CHURCHILL HATS

[deadlyhandsome]

Churchill homburg: black felt and bronze ribbon and binding in 7 ⅝ or 61cm:

 

[One Drop]

I've been keeping my eye out for Churchill Ltd. hat since quite a long time, encouraged by the good reviews in this very helpful thread and elsewhere..

I found a nice near mint camel coloured one recently (officially Clay) that I really liked, my really low offer was accepted, and received it today, total price with shipping and customs ended up around $120 all in, which was nice.

I'm impressed with the quality of the hat, though the band is not to my taste (I very much doubt that the ludicrous faux fur monstrosity it also came with was original to the hat), and the sweatband is quite brittle, even after treatment, I think it's just been stored bone dry for too long, maybe has dry rot, because the leather has lost all suppleness.

The felt is very stiff, somewhat akin to a modern cowboy hat, and though the diameter is perfect for my head, it's an unforgiving round oval, unwearable as is on my LO head.

I plan on finding some nice thin vintage ribbon to send along with the hat to the shop I used to modify my Akubra Sombrero, I'm going to ask them to replace the sweatband and reshape it into a long oval, keeping the crease as is, it's a nice high crown shape and looks pretty cool to my eyes.

I welcome suggestions as to the colour of the ribbon, the hat colour in daylight is true to the photos, it's a real rich looking felt with quite a lot of depth.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166301894664

 

[Blare]

I've been keeping my eye out for Churchill Ltd. hat since quite a long time, encouraged by the good reviews in this very helpful thread and elsewhere..

I found a nice near mint camel coloured one recently (officially Clay) that I really liked, my really low offer was accepted, and received it today, total price with shipping and customs ended up around $120 all in, which was nice.

I'm impressed with the quality of the hat, though the band is not to my taste (I very much doubt that the ludicrous faux fur monstrosity it also came with was original to the hat), and the sweatband is quite brittle, even after treatment, I think it's just been stored bone dry for too long, maybe has dry rot, because the leather has lost all suppleness.

The felt is very stiff, somewhat akin to a modern cowboy hat, and though the diameter is perfect for my head, it's an unforgiving round oval, unwearable as is on my LO head.

I plan on finding some nice thin vintage ribbon to send along with the hat to the shop I used to modify my Akubra Sombrero, I'm going to ask them to replace the sweatband and reshape it into a long oval, keeping the crease as is, it's a nice high crown shape and looks pretty cool to my eyes.

I welcome suggestions as to the colour of the ribbon, the hat colour in daylight is true to the photos, it's a real rich looking felt with quite a lot of depth.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166301894664

That fluffy fur band is um. Rather interesting I actually like the beaded band very much. I’m not sure if it is original to the hat or not... but I do Feel like I remember seeing one of these Neimann Marcus Churchill in this.western style with a band like that some time in the past. maybe same hat resold. Nice hat overall. Look forward to seeing it after you’ve had it worked up.

 

[belfastboy]

I've been keeping my eye out for Churchill Ltd. hat since quite a long time, encouraged by the good reviews in this very helpful thread and elsewhere..

I found a nice near mint camel coloured one recently (officially Clay) that I really liked, my really low offer was accepted, and received it today, total price with shipping and customs ended up around $120 all in, which was nice.

I'm impressed with the quality of the hat, though the band is not to my taste (I very much doubt that the ludicrous faux fur monstrosity it also came with was original to the hat), and the sweatband is quite brittle, even after treatment, I think it's just been stored bone dry for too long, maybe has dry rot, because the leather has lost all suppleness.

The felt is very stiff, somewhat akin to a modern cowboy hat, and though the diameter is perfect for my head, it's an unforgiving round oval, unwearable as is on my LO head.

I plan on finding some nice thin vintage ribbon to send along with the hat to the shop I used to modify my Akubra Sombrero, I'm going to ask them to replace the sweatband and reshape it into a long oval, keeping the crease as is, it's a nice high crown shape and looks pretty cool to my eyes.

I welcome suggestions as to the colour of the ribbon, the hat colour in daylight is true to the photos, it's a real rich looking felt with quite a lot of depth.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166301894664

I have a strong bias towards minimal contrast in the ribbon colour. The hat is such a rich colour I suggest letting it stand out and go with close to a tone on tone ribbon colour. 1 3/8" wide, simple bow with perhaps a frayed trailing edge.

