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Grandfather's Panama restored by Tom Gomez @Gomez Hat Company

Allenworsham

New in Town
Messages
27
Location
United States
Awhile back I posted photos of an old 1940's-1950's Panama that belonged to my Grandfather who passed away in 1959. Here is the link to the original thread:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?81310-Repairing-a-1940-s-50-s-Panama-with-wavy-brim

I was advised to get in contact with Tom Gomez who makes and restores some very nice hats both Pananmas and Felts. Here is the link to Tom's site:

http://www.gomezhatcompany.com/

I contacted Tom and found that he lives about 30 minutes from me, so my wife and I drove over and spent about 90 minutes with Tom getting a good education from him and then leaving the Panama to have him completely rebuild it. On Wednesday my wife and I dropped by his shop and picked up the rebuilt Panama and I am thrilled with the work that Tom did on it. Tom re-blocked the hat back to its original design and configuration. He replaced the original cracked and worn sweatband with a new sheep leather band. He also stamped my Grandfather's initials (HW for Herbert Worsham) into the band as well, which was a really nice touch. Tom had some of the exact same type of ribbon that had originally been on the hat so it looks just like it did back in the 1940's-1950's. He had the ribbon in both dark blue and black. The original ribbon on the hat had been dark blue, but I liked the black better for my taste.

Tom is a great guy and artisan and does some amazing work with both Panama and Felt hats.

Here are a couple of pics of the completed hat.

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With our warm weather here in So. Calif. I have been wearing since I picked it up and it will see a lot of use.
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T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,626
Location
Central Ohio
The hat looks great! What a difference! Definitely a worthwhile investment to save a family treasure. You wear it well.
 
Messages
10,603
Location
My mother's basement
Sweet story.

Tom's a peach, and a true artisan.

It's rare enough to have an ancestor's hat, and rarer still to have an ancestor's straw hat, seeing how most straw hats got broken and discarded. So that makes yours all the more special. I'm sure Tom told you not to handle the hat by the crown, right?
 

Ordinary Guy

One Too Many
Messages
1,292
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I Never hesitate to recomend Tom. He's a pleasure to work with. He will even Skype with you if you live far away so you can watch your hat being built.

Glad you have a piece of your family's history to wear and enjoy.
 

AndyR

One of the Regulars
Messages
265
Location
Illinois
I know first hand how satisfying it can be to find your grandfather's hat and be able to wear it. Great looking hat. Fantastic work by Tom Gomez. Congrats on the find. Enjoy!

Andy
 

tropicalbob

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,954
Location
miami, fl
This thread has really piqued my interest in Tom's work. I saw on his pricing page that the Cuencas start at $159, but does anyone know what a hat like that dark reddish straw goes for? The reason I ask is that I hate to bug a hatmaker until I'm fairly ready to part with the cash, and at this moment I'm a bit up in the air on that subject. Thanks for any help.
 

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