New tome Open Road

[shamus]

Just picked up my first 3x Stetson Open Road yesterday. It's actually stamped on the sweatband Eddie Bauer Seattle. I didn't know they carried them.

The brim was a bit mis-shaped. How much curl does an Open Road have? Or is it flat. I steamed it uniformed, but it seems like a lot of curl is still there. But again, I'm use to wearing a fedora with a snap brim.

 

[John in Covina]

Curled into a grimmace!

In most pictures of new ones it has just a little curve upward as it goes out not as pronounced as the snap brim on my fedoras with the brims up at rest.

If you've got a lot then it was probably either shaped or had been crunched when stored.

If you can't re shape it to forget the curl maybe you can get it reblocked to reshape the brim?

Good luck with it, I lost out on a tan Open Road I wanted to reshape to a fedora when the seller's packages were stolen from his Post Office drop of point, I was very disappointed. I wanted one like Jimmy Stewarts hat that he is wearing n the FBI Story when he is supposed to be in Oklahoma.

Sincerely.

 

[shamus]

do you have a picture of that hat? I might want to do the same thing as the open road if very cowboy-ish.

 

[John in Covina]

Nope!

I've looked a little but can't find a picture. Plus the movie "The FBI Story" has not come out on DVD yet so you can only find it on VHS at Amazon and the like. It is a great hat movie. ( Note: Definately not PC for the Fellow Traveller set or the fuzzy headed. Read the virulent comments back and forth at the movie sites!)

However, your best cue is the grey hat the Bridges wears in the movie "Seabiscuit" that hat is very similar to the Open Road and has a great fedore bash to it, that's what I'd sugggest as a good fedora to emulate. There are a couple of threads on it you maybe able to find in here. Art Fawcett I think has an original of it, so he has more pictures too.)

 

[tonyb]

I take it that your Open Road has the cattleman's bash, and you're looking to give it a fedora pinch. Is that right, shamus? I and several others here have succesfully done that very thing, through the repeated application of steam and whatever else is handy (bottles, jugs, fingers) to smooth out those old wrinkles.
How old is that OR? The newer ones are quite stiff, and I imagine that makes them considerably more difficult to reshape. I've read here that denatured alcohol will wash out some of the stiffener, although I can't verify that as I've never tried it.
As to the brim: I say shape it any way you want. I have three or four with the snap-down front and another with the brim curled up all around but pulled downward just slightly at the front. It took a lot of patience (and steam) to get it to hold that shape. It may be a bit unorthodox, but I like it.
As I type this I have a bluish-gray Mallory Dallas (same style as the OR) soaking in naptha, to remove some light soiling. Once it's dry I'll go to work with the teakettle and the (empty) tequila bottle. A previous owner had it in a fedora style, but raked too steeply at the back to suit me. By this time tomorrow, it'll be just like I want it. I hope.

 

[shamus]

Do you have any pictures... I steamed it last night with good results, but not great results, if you know what I mean. It's pretty soft so I'm guessing 50's. it's odd to see eddie bauer inside it though so maybe I'm way off.

I like the brim down in the front and think I'll try it with this one. Again, if you have any pics I'd love to see them..

Thanks

 

[tonyb]

I would post pics, if I knew how to do it. Eddie Bauer has been in business, in one form or another, since 1920. The company got into the catalog business in a big way after WWII, when GIs came home with fond attachments to the products Eddie Bauer made under contract to the government. His cold-weather gear was legendary. Eddie Bauer was acquired by Spiegel quite some time ago, and I believe it is still a part of that company. I don't know when Eddie Bauer started stocking goods made by other suppliers, but I imagine it was several decades ago. They specialized in outdoorsy stuff (and still do, to some extent), but they also got into that "weekend casual" business. Your OR fits into both categories.
What color is your OR's sweatband? And what kind of liner is in it? Does it have a wind sting? Is there a paper label under the sweatband?

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I won a black Stetson Open Road on Ebay, which was restyled to look like a fedora.

