Dating Vintage Stetsons by Liner: A Field Guide

[azhiker]

Thanks, that is what everyone has figured. I'm happy, everyone comments on my new hat, i tell them, heck, its as old as my wife..(almost)!!..

 

[jimmy the lid]

Courtesy of Brando 11, here are shots of his recently acquired Stetson 25 that, based upon the date on the newspaper used for padding, dates to at least early 1963:

I have always found it a bit of a challenge to date this particular liner on a Stetson 25. Note that this one includes gold piping, and incorporates the "lariat" design. Also note the lack of the "diamond pattern" found on later Stetson 25 liners (though it's not clear exactly when the diamond pattern liner first appeared).

Another useful tidbit is found in the style and coloring of the Stetson crest, which may also be helpful in dating other Stetsons to roughly the early 60's.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[The Good]

I have been told by another member in the past (I believe Daniel Jones, you told me) that my vintage Stetson St. Regis homburg is from around the late 1940s, or early '50s. Is it possible to be any more clear on that, is this actually from those years?

The actual price (the "lot price") for this hat, Royal De Luxe felt homburg, was $12.50. Here's some of the interior, and what it looks like:

Is there any way I can pinpoint this down to a single year? If this is not enough information, I can reference a bit more on the inside, whatever more it may be.

 

[carouselvic]

The age estimations are spot on. That hat should have had a date stamp. It would have read month/day/year.

 

[TheBeak]

You guys want to take a crack at dating one that doesn't have its liner?
I got this at goodwill, and I'm assuming that since there is no branding inside the crown, that the liner was removed at some point. No matter i suppose as I like the hat and it wears well, I am just wondering your thoughts on the age:

 

[carouselvic]

early sixties

 

[TheBeak]

thank you!

 

[alanfgag]

1930's Stetson Aristocrat Standard Quality

 

[danofarlington]

Courtesy of Brando 11, here are shots of his recently acquired Stetson 25 that, based upon the date on the newspaper used for padding, dates to at least early 1963:

I have always found it a bit of a challenge to date this particular liner on a Stetson 25. Note that this one includes gold piping, and incorporates the "lariat" design. Also note the lack of the "diamond pattern" found on later Stetson 25 liners (though it's not clear exactly when the diamond pattern liner first appeared).

Another useful tidbit is found in the style and coloring of the Stetson crest, which may also be helpful in dating other Stetsons to roughly the early 60's.

Cheers,
JtL

I've also got a lariat on the liner of my vintage Stetson 25. There is also a lariat on the sweatband. So far on this thread I've read a speculation that such a hat is probaby from the 1980s, and now this one that it goes back to 1960s. Maybe all of those are possible. Stetson ought to set up a website with suchlike information easily searchable. The Stetson 25 I have, wouldn't surprise me if it is 1980s or 1990s or whatever, because it's so crisp. However, the dimensions are like older vintage Open Roads, as opposed to the low-crown Open Road I bought recently.

 

[Lefty]

No pic, no help.

 

[danofarlington]

No pic, no help.

Well, my markings are identical to the one in the photo. I suppose that hat's markings could cover a range of time.

 

[Lefty]

Everyone says that. Then they post a pic with an obviously different liner, different size tag, and different markings on the sweat.

 

[gtdean48]

... The Stetson 25 I have, wouldn't surprise me if it is 1980s or 1990s or whatever, because it's so crisp....

I have no knowledge of anybody making 25's for Stetson into the 1980s. After the bankruptcy, Stetson just licensed the name & I don't think any makers did the 20, 25, 50, 100 models...

 

[danofarlington]

I have no knowledge of anybody making 25's for Stetson into the 1980s. After the bankruptcy, Stetson just licensed the name & I don't think any makers did the 20, 25, 50, 100 models...

Then, a 25 with that lariat motif on the liner and sweatband, just like the photo, would have been run maybe from 1960 through which year? I didn't know when the ownership changed.

 

[gtdean48]

Then, a 25 with that lariat motif on the liner and sweatband, just like the photo, would have been run maybe from 1960 through which year? I didn't know when the ownership changed.

The Stetson company quit making hats in the 1970's =

"By the 1970s the family of John B Stetson, who founded the business in 1865, had had enough. They sold the company and the buyers gradually reduced Stetson to little more than a licensing business, selling the name to makers of cowboy hats, a cheap cologne and spectacle frames."​

The actual bankruptcy came in 1986 =

June 22, 1986|By United Press International.
The John B. Stetson Co., the famed manufacturer of Western hats and other products bearing the ``Stetson`` label, has filed for bankruptcy.​

 

[rlk]

Actually a buyer acquired a majority of stock and closed the Philadelphia factory--the family was resistant to this acquisition.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?35338-Stetson-Stuff&p=1207627&viewfull=1#post1207627

 

[danofarlington]

The Stetson company quit making hats in the 1970's =

"By the 1970s the family of John B Stetson, who founded the business in 1865, had had enough. They sold the company and the buyers gradually reduced Stetson to little more than a licensing business, selling the name to makers of cowboy hats, a cheap cologne and spectacle frames."​

The actual bankruptcy came in 1986 =

June 22, 1986|By United Press International.
The John B. Stetson Co., the famed manufacturer of Western hats and other products bearing the ``Stetson`` label, has filed for bankruptcy.​

The Stetson purchasers must marvel at the intensity of the curiosity of we hobbyists. They must shake their heads at every Monday morning meeting, if they are aware of us. It's almost like baseball card collecting. I mean, I am certainly interested in it, but others must be wondering what the source of the zeal to date hats is.

 

[gtdean48]

The Stetson purchasers must marvel at the intensity of the curiosity of we hobbyists. They must shake their heads at every Monday morning meeting, if they are aware of us. It's almost like baseball card collecting. I mean, I am certainly interested in it, but others must be wondering what the source of the zeal to date hats is.

HatCo has the license & member HATCO is probably the only one that knows we exist

 

[alanfgag]

Royal Stetson playboy... I didn't realize it at first, but I think this liner logo is embroidered underneath the crown protector. Red and blue trademark with Royal Stetson in black.

 

[zetwal]

Yes it's embroidered.