Stetson Vita-felt

[Bob Smalser]

The hat companies were trying to replace the dwindling supply of Nutria fur which was superior to beaver.

Although I'm a forest biologist today, as a kid I paid for a couple years of college from the proceeds of a trapline, and have some experience grading and selling furs. The notion that nutria underfur is superior to beaver or vice versa isn't that simple. How cold the climate the species is adapted to and how cold the winter the individual animal experiences is closer to the mark, because cold triggers the development of more and finer downy underfur.

Nutria is the South American muskrat (although it also fills the beaver's niche there), a larger, more adaptable tropical animal that eats both plants and woody cambium and was introduced into the US in fur farms after the decline of native beaver numbers as Woodfluter describes, later escaping into the wild, becoming a pest throughout the Southern US. As the best quality fur comes from only the extreme northern and southern areas of the nutria's range where winters are relatively cold, much commercial nutria fur is trapped along our Gulf Coast and in Northern Patagonia. As it was also introduced into European fur farms and has become a pest there in the warmer regions, I imagine it's also trapped there commercially.

If you browse turn-of-the-century clothing catalogs like the 1902 Sears reprint, you'll find some of the best hats are made from nutria fur and not beaver. That's because there weren't many beaver remaining to trap, as fish and game laws were in their infancy then, and beavers didn't resurge in numbers until a combination of strict seasons and catch limits, lowered demand for beaver hats, and suburbanization of the US hunting culture.

The material sold to felt makers in bales is only the downy underfur. To obtain that from the stretched and dried pelt sold by the trapper, the fur is shaved off and the long, oily guard hairs separated from the underfur. The underfur on the animal's abdomen is the finest and the most uniform and light in color.....hence the term silver belly.

 

[Lefty]

Back to vita-felt-
Looking through the ads I've got, I just noticed a 1944 Whippet ad that says the Whippet is "made of rich felt made springy and long-lasting by the exclusive [can't make out the next word] Vita-Felt Process." More marketing?

It's this ad. I have a slightly bigger copy in my photobucket account, which I'll post when it's working again.

 

[CRH]

This thread reminds me of reading an encyclopedia. There seem to be a lot of threads around the Lounge that make me feel this way.

Carry on, Gentleman, and thanks for the education.

 

[J.J. Gittes]

. The Beaver fur took a full year to grow after being shaved. In essence, you paid to feed and house a beaver for just one yearly shearing/QUOTE]
A bald beaver.... That would be an interesting sight lol . I'm going to look out for some Vita-Felts now!

 

[jlagman]

Wow, there was always some part of me that felt guilty about animals giving their lives to serve my vanity. I'm somewhat relieved to know that there was another method for a time being.

I guess in the meantime, I've just got to keep reminding myself that rabbits reproduce at a very fast rate (I don't own a beaver hat).

 

[Lefty]

I've got sale on a structure that spans a particular body of water that might interest you.

Here's more to chew on as to the question of whether there was a "process". This ad says that the felt has been "processed". It's just a store ad, so it might be a red herring, but now it's out there, confusing the fisherman.

Here's another RBH ad for the mix.
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2773/medilbi8.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

When I was in Tennessee last I toured the felt hat body operation at Winchester. The owner showed us the bales of fur that are shipped in to them. There were nutria, beaver and rabbit bundled and stored separately. He opened one of each type of bale and pulled out a handful of the fur for us to feel. Both the nutria and rabbit felt like soft fur. The beaver felt like running your fingers through silky smoke. It was so surprisingly softer than the others. It's also reserved for the hats considered today to be the higher quality.

I have two Stetsons that are marked "Vita-Felt Process". These hail almost certainly from 1942. In the case of my samples the process was Vita-Felt, the model name was Eagle and the quality level designation was Medalist. This suggests to me that Vita-Felt process(ed) Stetsons of the '40s may have been offered in varying weights and finishes/qualities of felt. Mine are both medium to light weight, very dense high quality felt on the order of my vintage Borsalinos, and very pliable with little to no stiffener.

They both have the same underside/inside details.

 

[Lefty]

7-30-1940 was the first date that Stetson used vita-felt in commerce, and on August 6, 1940, the New York Times reported that Stetson had perfected a new felting process that it would market as vita-felt. According to the article, George S. Russell, Jr., president of Stetson, said that "Certain types of foreign hats have found a market in America because of their springiness and their soft mellow feel". Vita-Felt would have the same feel, but be made by American workers paid American wages. The store ads that follow invite comparison of vita-felt hats and foreign made hats.

