Need help with this Stetson Playboy

[Artie]

I recently purchased two Playboys that came with the original box. Inside the box is a tag with the date 5/39, ok so we know when they came from. One of the hats was a standard hat but the other one appears to have what I think is the crest of the Royal Engineers. Very strange, has anybody ever come across something like this?

 

[buler]

I come up with the Official Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...

CoatArmsLink

B

 

[GWD]

Most interesting!

 

[Artie]

I come up with the Official Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...

CoatArmsLink

B

Close, I know it's hard to see behind the oiled silk, the motto "honi soit qui mal y pens" is the motto of the English chivalric Order of the Garter (according to Wikipedia). The question is, why would this be in the liner of a 1939 Stetson.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

I think Playboys, being a lightweight summer hat, were often sold without a liner. It could be that a previous owner wanted a liner and cannibalized one from another hat.

 

[Artie]

Both hats are original to this box and the other one has a standard Stetson liner. On the the original label on the box there are two check marks, one for 1/4 and one for 3/8, which these hats are. It also says sky gray spec. It is my feeling that this is the special.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Artie, first, Welcome to the Lounge
A part of the hatting biz has always been the contracting to stores/groups, etc. by the major makers for their own "brand" hats so my guess would be that this is probably the case with your hat. This Society might have contracted Stetson to make a number of them with this liner and distributed to or sold to members. If records still existed it would be possible to find out but alas, all of that stuff has been gone a long time.

 

[Artie]

There's an answer I can work with, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much.