Enschede, Netherlands
I bought this green Tonak (made for the russian market) for 9 euro including shipping and it turned out to be a very fine felted hat. Very soft and mallable. Not sure if the hatband is original, but could be. No lining in it, but there is a label. According to Steve @mayserwegener it could be a '50's or '60's hat. Glad i saved this one! :)
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It came in like this :-(
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