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steur said:

The Stephen L Stetson story certainly is interesting. That's enough reason to go for this one. And it's a good looking hat as well.

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moehawk said:

Hey all!
Here"s a refurb project I've been working on.
Almost a year ago I saw this hat on Etsy. Marked only with 'Brandon' and 'Showerproof', it just had something to it that caught my eye and held my attention. Several weeks of wembling later, I bought it. Didn't get pics of it out of the box, as it was in need of some steam and love before it was presentable.
I did get some pics of the sweat and tags and liner.

View attachment 297426 View attachment 297427 View attachment 297429 View attachment 297430

Unfortunately, shortly after I took these pics, the stitching holding the unreeded sweatband to the felt disintegrated.
Bummer.
As my vision was not up to the task of sewing in a new sweat, I considered sending it out to one of the hatters here on the Lounge, and then the world went crazy. I decided to save my money for important things like TP and hand sanitizer. Oh yeah, all that rice and dry beans too...
So the hat sat on a shelf, gathering dust and more wrinkles.
Then, a couple months ago, I went in for an eye exam, and found out that my declining vision was due to cataracts, not from a worsening of my retinopathy as I had feared. I got one eye done, then the other a month later. I'm still blind from the previous damage done by the diabetes, but now have a lot more light and color in my life, and a bit more detail as well. With the help of a pair of magnifying eyeglasses I decided to try a sweatband replacement. Turned out the old ribbon was disintegrating from age as well, so a full refurb was in order.
My sewing machine kept jamming as I tried to do the sweatband seam, so it took a few tries. My worst seam ever, looks like someone pulled all the pins out of the dude from Hellraiser's face and strung a shoelace through some of the holes. But it held together. And, if I shoot it like this nobody knows.

View attachment 297439

Here's a few unblocked.

View attachment 297441 View attachment 297442 View attachment 297443

Closeup of the brim.

View attachment 297444

The brim is 2 1/2",the open crown a full 6. Originally 121g with the unreeded sweat. The thin, dense felt is 80g of the weight. Now 131g (or 118g 1without the liner, which is how I"m keeping it).
I haven't heard of Brandon as a hat maker, so I'm guessing it was a jobber hat. The tags, dimensions, brim treatment, unreeded sweat and general condition of the hat make me think pre-war, but as always opinions pro and con are welcome.
Head shot.

View attachment 297457

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moehawk said:

Hey all!
Here"s a refurb project I've been working on...

Click to expand...

alanfgag said:

The latter arrived with a 1937 train ticket stub under the sweatband. The only reference I find for "Bancoola" is a Paris, Texas newspaper advertisement from the same year. Originally retailed for under $2, so a comfortable mark-up to $50 today.

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steur said:

Thank you, Steve.


I know! Who would think of such a thing?


Given the price of these hats, the name "cashfelt" seems appropriate!


Thanks, Randy.


The Stephen L Stetson story certainly is interesting. That's enough reason to go for this one. And it's a good looking hat as well.


Glad to hear your eyesight has improved, John. I like the hat; nice colour on it and nice job saving it.

Click to expand...

moehawk said:

Hey all!
Here"s a refurb project I've been working on.
Almost a year ago I saw this hat on Etsy. Marked only with 'Brandon' and 'Showerproof', it just had something to it that caught my eye and held my attention. Several weeks of wembling later, I bought it. Didn't get pics of it out of the box, as it was in need of some steam and love before it was presentable.
I did get some pics of the sweat and tags and liner.

View attachment 297426 View attachment 297427 View attachment 297429 View attachment 297430

Unfortunately, shortly after I took these pics, the stitching holding the unreeded sweatband to the felt disintegrated.
Bummer.
As my vision was not up to the task of sewing in a new sweat, I considered sending it out to one of the hatters here on the Lounge, and then the world went crazy. I decided to save my money for important things like TP and hand sanitizer. Oh yeah, all that rice and dry beans too...
So the hat sat on a shelf, gathering dust and more wrinkles.
Then, a couple months ago, I went in for an eye exam, and found out that my declining vision was due to cataracts, not from a worsening of my retinopathy as I had feared. I got one eye done, then the other a month later. I'm still blind from the previous damage done by the diabetes, but now have a lot more light and color in my life, and a bit more detail as well. With the help of a pair of magnifying eyeglasses I decided to try a sweatband replacement. Turned out the old ribbon was disintegrating from age as well, so a full refurb was in order.
My sewing machine kept jamming as I tried to do the sweatband seam, so it took a few tries. My worst seam ever, looks like someone pulled all the pins out of the dude from Hellraiser's face and strung a shoelace through some of the holes. But it held together. And, if I shoot it like this nobody knows.

View attachment 297439

Here's a few unblocked.

View attachment 297441 View attachment 297442 View attachment 297443

Closeup of the brim.

View attachment 297444

The brim is 2 1/2",the open crown a full 6. Originally 121g with the unreeded sweat. The thin, dense felt is 80g of the weight. Now 131g (or 118g 1without the liner, which is how I"m keeping it).
I haven't heard of Brandon as a hat maker, so I'm guessing it was a jobber hat. The tags, dimensions, brim treatment, unreeded sweat and general condition of the hat make me think pre-war, but as always opinions pro and con are welcome.
Head shot.

View attachment 297457

Click to expand...

Frunobulax said:

Nice job, John. I like the color, and I'm a sucker for brim stitching.

Click to expand...

steur said:

Thank you, Steve.


I know! Who would think of such a thing?


Given the price of these hats, the name "cashfelt" seems appropriate!


Thanks, Randy.


The Stephen L Stetson story certainly is interesting. That's enough reason to go for this one. And it's a good looking hat as well.


Glad to hear your eyesight has improved, John. I like the hat; nice colour on it and nice job saving it.

Click to expand...

steur said:

Small update on the Barbisio Rat Gondin. It has slurped up a healthy dose of Saphir Mink Oil (it has expensive taste) and is now back to it's limber and supple self. It allowed me to have a peek at the label. The colour is called "Tanaro".

View attachment 297488 View attachment 297489

Here's a pic of the address of the retailer it was sold by.

View attachment 297490

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Blare said:

Nice job John. I’m glad you are doing a bit better with your vision. That sweat logo looks familiar. I’m thinking maybe my Dunderry that was made for Montgomery Ward. They did have several house brands including Brent maybe Brandon was one as well. Or same jobber made for a different retailer. I will check my Dunderry later to see how close.

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Blare said:

Pretty close match

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Zombie_61 said:

WOW!!! That hat has been waiting it's entire life for your head! Great color and proportions, and looks like it was made just for you!

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moehawk said:

Yeah, looks pretty close to me. I'm surprised at the quality of felt and the stitching detail if this was, indeed, another MW brand. Possibly same maker but higher quality level for a different client? It is a bit nicer than my Brent.

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moehawk said:

Yeah, looks pretty close to me. I'm surprised at the quality of felt and the stitching detail if this was, indeed, another MW brand. Possibly same maker but higher quality level for a different client? It is a bit nicer than my Brent.

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Blare said:

I will say my Dunderry is quite finely made.

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BobHufford said:

Montgomery Ward Fall and Winter Catalog - 1941:

View attachment 297698

View attachment 297699

https://books.google.com/books?id=uWhQAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

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PeterRocco said:

Hi
Thank You. It's Perfect for My New York Weather. It's too warm sometimes.

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Blare said:

This is a cool catalog. I saw it when I was trying to gather info on mine. I think we pegged my Dunderry a bit older than this. But it is very useful in showing the lineup and price points.

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