Champ Hats

[jamespowers]

I was wondering what the lowdown is on Champ hats. I thought they were a modern brand but then I came across some old ads from the late fifties---early sixties with Guy Williams, of Zorro fame, advertising them! Williams also advertised Mallory hats.
It seems my first assumption was wrong. Does anyone know the history of Champ hats?

Regards to all and Happy Fourth of July!

Regards,

J

 

[jamespowers]

Ok, I checked out a few ads and found the oldest ad from 1946 regarding Champ hats. Here it is:

 

[jamespowers]

Here is a Champ ad from 1951 as well.

Regards to all,

J

 

[rayk]

Are the vintage Champ hats true quality?

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by rayk
Are the vintage Champ hats true quality?

From what I gather, Champ hats were a mid range priced hat. I have never owned one but that is because I have never found one in my size.
I have only seen a few in person and they were of fairly good felt---not that of a vintage Borsalino or Stetson but pretty good.
Does anyone out there have one of these that they can comment upon more adequately than I?

Regards to all,

J

 

[Johnnysan]

James,

Sorry to open an old thread, but I was looking for info on Champ hats as well. I own one that I was lucky enough to find at a local antique shop virtually new in the box. It is one of my favorites.

It is a dark brown, short-brimmed fedora. It sports a black ribbon and is the brim is trimmed in the same black gosgrain. It is marked on the sweatband as "Kasmir Finish."

The quality of the the felt is comparable to the Dobbs hats that I own. If I could find any others in my size, I'd snap them up! Regards-

John

 

[jamespowers]

Since I last wrote about Champ hats, I have obtained a few of them. One of them is the featherweight ventilated Kasmir Finish.
I am quite impressed by their ingenuity in the hat. The hat is perforated all the way around the felt crown. This is hidden by a ventilated ribbon that matches up with the holes in the felt and the holes in the sweatband---providing an actually ventilated system through the hat.
Champ was a middle to lower end hat int eh sense that you will not find a Champ 100 or even a Fifty. Their claim to fame is "Feel the Felt." When you feel the felt, you will find it to be fairly dense (not as dense as a Dobbs 100 though) and the styling to be quite innovative for the amount of money they were charging---$7.50 in 1951. Dobbs charged $10 for a similar type of hat in 1952 for comparison.
Their quality then still beats mass produced hats of today. That means they are about five times as good as a modern Borsalino if not more.
Not a whole lot of people collect Champ hats either so the field of collecting them is more open to the beginner. They are not like the higher end hats that garner big money even today.
How short is the brim on your hat? What era do you think it came from? Any photos of it yet? I would love to see it.

Regards to all,

J

 

[binkmeisterRick]

I have a couple of Champ hats that belonged to my late grandfather. In fact, he put his business cards inside the sweat in case he ever lost his hats or needed to identify them. "Feel the Felt" is indeed their motto, as it is stamped on the sweat. These are short brimmed fedoras with nice ribbons on them. Though they were "affordable" hats, I still think these are pretty nice. Yes, they beat the quality of most modern hats hands down. If I were to see another nice Champ around, I'd likely pick it up, too.

bink

 

[Mycroft]

Never heard of them, did they make Zorro's hat?

 

[jamespowers]

Never heard of them, did they make Zorro's hat?

Actually Guy Williams advertised for Champ hats. They were some really great ads but I am not sure who made the hats for the Zorro series he was a part of. I can guess that it was likely Stetson and not Champ though.
Stetson had a big lock on Hollywood at that time. They supplied all the hats to series like Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Virginian. Since the “Amish� or “Mexican� that Guy wore was still western inspired, I have no doubt Stetson could have turned them out by the gross.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Mycroft]

Yea, I see what you mean, they probely sold replicas too for extra cash.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Big headed champ

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52369&item=8176157346&rd=1

Is it old or new for the larger head size!!

 

[jamespowers]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52369&item=8176157346&rd=1

Is it old or new for the larger head size!!

It is a Champ featherweight but it is fairly new. The brim looks a little too short for me. It was probably produced in the 1960s.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Benzadmiral]

I've picked up a nice Champ Kasmir Finish on the 'Bay. It's a silverbelly Open Road style, but with -- get this -- a 2" brim. The sweatband and liner are lovely. The crown is pretty high and straight, and the felt is allowing me to massage out the cattleman crease (I have several hats with that already) and work in a loose front pinch. The brim is stiff, though, and despite being marked as my size, the hat is more oval than my head; I've got to break it in.

But it's in good shape, and a short-brimmed, light-colored, thin-ribboned fedora is something of a rarity. I'll try to get some pics up soon.

 

[mikespens]

Champ has it's own thread here:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?38296-quot-Uncontested-The-Champ-quot

 

[captain kirk]

not sure how old this thread is but i recently found a champ 100x genuine beaver tribly.it is mint cond. and a beautiful hat.they even put a gold beaver on the ribbon.it reads genuine beaver in the band and the liner reads triumph by champ.it appears to be an early 60s model has anyone else ever heard of this as i cant find anything about it.