 

[One Drop]

That fluffy fur band is um. Rather interesting I actually like the beaded band very much. I’m not sure if it is original to the hat or not... but I do Feel like I remember seeing one of these Neimann Marcus Churchill in this.western style with a band like that some time in the past. maybe same hat resold. Nice hat overall. Look forward to seeing it after you’ve had it worked up.

I think the beaded band is original, it's not bad looking, but not really my thing. Very '70's vibe, I have memories of slightly sketchy dudes wearing hats like this, LOL

 

[One Drop]

I have a strong bias towards minimal contrast in the ribbon colour. The hat is such a rich colour I suggest letting it stand out and go with close to a tone on tone ribbon colour. 1 3/8" wide, simple bow with perhaps a frayed trailing edge.

I'm with you on this one, I went with a high contrast gold one on my Sombrero but that's a flash hat and I wanted it to pop.

I'm going to look around and see what I can find, not sure if slightly lighter or darker will look better. It's nt a very easy colour to match properly, might take some trial and error, I can afford to try one or two different ribbons and see how it looks in real life.

 

[belfastboy]

I'm with you on this one, I went with a high contrast gold one on my Sombrero but that's a flash hat and I wanted it to pop.

I'm going to look around and see what I can find, not sure if slightly lighter or darker will look better. It's nt a very easy colour to match properly, might take some trial and error, I can afford to try one or two different ribbons and see how it looks in real life.

Yes, I agree and think you could go either way....a touch lighter or darker would both work.

 

[MikeinRome]

Churchill Pure Beaver, made for the Neiman-Marcus Red River collection. 4 inch brim and about 6 3/4 inch open crown. This is a stiffer hat so I can't really compare the felt to my Churchill 100 Beaver and Vicuna. It's missing the ribbon. If a Churchill 100 is pretty scarce, a Churchill Pure Beaver must be really scarce.

 

[MikeinRome]

Churchill Pure Beaver with a ribbon taken from another hat. Saved me the trouble of sending it off for a ribbon. Plus I'm always nervous about sending rare hats away, that they'll get lost or stolen and I always worry until I get them back.

 

[DaveProc]

Churchill arrived today in nice shape and in serious need of a bath.

 

[JJRJR]

I just came into possession of this sweet Churchill Ltd. hat. Does anyone know what the "Beaver" designation means. I've heard about various Churchill Beaver models that had a number designation, 25, 50, 100, Pure...etc, but I don't know what plain "Beaver" implies. Thanks!

 

[MikeinRome]

I just came into possession of this sweet Churchill Ltd. hat. Does anyone know what the "Beaver" designation means. I've heard about various Churchill Beaver models that had a number designation, 25, 50, 100, Pure...etc, but I don't know what plain "Beaver" implies. Thanks!

The tag says it's a $30 hat, so it's a Beaver 30, which means it has some relatively small amount of Beaver felt, somewhere less than 50 percent.

 

[JJRJR]

The tag says it's a $30 hat, so it's a Beaver 30, which means it has some relatively small amount of Beaver felt, somewhere less than 50 percent.

Thanks! I knew that the Beaver 25 supposedly had a price point of $25 but connecting that directly with % beaver content seems troublesome. Did a 5% Beaver hat cost only $5? Was a 0% beaver hat free? Also was a 25% beaver hat $25 in 1935 still $25 in 1955. Anyway, it is a nice hat.

 

[MikeinRome]

Thanks! I knew that the Beaver 25 supposedly had a price point of $25 but connecting that directly with % beaver content seems troublesome. Did a 5% Beaver hat cost only $5? Was a 0% beaver hat free? Also was a 25% beaver hat $25 in 1935 still $25 in 1955. Anyway, it is a nice hat.

Low priced hats didn't have any Beaver content.

 

[DaveProc]

I just came into possession of this sweet Churchill Ltd. hat. Does anyone know what the "Beaver" designation means. I've heard about various Churchill Beaver models that had a number designation, 25, 50, 100, Pure...etc, but I don't know what plain "Beaver" implies. Thanks!

The model is the "Garrison" If it was a "Beaver 30" it would say it on the sweat as have been seen on other numbered models from the same era like the "25". It's most likely from the late 1960s or 1970 that sold for $30. As a HATCO made hat, the beaver designation really doesn't speak to the quality as it may have had a negligible amount of beaver blended with other furs.