Demon Hanover by Hoyt Hats.

[Nick Charles]

Here is an interesting hat I just bought, slight mothing but I found a great bit of info on the net and the box and liner look cool.

1948 Good Time Park, Goshen, N.Y. -- Wednesday, August 11 -- Purse: $59,941

DEMON HANOVER - owned by Mr. & Mrs. Harrison Hoyt, Bethel, Conn.; trained & driven by Harrison Hoyt; groomed by Donald Boerum.
bay colt, by Dean Hanover (stood at Hanover Shoe Farms, Pa.) - Sorceress, by Volomite; bred by Hanover Shoe Farms (Lawrence B. Sheppard et al), Pa. $2,600 yearling at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, Pa.


Hatmaker Harrison Hoyt became the first amateur driver/owner to win the Hambletonian. Hoyt had only had only been driving three years.

Charles Colburn, star of Green Grass of Wyoming, presented the trophy to Hoyt and his wife and their two sons, Harrison Jr. and Billy.

Demon Hanover inspired a fashion trend of sorts when the Hoyt Hat Company offered Demon Hanover brand hats and ties. The snap brim felt hat was sold in two weights and three colors: light tan, gray and medium brown and was worn by many horsemen of the era.

After initially standing at Gay Acres Farm in Ohio, Demon Hanover was syndicated for $500,000 in 1957 by John Gaines and sent to Walnut Hall Farm in Kentucky after the 1958 breeding season. It was the highest price ever paid for a trotter to date. The price equaled the half million dollars paid for the pacing stallion Adios.

Demon Hanover took up residence at Walnut Hall in the stall occupied for years by Volomite, but he underwent surgery for the removal of kidney stones in the summer of 1959. One day during his recuperation, as he was being led in from his paddock, Demon Hanover suddenly collapsed and died.

 

[John in Covina]

Very cool hat!
It looks simply superb!
WOW!

 

[HatsEnough]

Demon Hanover by Hoyt Hats.

Hope I did OK with this ads it cost me $100. Too much, really, but… well, it seemed rare to me.

 

[Rick Blaine]

Demon Hanover by Hoyt Hats.

Hope I did OK with this ads it cost me $100. Too much, really, but… well, it seemed rare to me.

It is one of the rarest, hard to find, lids I have ever found.

As seen above the box alone went for $550.

The Hambletonian Society itself, so far as I know, owns a box, but not a hat. I have NEVER seen a tie.

The hat itself is no great shakes. Nice enough, comparable to an Adam perhaps- i.e.- not especially high quality. But the LINER is for the ages, as is the box & the backstory too. Congrats!


Sport: The Happy Hatter


Harrison Hoyt is a chunky, red-faced man who lives in Connecticut and makes hats. Unlike most fairly well-to-do men who own harness horses, he likes to race his own in the big time. At Goshen's Good Time Park last week, tradition was against him as he maneuvered his prize three-year-old into line for the start. No amateur had ever won the famed Hambletonian, trotting's Kentucky Derby.

Hatmaker Hoyt was in a sulky instead of a saddle strictly by accident. Several years ago, he bought a saddlehorse named Louis Cobb, which had been a trotter. Just for the fun of it, he decided to put him back in a sulky. After four victories, Driver Harrison Hoyt was a wholehearted harness horseman (he even named a hat the Louis Cobb). He began to buy harness horses. At a Harrisburg (Pa.) yearling sale two years ago he paid $2,600 for a bay horse named Demon Hanover and got a bargain.

Like all harness horses, Demon Hanover had to learn not to break into a gallop or canter, a process known as teaching a trotter "good manners." The Demon caught on beautifully. Last season, mostly on half-mile tracks, Demon Hanover won twelve races in 14 starts. Last week, Hoyt felt so certain of his chances in the big race that he closed up his Danbury hat factory for the day.

Most of his 85 employees turned out at Goshen, N.Y. to pull for the boss: he had promised them their day's pay if he won. There wasn't much doubt about the first heat. Demon Hanover stepped along in front easy as could be, with the boss, in his goggles and cap, driving like a professional. Demon Hanover won the heat without straining. His time: 2:03 1/5. If he could repeat in the second heat, there would be no necessity for a third. In the second, Demon Hanover trotted even better (2:02), won the Hambletonian, the richest harness race in the world. His share of the purse—$32,500.

Hoyt had already turned down $75,000 for his $2,600 buy. Now that he had won the Hambletonian, he might accept the offer, if repeated. And his 85 employees expected soon to be turning out a new hat called Demon Hanover.

 

[HatsEnough]

Holymolly. I'd love to have the box that goes with the hat... but $550! Yowza.

Well, I am glad I ended up with a rare one, then. I sortta felt it was rare as I'd never heard of the model or the hat maker. I guess $100 isn't so bad after all.

Maybe I'll contact the society you talk of and offer them a hat for $1,000! Ha, ha.

