French Hats and makers.

[mayserwegener]

Kelly's Directory Of Merchants, Manufacturers And Shippers, 1964, French Hat Manufacturers

Men's Hats

Straw Hats

Ladies Hats

 

[Daniele Tanto]

This is the first hat in my collection of French old (vintage) lids
It is a blue Thibet Meer

The felt is thick and heavy, I need steam to model the crease and brims

It is sturdy and the proportions are: open crown 13,5 cm; brims 6,5; ribbon 2,5 cm.

Size is 59 cm or 7 1/4 Uk or 7 3/8 US. The sweatband is dry and not so elastic

It is a special production for the Chapellerie Meer Strasbourg - France

Here there are what's inside the sweatband or on it to date and identify the producer and the decade it was made.



I presume in the 50', maybe in the later 40', but I'm not well versed enough to be an expert

 

[Chepstow]

Wonderful hat! Great shape and a lovely Color Daniele!

 

[RJR]

Nice color.

 

[mayserwegener]

Daniele, Super! I would guess 50s too but it could be older. Are the letters on the paper label F. B.? I look forward to seeing the rest of the hats!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

The letters on the paper are JB as you can see in this second Meer.
This is the second hat in my collection of French old (vintage) lids

It is a grey Meer made by the same producer of the blue one. A special collection for Chappelerie Meer as confirmed by the son of the last owner.

The felt is thick and it need steam to model the crease and brims

It is majestic and the proportions are: open crown 14,5 cm; brims 5,0; ribbon 5,0 cm.

Size is 60 cm or 7 3/8 Uk or 7 1/2 US. The sweatband is completely dry and is detached from the seam in some places and very fragile.
There is a discoloration on the brims.
It is unlined

Here there are the inside labels

 

[mayserwegener]

Great to see these French hats. I have some lists (see one above) but couldn't come up with anything that matches J.B of the felt side. I need to search around for old French hat company lists.

 

[Garrett]

1934 Mossant Invoice

 

[mikespens]

I don't know what's better, the hats or the fonts

 

[SpeedRcrX]

Funny to see that invoice, Bourg de Péage is at 60km from where I live.

Bourg de péage was call the capital of felt hats in the past and the town is next to Romans sur Isère which is considered as the capital of shoes making in France.

There are still some companies making shoes for fashion and haute couture and a school for shoes makers

To my knowledge Bourg de pèage, Valence and Annonay don't have anymore hat companies just some resellers, Montélimar has a hat maker but she specializes in women hats but still make a few men hats

Well 110€ for 13 hats it's a deal

 

[tropicalbob]

Mactire -- Thanks very much for the links, especially to the Pauline Brosset site. I've seen her name before, but I had no idea how really fine her work is. That Panama with the black and orange ribbon is sublime, and they all have that whimsical touch that's characteristically French.

 

[Purplesage]

Vintage A. Borne Tirard Prima

This A. Borne Tirard Prima is a recent acquisition directly from France. I did find a vintage hat ad from 1933 showing the make of hat. I'm not familiar with this hat maker and I haven't been able to find a whole lot of information. In fact, it's difficult to find much information on vintage French hats in general. The hat is in overall great shape with the exception of the leather sweatband which is dry and stiff. I was able to gently pull it back far enough to get a picture of the manufacturers tag. There may be a size tag behind the sweat but at the risk of damaging the sweatband I didn't want to look further. I looked through this thread and didn't find a similar hat so any information is appreciated. I'm thinking the hat is circa 30s but that's just an educated guess. The hat has a 2 3/8" raw edge brim. The open crown is approx. 5 1/2" with a 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

 

[mayserwegener]

Great find! Yes definitely lacking details on French makers. In the future I will try to find some old lists.

Update!

The name is actually Tirard. What is interesting is that Fastuni just recently posted a Tirard Homburg.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?35848-Homburg-Nation&p=1882737&viewfull=1#post1882737

There is actually a lot of information if you Google (Web & Image) Tirard Chapeaux. The following link has the company history. They closed operations in 1956.

http://www.ville-nogent-le-rotrou.fr/sociales/74-action-humanitaire/358-secours-catholique

http://chapeauxbibitop.blogspot.com/2005/07/feutres-tirard-la-grande-marque.html

 

[Purplesage]

Thanks Meyserwegener. I just got a response back from a friend in France who said she thought the name was Girard But I can see that it is actually Tirard. I would never have guessed that was a "T". Any idea as to the age?

 

[mayserwegener]

My guess would be late 30s to very early 50s. Great to see these old French hats.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

Thibet noir

This is one of the oldest French hat in my collection.
It is a Thibet for the Chappellerie Meer in Strasbourg - France.

It seems to arrive directly from the thirties.
It was made in a very malleable black felt, short haired very bristly.

On the stand it lost the shape of crown, so it must be photographed on the table.
The maker is JB as some others old frenchie I posted. It could be Daniel J.B. Rue Sainte-Anne Paris.
It is a special collection for la Chappellerie Meer.

Excellent conservation. It remains unsold for long years until it came in Italy

It is one of my favorites and one of the best "blacks" I have seen.

 

[mayserwegener]

Wow! Very rare to find an old hat like this in both NOS condition and large size! It's a real beauty! The sweatband treatment is fantastic + unique.

 

[alanfgag]

Beautiful find!

 

[besdor]

Wow.... another country that used to make beautiful hats...All gone..

 

[RJR]

Great find.