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Toppers Unite

Messages
17,855
Location
Nederland
Thanks, Stefan. Not new. It's the one I acquired last year with all the wonderful provenance of the Danish doctor who became an Oxford professor and helped develop breathing apparatus for WWI pilots.
I like to showboat it every so often
I'm sure the good doctor would approve!
 
Messages
14,993
Location
Buffalo, NY
Thanks, Stefan. Not new. It's the one I acquired last year with all the wonderful provenance of the Danish doctor who became an Oxford professor and helped develop breathing apparatus for WWI pilots.
I like to showboat it every so often

A show to be sure... what is the height of that beauty?!
 
Messages
17,855
Location
Nederland
Almost forgot this one. Toppers in larger sizes are few and far between (in decent state and anywhere near reasonable price anyway). Here's an interesting one.
Ravenhorst top hat in a size 60. Brim at 5cm and crown 14cm. It came with its original box and with its original velvet cushion. It isn't perfect; there is some discolouring on top and there are some tiny holes in the fabric on the underside of the brim. Perfectly wearable topper though because the silk is in excellent shape.
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Almost forgot this one. Toppers in larger sizes are few and far between (in decent state and anywhere near reasonable price anyway). Here's an interesting one.
Ravenhorst top hat in a size 60. Brim at 5cm and crown 14cm. It came with its original box and with its original velvet cushion. It isn't perfect; there is some discolouring on top and there are some tiny holes in the fabric on the underside of the brim. Perfectly wearable topper though because the silk is in excellent shape.
View attachment 235343 View attachment 235344 View attachment 235345 View attachment 235346 View attachment 235347 View attachment 235348 View attachment 235349 View attachment 235350 View attachment 235351 View attachment 235352

Well it arrived yesterday direct from an undisclosed location deep in the hat vaults of Holland! And .....
MixedThoseEel-size_restricted.gif

YES.........
tenor (15).gif


Thanks Stefan!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
Messages
17,855
Location
Nederland
Well it arrived yesterday direct from an undisclosed location deep in the hat vaults of Holland! And .....
View attachment 244833
YES.........
View attachment 244834

Thanks Stefan!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Glad you like it and it fits, Mark!

As far as I've been able to recover Ravenhorst existed from 1925 until 1973. Here's an advert from 1930 in which it's mentioned that Ravenhorst has been able to make a success of his shop in the last five years.

ravenhorst 1930.jpg


And in honor to my new Topper (which has the tightest brim curl I think I have ever seen :eek:).....I found this!:):):):) Topper making on the Continent !

That's a great movie about one of the most prolific top hat makers of the Netherlands: Jan Spoorenberg. They produced hats under various brand names, but most commonly under the name Burton.
Here's the full story on their hats:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/toppers-unite.36577/page-38#post-2238487
 

Steve1857

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,306
Location
Denmark
IMG_20201024_143120.jpg IMG_20201024_142040.jpg IMG_20201024_143120.jpg IMG_20201024_142040.jpg Picked this one up from Facebook Market Place. Pretty standard, no name, generic moleskin top hat in a somewhat primitive box. Turn of the last century I'd say.
It has the ubiquitous British royal coat of arms inside. The coat of arms were often used by Dutch top hat makers too, so this one might have a Dutch connection.
It was a waif and stray needing a good home
 

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Messages
17,855
Location
Nederland
View attachment 273527 View attachment 273528 View attachment 273527 View attachment 273528 Picked this one up from Facebook Market Place. Pretty standard, no name, generic moleskin top hat in a somewhat primitive box. Turn of the last century I'd say.
It has the ubiquitous British royal coat of arms inside. The coat of arms were often used by Dutch top hat makers too, so this one might have a Dutch connection.
It was a waif and stray needing a good home
Another one I seem to have missed. Must have been around the time I was abducted by aliens. Nice find, Steve. The boxes are usually made of carboard (and in abysmal shape), so a leather one is very cool on its own. I see a lot of these toppers around on local auction sites here. Undertakers have stopped using them en masse and these have come to the market. Almost all of them are (very) small sizes though and even size 57 seems to be more rare. For sizes 58 and up the number of hats offered strongly resembles zero.
 

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