 

[monbla256]

HatsEnough,
Here's some more about your hat you won from the Hambbletonian Society Inc. in 1948 :

"Haberdasher Harrison Hoyt became the first amateur driver/owner to win the Hambletonian. Charles Colburn, star of Green Grass of Wyoming which premiered that year, was on hand to congratulate Hoyt, his wife and their two sons, Harrison Jr. and Billy. Demon Hanover inspired a fashion trend of sorts when the Hoyt Hat Company offered Demon Hanover brand hats and ties. The snap-brim felt hat was sold in two weights and three colors (light tan, gray and medium brown) and was worn by many horsemen of the era. Demon Hanover would be syndicated for $500,000, the highest price ever paid for a trotter to date. The price equaled the half million dollars paid for the pacing stallion Adios."

Looks like you got a rare one so money might be well spent

 

[monbla256]

Here's a photo of the horse your hat's named after:

... with the owner of Hoyt hats driving in 1948:

 

[Rick Blaine]

The demon!

By the way Rick. Do you have one of these, too? How many Loungers have a Demon Hanover?

I got this one some years back on th' 'bay.

A real favorite of mine. Other than your hat I think I have only seen one or two- at the most- up for sale.
I think them to be somewhat of a rare bird.

 

[monbla256]

Here's a Film of Demon Hanover winning the 1948 Hambiltonion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn1z_dou44c

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I think you got yourself a real deal there, well worth what you spent.

 

[randooch]

Here's a Film of Demon Hanover winning the 1948 Hambiltonion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn1z_dou44c

:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

HE, congrats on a very cool score.

 

[Rick Blaine]

I keep a standing search for the keywords "Demon Hanover" but have turned up almost exclusively 4o yr. old press photos. I would love to find another color or weight hat or a tie. I've seen naught in the past eight years but for a very few hats.

PS~ here is one that got by me recently.

ALSO: From the Gazette Montreal 8/48-

 

[HatsEnough]

OK, it came in today.

I have to say, this hat is in almost perfect condition.

There are no spots, no holes, no rips, no mothings on the felt. There is a sort of water or sweat stain on the liner at the forehead. But it isn't real bad.

The photos already posted are good (except that the real color is a darker brown than the seller's photos showed).

But here comes my question. There is a sticker inside...

What does the top line on the sticker mean?

It says "Finished" and "depth" and is written in handwriting "11/54"

Anyone?

(By the way, see the dark brown around that sticker in the photo above? That is a very good example of what color the felt is)

 

[alanfgag]

date?

 

[HatsEnough]

Were they still making Demon Hanover hats from 1948 all the way to 1954?
8 years seems a bit long to celebrate a single horse's single successful season.

 

[alanfgag]

I don't know the horse business at all, but the owner was a hat manufacturer and the horse was siring progeny for many years after his celebrated 1948 win.

Looks like it could be a 1950's hat. Is that a clear plastic liner protector?

Or perhaps it is a limited edition - number 11 of 54...

 

[HatsEnough]

Yes, a clear plastic coating on the logo is there.

Good point about the horse, though.

It is most certainly possible that they made the hat in small numbers for several years, granted. It would be nice to know if they did, of course.

As to the idea of it being a limited edition, that is also possible.

I don't see such a speciality thing like this hat being a big seller and with the very, very few examples we've all seen, I'd say that pretty much shows that not a ton of them were made.

 

[monbla256]

Since the size is listed on the printed label I'd guess that the other notations might be for the style of finish and the size of crown? ie; finish #11 style, depth 5 1/4" (54) IE hieght of crown? Just a guess considering that not much is known yet about the Hoyt Hat Co.

 

[Rick Blaine]

I will have to search for such a tag on mine. Do not recall if I have ever lifted the sweat, stay tuned.

 

[Frunobulax]

I ran across this thread a few years ago, when I first happened upon the FL. Since that time, "Demon Hanover" has been one of my regular eBay searches. I really, really wanted one. I had no idea why, except for it's apparent rarity. As you can see, the photos up thread are gone - I'd never even seen one. But I wanted one, I just knew it. Never saw one. Last week, one came up on eBay and hey, it was a nice wide-brimmed thin ribbon. Interesting colors, too.

Lo and behold, I won the darn thing at a decent price. I don't know, because of it's rarity and the fact I'd had it in my search for so long, I thought it would climb into the stratosphere. Anyway, the hat came in yesterday. It's absolutely stunning. Great, easily moldable felt in a gray/blue (mostly gray), with a pinkish thin ribbon and brim binding - and a silver/gray wind trolley.

Unreeded sweatband that does show some wear, but is still very pliable and has much life left in it. No store markings, just the "Demon Hanover" marker.

The liner is great. It was loose and out of the hat when I received it, but I steamed it into shape and re-inserted it.

Steamed it to open crown and, as you can see from the above shot - absolutely no ghost creases even after all these years. This is a great hat, I love the color combo.

The guts...

As with the above mentioned label, this has "9/51" on it. Sort of lends credence to it being a date, I guess, but you can never tell about these things.

I am hoping perhaps @alanfgag can weigh in on whether this one looks like the other one - hopefully he remembers.

Now I need a box...