Recent content by lbgradwell

I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe only "western"-styled hats employed the Xs, and even then entirely inconsistently...

Much clearer. And the hat is certainly rabbit fur felt. Sometimes you'll see such hats described as having a "polar" or "deluxe beaver" finish. Some sellers take that to mean (intentionally or not) that beaver pelts were used in the production. Not so!

Ah yes, so it does; I can just make it out! I think Moon is correct with his 1970s estimate, and I think that means your hat was actually made by Biltmore in Guelph. The Brockville Stetson plant closed in 1971.

Is the hat marked "Made in Canada", Barry? The hats made in the Brockville plant would typically be so marked...

Hi Barry, Can you post some nice, clear photos of the hat in question. The hat is almost certainly rabbit fur, but the photos of the interior of the hat showing the liner and sweatband will help establish the date...

+1. That's a LOT of work.

...1920: 1921: 1922:

1919: 1920:

1917: 1918:

The following Wolthausen ads came from the Men's Wear Review - which appears to have been a trade publication - from the years 1911-1922 inclusive. 1915: 1916:

Just before Christmas, I found myself home fighting a persistent cold for a couple of weeks. I spent quite some time during my convalescence perusing old collections of periodicals I found online. I was rewarded with quite a few old ads and articles relating to the Canadian hat-making industry...

And the last batch... 1955: 1956: 1961: 1966 (cleaner copy): 1968:

Continuing... 1949: 1951: 1952: 1953: 1954:

A few more... 1941: 1942: 1943: 1946 (cleaner copy!): 1948 (cleaner copy):

I'm fairly certain the following dates pertain to the ads in question...