Hat Horror Stories

hatshaper

I've seen these before, and it sounds like you've had good luck with it? do you shape the crown and the brim or just the crown?

 

Signal 13

Lefty wrote: this one is also pretty ugly

That is a horrifying sight!

 

Dillinger fedora for sale

Think of the eBay bucks an unscrupulous seller could make claiming this belonged to a famous bankrobber and the hole was a gunshot.

 

Hatastrophes

I bought a vintage Stetson crushable fur-felt bowler that was so original, the original packing tissue had crystalized and shattered into a million pieces in the box. I was its first owner. What a dismal caretaker I was, too.

It was a wonderful hat, but the brim was too flat. I tried bending it up while it was dry, which obviously didn't work. Instead of curling, the felt tore where the grosgrain was sewed on. Not too bad, but what I did next was horrible.

Long story short, I had super glue everywhere and the had was ruined beyond wearability. If only I had discovered this site back then. I ruined a true classic and still feel guilty.

--

More recently, I was trying to reshape my favorite Dobbs fedora. I did a pretty good job by pouring hot water onto the brim and lightly massaging into the shape I wanted. Sadly, what I thought was a leather headband was actually plastic and it melted into a shriveled mess. I'm still upset about that one, too. I hate plastic.

 

I was about to go out one evening when my dad called from the farm for help with a problem. After helping a cow deliver a calf I discovered a large green stain that any cattleman would reconize on a brand new Open Road that I had forgotten to remove from my head.

 

I left my dressing room door open and had a number of hats (2 ORs and a modern Temple) laying on the couch. My 110# Chocolate Lab jumped right on top of them and slept all night. When I woke up in the morning I was mad more at myself than the dog. Luckily I was able to work out all the creases so it was more of a scare than a catastrophe. I will never leave that door open at night again.

 

Is that a Knox?

 

I have only one and was succesful in blocking 2 fur-felts back into an open crown.. I just did the crown..

 

Knox Tom an Jerry. A rare and collectible one, not to mention quite a fine hat.

 

I thought that was the knox logo on the button. The way I see it, a hat that fine can be worn even with a cigerette burn (though it does play better as a victim of gun violence).

 

Go back one page and follow the link. It's one of the many incarnations of the Knox Tom 'n Jerry.

 

new to old panama

Those are some harrowing stories, which make this tame, but it was awful at the moment.

Many years ago, I bought my first real panama ... tall crown, wide brim ... beautiful hat

I took my girl to the movies ... I was sitting on the aisle ... and a friend was walking by.

I said hello but he didn't hear me, so I reached up and grabbed his sleeve.

He whirled around ... startled, he later claimed ... and grabbed my brand new panama, breaking the straw in the pinch front.:rage:

That was some 40 years ago and we are still friends to this day, but I don't think a year has passed when I haven't brought the incident up.

Still waiting for a replacement panama, too[huh]