My Vintage Borsalino

[Brad Bowers]

It finally got here! I was excited to run to the Post Office this afternoon, and a little nervous. Would it live up to my expectations?

Yes, and no. It is a beautiful hat! It has to be NOS, as there is no sign of any previous shaping other than the small dents the auctioner put in for the photos. 6" crown, 2 1/2" Cav-edge brim, 2" ribbon. It even has the wind trolley, which I couldn't see in the eBay photos. No sign of any wear at all, still has the 7 3/8 paper tag. It fits great, and I can already tell that it's breaking in to my long oval head. I can't believe how lightweight it is, very thin and yet dense felt. The sweatband is quite supple, and unlike the modern sweats I have.

It's not as light colored as I was hoping for my William Powell hat, but it's still a great hat.

I went to the ranch store to get a hat brush and some Scout's Hat Cleaner for light colored hats. Anybody have any bad luck with this stuff? I'm still brushing off decades of dust, and tomorrow I'll try the spray.

Any idea how to date this hat? It has a lot of numbers under the sweatband, but none seem to be a date.

I'm still basking in the glory of wearing a fine vintage hat. I hope the feeling doesn't wear off!

Brad

 

[Brad Bowers]

Another shot:

 

[Brad Bowers]

One corner of the bow is turned down. I'll have to see if it'll iron out flat.

If I can part with it in the future, it'll probably get shipped off to Art for a thorough cleaning!

Brad

 

[Andykev]

OH MY GOSH

BRAD DO NOT SPRAY ANYTHING ON THIS HAT.

I have a Dunlap which is the twin to this, and it is very very light grey.

DO NOT spray anything on it!!!

Just give it a light steam from the stove kettle (LIGHT STEAM) and then brush it with a LIGHT COLORED BRUSH.

PLEASE do not spray anything on this gem.

PS.

THE HAT IS SPECTACULAR. How did I miss it?

 

[fedoralover]

Brad I just sent you an e-mail about that felt cleaner, but for everyone else's benefit. Scout makes a foam felt hat cleaner. One is for dark hats the other is for PURE WHITE SILVER BELLY COWBOY HATS ONLY!!!!!

Even though the can says its for black felt hats, you would still use it on anything NOT pure white. The one for light hats has silica in it and will ruin your gray hat.

On this particular hat Andykev is right, I would not put anything on it at all, just brush it.

regards fedoralover

 

[MK]

That is a fantastic looking hat!

If it ever needs a new home.....


.....who am I kidding?

Congrats!

You need to post a photo of the inside.

 

[Brad Bowers]

(Gulp) I could have ruined my hat!

Thanks for the warning, guys! Does that mean no naptha?

Here are pics of the inside.

 

[Brad Bowers]

The sweatband:

 

[Matt Deckard]

Whoa! that is a gem indeed.
Congratulations on your new hat. From my experience, nothing handles better. In it's condition it should last you a lifetime lest you decide to lend it to your son for the high school prom. In that scenario all bets are off.

That hat means business.

Looks like a relative of the bone colored one I have in my avitar.

 

[fedoralover]

What a super clean hat Brad, the sweat band doesn't have the corrigated piece on the front, if that helps to date it some. I'm not sure when they stopped doing that. Regardless, it is super sweet.

The felt cleaner for darker hats wouldn't hurt it, I've used it on all my vintage felt hats. I've cleaned several vintage borsalino's with it. The naptha won't hurt it either, but it should be done by someone who's done it before, If applied unevenly it will make your hat darker in some area's than in others.

But it's looks so good that unless there are some dirt marks that won't come out from brushing you can probably leave it alone.

Oh and that feeling you got about wearing a super nice vintage fedora, don't worry it won't go away. In fact you'll end up wishing it would as you will probably be buying more of them and your wallet will be a lot thinner.

regards fedoralover

 

[Matt Deckard]

One thing I really like about vintage hats is the fact that they feel like they can take more punnishement than modern. I manhandle them a bit more than my moderns and feel more comfortable taking a vintage when going on a trip just because... well... It's just more durable when something happens... I can just run to the restroom and wash the spilled Coke out of it and wait for I to dry... if I did that with most moderns I'd have to baby it continuously watching to make sure the shape is not lost.

There are some bad vintage, though when you get a good one you know it and measure all your future and past hats by the good one.

Congrats again.

 

[Wild Root]

Good hat Brad! Very Clean! When I get a hat that's a little dusty, I just run the vacuum hose over the felt and it takes that dust right off! Works swell and it keeps it safe from risky cleaners.

I say that hat looks to me to be a late 30's. Early 40's maybe
Could be earlier. But, safe bet it's in the 30's!

Take care of that baby! And it will last you for ever!


Root.

 

[STHill]

Very nice, Brad!

