Late 20's crown heights?

[Marc Chevalier]

Yes. Sometimes you can only narrow it down to within a decade or so.

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[feltfan]

Looking at ads not only shows you hat shapes, it also reveals the hat company's (and store's) logo design at a given time. Logos change -- sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically -- and these changes can indicate the era of a hat's manufacture.

That's why I asked. China collectors print books of company
logos and dating codes found on the underside of china pieces.
Sometimes these come from company archives, sometimes from
the collective wisdom of collectors. What I would like to see
is a similar publication of company logos, liner graphics, models,
and materials/processes we could use to date hats.

I see (and add to) a lot of conjecture here on the lounge.
Very rarely do we see something we can be sure of, such as
a hat that precisely matches an ad or Bowers' research on the
Cavanagh Edge patent. It can be done, but it takes some
time and rigor. I suspect that, given how much fashion changed
and the emphasis on having the latest style, we can successfully
date most hats to the year with this information.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I would think that people who have had massive quantities of vintage hats pass through their hands -- people like Art Fawcett, who sold vintage hats for years -- would best be able to help us with this. The trick is to have lots of conversations with Art, preferably in person. We need to gather together in one place a comprehensive database of:


-- hat types, shapes and dimensions;

-- names of hat manufacturers, and their company histories;

-- logos of hat manufacturers and stores that sold hats, spanning the decades;

-- lining/sweatband/ribbon styles, dimensions and materials; colors;

-- names (i.e., "Whippet");

-- retail prices over the years.


In other words, a lot of data. But as you say, it can be done.
If the Fedora Lounge decides to produce one thing for the world at large, this should be it. Call it "THE FEDORA PROJECT".


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