Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Art Fawcett VS Hall of Fame

Art Fawcett

Sponsoring Affiliate
Messages
3,717
Location
Central Point, Or.
Casehopper, Thank you for bringing your story out in the open. A few of my closest friends know the story but until today, not the person.

Gentlemen, I have had a fair number of requests that have touched my heart but none more poignant than this one. What came out of the shop could not have had more effort or forethought put into it and is my best effort to honor two small souls that had not nearly enough time here. It's a good thing I can type because even now it's hard to talk about. My hat is off to Casehopper and his wife for the strength they exhibit. Congrats on the upcoming Sir
 

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
Thanks for the kind words Art.

I've taken some more photos of my works of Art so here they are!

This is the "Max" hat in memory of my son Max
IMG_8740.JPG

IMG_8741.JPG

IMG_8742.JPG

IMG_8743.JPG

IMG_8723.JPG

IMG_8789.JPG

IMG_8722.JPG

IMG_8784.JPG

IMG_8719.JPG
 

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
When I decided to get hats made for my twins I also decided to get hats for all of my other children as well. So far I've only got one more hat that is completed so I've got a few more to do.
This is the Hitchhiker by Art which I asked him to make to represent my 2nd oldest daughter Camilla. I chose the hitchhiker because Camilla is a spunky wild little girl with olive skin and the tough natural felt seemed like a good match. Of all of my Art hats this is probably the most versatile with the clothing that I wear (mainly casual). One cool thing with this natural felt is that it looks very light in the sun but indoors becomes more beige/grey. My wife commented that she'd initially thought I was wearing a panama when we were out in full sun.

IMG_8754.JPG

IMG_8755.JPG

IMG_8756.JPG

IMG_8761.JPG

IMG_8767.JPG

IMG_8772.JPG

IMG_8800.JPG


I recently wore the Hitchhiker as my sole hat for a road trip from here in NJ to Omaha for my sisters wedding. It handled the rain, 100 degree temperatures and everything else with aplomb.
Here are a couple of pictures from the wedding. The first photo is with my youngest daughter Greta.
weddinghat.jpg

weddinghat2.jpg



The girl that this hat represents:
camilla.jpg
 
Last edited:

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
The twins' hats
IMG_8749.JPG


My Art Collection
IMG_8752.JPG




I'd like to thank Art for making these hats for me. The Max and Carlota hats are especially significant to me and are a great way for me to remember them.
 
Last edited:

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
Thanks Bowlerman

Landman, the Camilla hat is the Hitchhiker model from Art. It's a natural colored nutria felt that I think he had made special from Winchester.
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
A very touching story, casechopper, and a wonderful way of keeping the memory of the twins alive.

Would you tell us which of Art's raised-hair finishes the Max hat is? There's the silk finish and the velour; not many pictures have been posted of either of these around here. Yours looks like it could be a silk finish?
 

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
Thanks Chepstow and Rabbit.

Rabbit: The only raised hair finish that I know of is what I've heard called a "scratch" finish. I don't think he does velours as he doesn't have velour hat bodies to work with and that would have to be done at the body manufacturing level (if I'm wrong someone correct me). My understanding is that the finish on the Max hat is made by using a standard hat body that's been combed or scratched into a longer hair finish. Possibly silk and scratch are the same?
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
Thanks Chepstow and Rabbit.

Rabbit: The only raised hair finish that I know of is what I've heard called a "scratch" finish. I don't think he does velours as he doesn't have velour hat bodies to work with and that would have to be done at the body manufacturing level (if I'm wrong someone correct me). My understanding is that the finish on the Max hat is made by using a standard hat body that's been combed or scratched into a longer hair finish. Possibly silk and scratch are the same?

Yes, I think scratch finish and silk finish mean the same thing in Art's hats. He does the finish in the shop. There is also a finish called velour on his website, it's apparently not identical to the silk finish. However, this particular velour finish most likely has nothing in common with the velour hats of old. It's just a name for a slightly longer-hair finish.
The silk finish is done with a metal scratcher to raise some of the felted hair from the surface (I'm pretty sure about this part), then finished resulting in a longer-hair finish with the raised hair flattened to the felt surface again. I guess that's why it's also called scratch finish.