Apparently, there were two eras of vita-felt. Though the ads certainly aren't conclusive proof, I don't think I've seen any evidence that the first incarnation of vita-felt lasted past 1945.

But then...

My search results jumped from 1945 to March 24, 1967, where the ad headline reads, " They're here! hats of fine fur felt with the new process developed by Stetson and DuPont - VITA FELT process."

The rest of the ad:

"Now, a new and exclusive process developed by Stetson using a Du Pont surface modifier makes an entirely new type of felt hat possible - a water resistant hat, a shape retentive hat, a hat with a richer color and more luxurious feel. An excellent example is the Stetson Mark...a new style with a center crease crown, narrow Mode Edge brim and fine Peau De Soie silk band."

The brim on this one looks to be well under 2 inches. There was one more search result for vita-felt, also in 1967, which referenced this Du Pont vita-felt.

To me, Stetson's thinking that it could market this term as new and revolutionary again, after 25 years, really illustrates where the company was going by then.

 

[Lefty]

In the case of my samples the process was Vita-Felt, the model name was Eagle and the quality level designation was Medalist. This suggests to me that Vita-Felt process(ed) Stetsons of the '40s may have been offered in varying weights and finishes/qualities of felt. Mine are both medium to light weight, very dense high quality felt on the order of my vintage Borsalinos, and very pliable with little to no stiffener.

I'm sure that the past Stetson execs would be happy to hear you compare the vita-felt to Borsalinos. I'm guessing that axis-made Borsalino was the target of the vita-felt pitch.

Vita-felt was offered within different quality designations. You've got the Medalist, the Playboy I once owned was a Royal, and the OR clone I just bought is a Royal Deluxe.

 

[carter]

...
My search results jumped from 1945 to March 24, 1967, where the ad headline reads, " They're here! hats of fine fur felt with the new process developed by Stetson and DuPont - VITA FELT process."

The rest of the ad:

"Now, a new and exclusive process developed by Stetson using a Du Pont surface modifier makes an entirely new type of felt hat possible - a water resistant hat, a shape retentive hat, a hat with a richer color and more luxurious feel. An excellent example is the Stetson Mark...a new style with a center crease crown, narrow Mode Edge brim and fine Peau De Soie silk band."
...

The Du Pont process wasn't exclusive to Stetson either. Here's the sweatband information from A Lee Gold Medal.

 

[GWD]

This is a greatly informative thread. I think it should be a sticky!

 

[Lefty]

Great to see you back GWD.

I just found an ad in The Daily Gleaner, on the newspaper archive, dated Sept. 11, 1946, advertising vita-felt hats. These may have just been the leftovers being sold-off to a foreign market (it's a Jamaican paper), but it makes it possible that Stetson was producing vita-felt in 46.

 

[carter]

Vita-Felt liners and sweatband (from an ebay auction)

 

[carter]

Here's a 1941 Stetson ad for the launch of the Vita-Felt.

 

[Lefty]

I've got that ad with more than one date on it. I think they may have used it both in 41 and 42.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Here's a snippet from an ad that ran in the NY Times -- November 16, 1940 (as reported in another thread):

"The Royal Stetson is presented in two weights: the 'Fallweight' and the 'Vita-Felt,' the latter being a lighter weight for men accustomed to the finest of foreign hats."

Cheers,
JtL

 

[GWD]

Hmmmm, maybe those caged beavers weren't all that healthy and their coats weren't as thick and heavy as "free range" beavers, thus making a lighter felt?

Pure speculation on my part of course.

I for one had a much healthier head of hair before I was "caged".

 

[Lefty]

The Playboy I sold had the same markings as the hat posted by Carter, as does the hat I'm waiting on. Gene's hat markings seem a bit more rare. Does anyone else have a vita felt hat with markings in another style?

 

[Woodfluter]

This one is obviously later than the 1940's Vita-Felts, and appears to date from around the 1967+ era Lefty mentioned, when the term seems to have been applied to a completely different process.

Mode edge Stetson Sovereign, perhaps 60's or early 70's?


This is about as stingy-brimmed as I get. Here's the sweatband printing:




And here's the liner:


This is emphatically not a light-weight felt. It is very dense and substantial. Better than I'd ordinarily expect from that period.

- Bill

 

[Lefty]

more vita-felt ads
Whippet - 42

Eagle - 42

1942 - I wish I could read the text for each model