 

[jamespowers]

The hat is just as I figured it would be---Nice. Now you, better, understand what I mean about vintage Borsalino felt. I wish they made them like that again. Feels good doesn't it? It Doesn't go away either.
I am with the rest here. Just brush it with the light colored brush or you could just brush it and vacuum it at the same time with a CLEAN brush attachment on your vacuum hose. You might be surprised what a difference just a brushing makes. I usually am. LOL
I can't tell from the pictures, does it have the corrugated material at the front of the hat band? I am guessing it does fromt eh pictures but I am not sure.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Brad Bowers]

Nope, no corrugation.

I emailed Borsalino, out of curiousity.

I'm going to try the vacuum here in a bit. The dust won't brush out easily from the around the Cav edge.

I still can't believe the felt. It's really nice, and I haven't seen anything modern that compares to it. Makes my other hats seem like cowboy felt.

Brad

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by Brad Bowers
Nope, no corrugation.

Hmmm... It must be an earlier hat than even I thought it was. Even better then!

Originally posted by Brad Bowers
I emailed Borsalino, out of curiousity.

I tried that too to no avail just yet. The Italian reps sent me to the American reps and I do not have an answer yet. If you get an answer let me know. There has got to be a way to track down those numbers---a book or something.

Originally posted by Brad Bowers
I'm going to try the vacuum here in a bit. The dust won't brush out easily from the around the Cav edge.

It will come out with the vacuum just run it over the area slowly.

Originally posted by Brad Bowers
I still can't believe the felt. It's really nice, and I haven't seen anything modern that compares to it. Makes my other hats seem like cowboy felt.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. You won't see anything like it in modern felt either. Some are getting close though. The old masters had it down to a science. Fit, finish and color are all nice too. The color won't come off in the rain either. I wouldn't suggest doing a Singing in the Rain number in it though. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Matt Deckard]

Originally posted by Brad Bowers
I still can't believe the felt. It's really nice, and I haven't seen anything modern that compares to it. Makes my other hats seem like cowboy felt.
Brad

Guess you haven't had a vintage cowboy felt hat... some of those felts are teriffic.

You probably will not find any felt made today that can compare to most vintage. I love Optimo because they are the closest I have seen, though they are still not up to par with my top notch vintage. It's not just the materials, it is how they made the felt and finished it. Not just one or two sets of hands, but a whole assembly line of workers passing it around steaming sanding and adding the details. The companies were in competition back then and the ones that sagged in the rain were passed up for the ones that held their shape and didn't taper. Today's hats are like a new Renaisance version where hatters are relearning techniques that haven't been tried in years. Because there are so little wearers the feedback on the product is little and tweaking to get it right is slow. Back then the product was pretty much perfected.

If you find a modern that holds up as good as that Borsalino let me know.

 

[Andykev]

Hat cleaning

Brad, if the dust won't come off with brushing with an approved hat brush, you can try a slightly, very slightly damp white clean terry cloth towel. Use it to clean the edge...you should see the dirt lift off and the rag get darker from the dirt.

The pics look immaculate, but having the hat in your hand could be a different story. I would just enjoy it and give it no more thought.

Then if it does get dirty (light hats do pick up dirt that shows obviously) then send it to Optimo for a cleaning. They dip the hats in the tank (use different tanks for light vs. dark) so you won't get any discoloration.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Brad --

What a cool hat, and you look great in it! Congratulations!

I have a vintage Borsalino and know how you feel about your beautiful hat. It will give you years of wear, probably all your life and the lives of a couple of generations after you.

I took mine to a hat store here that does refurbishing. I would be afraid to put any kind of spray on it or do anything to it myself.

Scoring a hat like that can make you into an ebay addict. I speak from experience....

Thanks for showing us the hat, I think some of us were almost as excited about seeing it as you were getting it. Well, hardly, but boy were we curious.

karol

 

[Brad Bowers]

Thank you, karol, that's very kind!

Update on the cleaning: vacuumed it, no problems, but it did reveal some things. First, there are a couple of tiny pinpoint divots on the front of the brim, but they're not noticeable unless you know they are there. Maybe some fine pouncing would get rid of them. I guess that's to be expected from an older hat. There is also a shadow, of sorts, along a quarter of the top of the brim along the Cavanaugh edge. The felt is just a hint darker. I don't know if it's dirty, or what. Finally, along the back of the brim, there is a small, slightly yellow stain, though it's not too bad, either. In the old Stetson box that the hat came in, there was some very thin, yellowed plastic that disintegrates when touched. I wonder if this could have stained it? There is also a small spot on the another part of the underside of the brim, so it's possible.

One thing I worry about shipping it off to be cleaned, can Optimo put the Borsalino sweat back on? I'd hate to lose it, and it's in perfect shape, but since it's whip-stitched directly to the felt, I wonder if it's worth having it cleaned.

It's amazing how much a vintage item lets you actually touch a former era, and make you a part of it!

Brad