c. 1950 Stetson made in JAPAN ??

[Marc Chevalier]

.

Did you know that in the early 1950s, some Royal Stetson fedoras were made in Japan? [huh]


Here's one. (Not mine):

 

[EricH]

Comparable quality?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Don't know; haven't seen this one in person. It looks pretty beat up.

.

 

[feltfan]

They seem to come up now and again on OFAS.
But never in large sizes...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

But never in large sizes...

lol

.

 

[besdor]

Hats were and have been very popular in Japan for years. Knox hats were also sold in Japan before and after the war. I'm sure that the factory that produced the hats is long gone.




Steven

 

[tonyb]

Yeah, I've seen an occasional one on offer, too, and have considered putting in a bid, for the novelty of it as much as anything else.
If period photos of Japanese street life are reliable indicators, fedoras and such were standard attire, apparently as popular there as over here.

 

[DOUGLAS]

This particular hat had been on the bay for months.

 

[fatwoul]

This particular hat had been on the bay for months.

Thank you, Doug! I thought I was going insane with feelings of d?©j?† vu. lol

 

[Sefton]

The name on the sweatband "Mitsukoshi" is/was a very high quality department store. Mitsukoshi has merged with another major Japanese department store and it's not certain at this time if the venerable old name will remain the same. I'd say that any hats made and sold in Japan would likely be of a comprable quality to Stetson sold in the U.S. This is the first one I've seen one turn up on the bay though. Thanks for the interesting post.

 

[DanielJones]

This particular hat had been on the bay for months.

Yep. That was the one I thought you may have been interested in Douglas, but if memory serves me correctly it is fairly expensive.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Marc, That's a great piece of knowledge. Thanks for sharing it! :eusa_clap

 

[Wesne]

Seeing this makes me think of the film "Ikiru" made by Kurosawa in the early 1950s. The main character is an outwardly dull, straight-laced civil servant who discovers he suffers from a terminal illness. He keeps this a secret but undergoes a mostly internal transformation as he seeks to find some meaning in his life. One of the first things he does is buy a new hat. He trades his conservative old hat (maybe it was a homburg, I can't recall for sure, and it looked charcoal gray on black and white film) for a swoopy new fedora in a lighter shade (again, black and white so hard to say what color) with a striped ribbon. This doesn't go unnoticed and makes people wonder what he's up to. I suppose a modern analog would be a middle-aged man trading a conservative overcoat for a colorful warm-up jacket, or a Cadillac for a Corvette.

 

[deanglen]

Transistor hats.


dean

 

[BellyTank]

I have a vintage "Panama", by a Swedish company, which was made in Japan...


B
T

 

[steur]

What do you know? There was even a thread about these. Came across this one when browsing the hats. This one is not mine.
Stetson made by permission (not under license?) in Japan. Apparently that was a thing. So, if just for posterity, here it is.

 

[Rmccamey]

That would be a great hat for any collection!

What do you know? There was even a thread about these. Came across this one when browsing the hats. This one is not mine.
Stetson made by permission (not under license?) in Japan. Apparently that was a thing. So, if just for posterity, here it is.