The two are slightly different methods of raising the hair and finishing the felt surface after raising the hair. For both finishes, Art uses the standard Winchester hat bodies, like you said.

I'm fairly sure the above information is correct, but please correct me if I'm mistaken.
 
Last edited:

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
I think the velour is a new addition that came out after I ordered the Max hat. I think we'll have to wait to here back from Art on what the difference between Velour and Silk is.

The finish on the Max hat is very nice but I wouldn't choose this for a hat that will be anywhere near dirty or dusty conditions as this finish feels like it would soak up dust and you'd never be able to get it out later. The furriness of it also makes it seem like a more insulated hat that one would use in the winter rather than in the heat of the summer. This may be more my perception than reality but the idea of sweating in a fuzzy furry hat just doesn't seem right.
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
I think the velour is a new addition that came out after I ordered the Max hat. I think we'll have to wait to here back from Art on what the difference between Velour and Silk is.

The finish on the Max hat is very nice but I wouldn't choose this for a hat that will be anywhere near dirty or dusty conditions as this finish feels like it would soak up dust and you'd never be able to get it out later. The furriness of it also makes it seem like a more insulated hat that one would use in the winter rather than in the heat of the summer. This may be more my perception than reality but the idea of sweating in a fuzzy furry hat just doesn't seem right.

Thank you for the information on the furry-ness. I was wondering about that. Say, are those raised hairs "sticking" to the surface or are they really fuzzy?
 

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
The texture is very different from the velours I've seen. I have a Huckel velour hat and also a Selentino velour hat. The Selentino is very long haired and a bit textured while the Huckel has a very uniform mid length hair that looks dense and plush. Art's hat is much less hairy and the hair are much finer than the Huckel or Selentino. Where the Huckel and Selentino feel silky Art's hat feels a bit more fuzzy. Art's hat is also his standard dress weight so it's a much lighter hat than either of the other two.

I'm finding it hard to describe these but maybe later I can take some pictures side by side to show what I mean.
 

Rabbit

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,561
Location
Germany
The texture is very different from the velours I've seen. I have a Huckel velour hat and also a Selentino velour hat. The Selentino is very long haired and a bit textured while the Huckel has a very uniform mid length hair that looks dense and plush. Art's hat is much less hairy and the hair are much finer than the Huckel or Selentino. Where the Huckel and Selentino feel silky Art's hat feels a bit more fuzzy. Art's hat is also his standard dress weight so it's a much lighter hat than either of the other two.

I'm finding it hard to describe these but maybe later I can take some pictures side by side to show what I mean.

That would be very helpful, thanks. In fact, your description is quite helpful, too. I'm really interested in seeing the differences in these finishes. I know how the Hückel velours look like, but I haven't handled Art's silk finish and I'm not sure I could tell from the pics that I've seen so far on the Lounge.
Of course, the two cannot be compared, really (vintage Austrian/German velours and the VS silk finish, I mean). Still, it's a good point of reference.
 
Last edited:
Messages
17,458
Location
Maryland
Selentino and Hückel are TONAK. I actually have a TONAK sample felt book but cannot locate it. TONAK have a wide variety of Velour finishes (some not available in retail hats) but they are Rabbit / Hare based. Old Austrian Velour was the finest and IMO J. Hückel Söhne was the finest of the finest. As far as I know pre 1945 JHS used Rabbit / Hare and maybe a touch of Nutria for their Velour finishes. I am not sure what happened (move to more mechanized processes? change in fur types? ??) into the 50s but you just don't see the same Velour finishes and qualities. This is an example (JHS 1930s) of a Velour finish and color you will not see today.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4710377722_9fa5dfe698_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Messages
17,458
Location
Maryland
It's one of the finest (maybe the finest) hats in my collection. The color is silver grey.

Also the recent old Mayser Velour I picked up has an amazing color. With the Velour finish it looks like the fur of a European Mole which is actually the model name of the hat in Italian (Talpa). At close inspection you can see it is a mix of few different pre dyed furs. You just can't find anything like it today.
 
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
108,940
Messages
3,071,129
Members
54,003
Latest member
brendastoner
Top