I will try to recreate it here but there are zillions of characters to type in.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...19111&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN%AIT&rd=1#ebay

If this doesn't open, try the number 8381519111 on ebay.

karol

 

[shamus]

I didn't wear it today. I'll check when I get home. I know eddie's been around and I guess someone bought it at the store in Seattle since its on the band.

no windcord but that could have been taken off years ago. I'll give more deteails when I get home.

What color is your OR's sweatband? And what kind of liner is in it? Does it have a wind sting? Is there a paper label under the sweatband?

 

[tonyb]

I won a black Stetson Open Road on Ebay, which was restyled to look like a fedora.

I will try to recreate it here but there are zillions of characters to type in.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...19111&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN%AIT&rd=1#ebay

If this doesn't open, try the number 8381519111 on ebay.

karol

So it was you who got that hat. I had my eye on it, but I've vowed to buy on eBay only when I can buy cheap. It's not that you paid too much for it (considering what the clearly inferior new ones cost and the prices old ones are fetching these days), it's just more than I can justify to the boss lady.
It may be that your OR wasn't rebashed. They used to come with an open crown, ready to shape any way the customer liked.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Tonyb -- Yes, it is a lovely hat and fits well. I just got it today.

Paid a little more than I wanted to, but was glad no one outbid me once the bidding wars started.

I am glad it is already in fedora style, don't have to pay money to have it restyled.

karol

 

[tonyb]

Glad to hear it, K.D. I'm guessing it's about 50 years old. Anyone out there have a better sense of its vintage?
And yours is a black one, which is far scarcer than the grays. The OR was (is) such a popular style because 1.) it has nice proportions, 2.) it looks right in a variety of bashes, and 3.) it can be worn with anything from raggedy old blue jeans to a new Brooks Bros. suit.

 

[John in Covina]

Open Road Fedora style

It is a classy hat to begin with and out West or in the more countrified areas a true gentlemen's hat. BUT! When restyled to a fedora bash, man are they SWEEEEEET! Gotta have one that is for sure!

Best wishes on your new (old) one, once you get the bash right it should be a top notch lid.

 

[feltfan]

Tonyb -- Yes, it is a lovely hat and fits well. I just got it today.

That is a cool hat. Love the sweatband imprints
and the tags. Say, would that liner happen to be
made of rayon satin of celanese yarn?

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Feltfan -- You got it!

It is a nice fedora, have been wearing it around the house today. Clean, has a decent sweat band, still has the wind strap, is soft and nice. Looks like my old Borsalinos except the felt is denser.

karol

 

[shamus]

What color is your OR's sweatband? And what kind of liner is in it? Does it have a wind sting? Is there a paper label under the sweatband?

Sweatband is Dark brown. Black paper tag with gold size.
White silk liner with a plastic over the stetson. No paper label.

Price $17.00!

 

[tonyb]

Well shoot, shamus, that's a pretty sweet deal. You apparently share my instinct for thrift. Among the few things nicer than a nice old hat is a nice old hat acquired at a nice low price.
Yup, it ought to convert to a fedora pinch just fine. Keep working on those old wrinkles with steam on the outside and something like a curve-sided bottle on the inside of the crown. If your experience turns out like mine, the reminders of how it used to be will gradually, gradually go away. I've found that those old bash marks disappear all the more if you also clean the hat and then leave it to dry in an open-crowned shape. And then, once the naptha has evaporated, go over the surface with a clean, white rag soaked in naptha, paying special attention to what remains of the old bash creases. My theory is that those spots are the most critical because that's where the previous owner grabbed the hat with his grubby fingers, leaving dirt behind and slightly stretching the felt every time he did it.

 

[shamus]

thanks tonyb..

I'll try the bottle... on the hat that is. The hat is very clean, and no moths either!

 

[shamus]

spent some time at the tea kettle this afternoon.

Not bad for a first attempt...

 

[John in Covina]

That is starting to look real good!
Just a tad more fiddling with it should have it, so it is "just right!"

Best wishes,