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A Panama Hat worthy of FDR

HarpPlayerGene

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4,682
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North Central Florida
See this past quote/link from a different thread:

HungaryTom said:
The FDR museum project came true: :eusa_clap

http://www.fdrheritage.org/fdr_museum_preview.htm

The relevant part:

“A wonderful, unique, and historical personal item belonging to FDR, the hat he wore at the 1943 Teheran Conference during World War II where the three leaders of the principal Allied powers, the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, met and conferred on Allied war strategy for the first time. FDR’s straw-colored, linen Panama hat with black band was manufactured by C.A. Arcentales, Ecuador, and is in pristine condition, with “Franklin D. Roosevelt” embossed in gold letters on the interior sweatband of this hat worn by FDR at the historic 1943 Teheran Conference.

FDR’s famous hat is accompanied by notarized provenance from Gary Entrup, State Highway Patrolman, and son of Lester and Marge Entrup, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Hyde Park, New York housekeepers, attesting to the hat’s authenticity and historic association. Mr. Entrup’s notarized signed statement, dated March 10, 1997 reads: “This is to certify that I, Gary Entrup, am the son of Mr. And Mrs. Lester Entrup who served as Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt’s handymen, cooks, and housekeepers for approximately fifteen years at her residence Val-Kill, in Hyde Park, New York. I personally spent many hours at Val-Kill assisting my mother at parties, in painting, and in other household chores. My parents and I obviously knew Mrs. Roosevelt very well, and over the years my parents were given by Mrs. Roosevelt many of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s personal possessions. Upon the death of my parents, I inherited many of these items, including a straw-colored linen Panama hat with black band made by C. A. Arcentales, Ecuador, with his name “Franklin D. Roosevelt” embossed in gold letters on the interior sweat band. I was told by my mother that Mrs. Roosevelt had told her that this particular hat had been worn by Franklin Roosevelt at the Teheran Conference in 1943. It has been one of my favorite souvenirs of Mr. Roosevelt./ Gary Entrup/ March 10, 1997/ Kristen B. Hummel/ Notary Public/ My Commission Expires Dec. 31, 2001/ Notary Stamp.” A wonderful letter of provenance attesting to the authenticity of FDR’s hat worn at the historic Teheran Conference during World War II. Further, included are copies of two letters from John A. Roosevelt, the youngest child of FDR and ER, plus a copy of the first two pages of ER’s Probate Notice of her Last Will and Testament wherein Lester and Marge Entrup are included as beneficiaries, demonstrating the legitimacy of the Entrup’s intimate association with the Roosevelts. A wonderfully unique and historically important FDR relic with outstanding provenance.”


Priceless treasures, no doubt.

How much wpsi and vueltas those museum hats might have?

Could it be possible that FL members ask those questions?

Maybe some enthusiast did that already...:rolleyes:

Also see this link http://www.auspostalhistory.com/articles/73.shtml

Then see this hat I just received stamp marked "ARCENTALES • GUAYAQUIL"

Also stamped "Made in Ecuador" and possessing four different signatures in pencil. Or at least two are signatures and two other marks may be numbers expressed in fraction form. (?) I WOULD DEARLY LOVE TO HAVE PANAMA BOB OR ANYONE IN THE KNOW OFFER OPINIONS OF WHAT THESE PENCIL MARKS MAY BE. Please, please, please.

The hat appears to have approximately 3 weaves for every 1/16 of an inch. The UK Ebay seller thought it was linen and I can see why. It has 11 vueltas in the crown. I'm shipping it to Optimo in Chicago for blocking to my size.

It came in this:
DSC_0036.jpg


DSC_0040.jpg


DSC_0022.jpg




DSC_0025.jpg


DSC_0026.jpg




Comparison shot. The hat on the left is apprx. 300 weaves per inch:
DSC_0034.jpg



Cont'd next post....
 

HarpPlayerGene

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Inside crown - magnified (not sure if I have the pencil marks right side up):
DSC_0027-1.jpg


DSC_0028-1.jpg


DSC_0030-1.jpg


DSC_0031-1.jpg


These last two are the same mark flipped two ways:
DSC_0029-1.jpg

DSC_0033-1.jpg



I use a Nikon D70 to shoot pictures of my hat. It can auto focus on felt. It couldn't auto focus on this weave.
 

carter

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5,921
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Corsicana, TX
SUPERB!

Oh my, HPG, That's a BEAUTY! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Can't wait to see what Optimo does with that one.
 

Lefty

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O-HI-O
That is amazing! It's got to be the finest weave on the Lounge. I doubt that Graham's $20k hats are nearly as fine.
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
 

Panamabob

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2,012
Location
Fort Wayne, Indiana
I had a friend send a similar hat to a similar blocker and was offered megacash for it.

Incredible find. I'll mail the photos down to Montecristi to see if we can strum up some history.
 

HarpPlayerGene

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Lefty said:
That is amazing! It's got to be the finest weave on the Lounge. I doubt that Graham's $20k hats are nearly as fine.
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

When I spoke to him on the phone today he was very nice but you could tell he gets his share of enthusiastic owners of old straw hats all thinking they've got something really special. I am anxious to hear what he says about it when he gets it in hand. :)
 

jimmy the lid

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USA
Oh, baby. Absolutely incredible! Wow, Gene -- I am just imagining you opening up that bad boy and slowly realizing that you might have something super extaordinary on your hands.

Man -- I am going to eagerly await any follow-up on this lid. And heartfelt congrats on that one! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL
 

HarpPlayerGene

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North Central Florida
Michaelshane said:
Words escape me......:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

OK, but here's the rub. Just as was the case with your Montecristis, this one has some small cracks in the straw dammit. Graham didn't seem to think this was out of the ordinary and said repairing them would be part of the deal. I do wish it were totally pristine. It is a raw hat body which has never been blocked, trimmed or worn, but the rolling took a little toll.
 

HarpPlayerGene

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North Central Florida
Which leads me to the next question: Is this one of those deals where it's worth a bunch if perfect but bupkis with any damage? The cracks are very small (I only really noticed two at first and then really scrutinized it) but there are a few on the crown and one at the brim break.
 

jimmy the lid

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You know, I'd have to agree, Gene. Given those multiple defects, it's pretty much worthless. But I'll help you out by offering you a few bucks to take it off your hands -- just to make you feel better, of course...:D

Cheers,
JtL
 

GWD

One Too Many
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Evergreen, Co
Gene, WOW, that's an incredible find! Congratulations! I love when good things happen to good people! :eusa_clap
 

Michaelshane

One Too Many
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Land of Enchantment
I called optimo about repairing the cracks in my panamas,they said panama hats cannot be repaired.Panamabob said they can[huh]
I thought I could see a crack in your hat.I think when they are that old they are very fragile.I really baby mine.
 

HarpPlayerGene

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4,682
Location
North Central Florida
jimmy the lid said:
You know, I'd have to agree, Gene. Given those multiple defects, it's pretty much worthless. But I'll help you out by offering you a few bucks to take it off your hands -- just to make you feel better, of course...:D

Cheers,
JtL

lol lol lol
OK, that's what I thought.

--------------------

GWD, that was sure nice. Thanks.
 

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