My First Open Road!!!

[Visigoth]

Um, I think. It is an OR type, isn't it? Here it is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-KINGSBURY-100-Clear-Beaver-Fur-Cowboy-Hat-NR_W0QQitemZ180025984856

Now, is this likely to be stiff as a board? And if so, how easy is it to take the stiffener out? I figured the price was too good on a 100 percent beaver hat... I'd take my chances on being able to work with it. Any notion?

 

[lenj]

First Open Road

Congrats on your first Open Road, it is a beauty.

I have two: an old one (pre 1960), and a new one, and I paid a lot more for both of them.

The old one is softer than the new one, but both are rather stiff - both the crown and the brim.

lenj

 

[DOUGLAS]

The hat looks good man . Congrats on the find,

 

[WEEGEE]

niceeeeeeeeeeeeeee

good pickup man....

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Beautiful lid. I have a Stetson OR from the 50s and I love it...KC

 

[Visigoth]

Thanks all!

My guess is that this is fifties or so, judging from the brown sweat. But who knows... I just hope it isn't ultra-stiff. Either way, I can probably still put a pinch in it.

The company, Kingsbury, doesn't show up anywhere on the net; possibly custom?

 

[DanielJones]

Welcome to the Guild! Are you going to leave the crown alone or are you going to play with the shape a little? Give it a snap brim and leave the crown, now that would look western sharp. Congratulations!:eusa_clap

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Visigoth]

Oh, I intend to make it into a full fedora: snap brim, tear drop, high pinch...

(And thanks!)

 

[qwerty]

This might be stupid but what exectly is an open road hat?

 

[RBH]

This is an Stetson Open Road:More of a western style hat.
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2349/oroaduv1.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>




This is an Open Road after being Fedoraized:
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/9435/getmsggx3.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>


Hope this helps !

 

[qwerty]

So it's all about the shape of the crown.

 

[RBH]

Well..

..not really as I understand it, alot of early Open Roads were sold open crowned. Meaning the crown was unshaped. An Open Road with a fedora shape is just as much an Open Road as the one with the cattlemans crease.
It all depended then as now on what the wearer liked.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Very nice

Looks close enough for membership. There are several look-a-likes to the original OR, one of which is the Resistol San Antonio as well as your. Most have the same dimensions and are hard to tell apart when set next to each other. Welcome to the OR Guild.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I wonder if there's a "Cowboy Hat Lounge" somewhere on the Internet, whose members buy up fedora-esque Open Roads and change them into "cattleman's bash" western hats?

.

 

[Rick Blaine]

The ...Horror....

I wonder if there's a "Cowboy Hat Lounge" somewhere on the Internet, whose members buy up fedora-esque Open Roads and change them into "cattleman's bash" western hats?

.

the horror

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Hey, now hold on Rick.....I resemble that remark.