Now Presenting: A Remarkably Strange Stetson Whippet

[Lefty]

am i being realistic here?

No. Read the tens of thousands of posts stating that modern Stetson, which is about 4 companies removed from 50s and earlier Stetson, is next to worthless.

 

[carouselvic]

Is it the same hang tag? Yours has the full 7 1/4 size on it, but it looks like Matt's just has the 1/4 - though the little bow obscures the tag a bit.

Right you are sir!! (being said in a Ed McMann way)





This hat I bought as NOS. All numbers and letter code on the box match the info on the price tag. I am showing this because the liner on this hat is glued on. I was the first wearer and saw nothing to make me think it was ever altered.

 

[MattJH]

The liner on mine is stitched on and the box it came with is the exact same color scheme as yours, but oval instead of rectangular (if this makes any difference). There's no way for me to tell if the box and hat were sold together or if there's no relation between the two other than the Stetson name.

 

[funneman]

Hey Matt,

That's an awfully nice gesture for a very stand-up guy.
Please give Oscar my best and let us know how he likes the lid.
Maybe you could get a picture of him wearing his new hat.:eusa_clap

 

[MattJH]

Hey Matt,

That's an awfully nice gesture for a very stand-up guy.
Please give Oscar my best and let us know how he likes the lid.
Maybe you could get a picture of him wearing his new hat.:eusa_clap

Well thank you for those kind words! I'm actually paying it forward. When I first starting posting here approximately 2 years ago, username MrMaltby actually sent me a 7 5/8 Stetson Charger (grey velour, braided band) for free. I was astonished. This, I guess, was my way of repaying him. The Charger didn't work for me at all, but the thought seriously counted. It was my very first vintage fedora, all 1 1/2 inches of its brim.

Funny you should mention this at all because I literally just got in from giving Oscar the hat and hatbox. What I actually did was print out a few old advertisements for the Stetson Whippet that I found on here. I left the hat in my car, walked in with the print-outs, and asked him if he remembers the Whippet while showing him the ads. "Sure," he said. "Great hats. I've restored a few." I asked him if he could keep his eye out for me if any in my 7 5/8 - 7 3/4 size ever pass through his hands. This was a ruse, of course.

I came back in one minute later carrying the Stetson hatbox, put it on the counter, and asked him to take a look. He takes the hat out and says "Hey, a Whippet! But this isn't your size, too small." "I know," I said, "but it's your size, right?" His eyes lit up and I said "It's yours!" When I looked down, the hat was creased. Our eyes were met while we were talking, and within one second, he had somehow managed to give it a center crease with front pinch without even looking at it, perfectly centered, and without me even noticing that his hands had moved. A true display of a seasoned hatter.

After I was finished explaining that he didn't in fact owe me anything, and that this was actually a sign of my appreciation to him (after all, I've paid a total of $23 to have three different hats cleaned, reblocked, and stretched by him), he immediately put it on, looked in the mirror, and gave the approval that it fit just right. He looked perfect in it, honestly.

No picture, sorry. I didn't feel comfortable enough to ask that. But he's got a very nice, very odd Stetson Whippet now, and if I were a betting man, I'd say he actually doesn't own very many nice hats at all by our standards. Oscar is humble, modest, and very, very good to people like us.

So that's the story. I'm happy that it ended the way that it did.

 

[bolthead]

That's Awesome Matt.....

Doesn't it feel good to Pay it Forward? :eusa_clap

 

[Tango Yankee]

So that's the story. I'm happy that it ended the way that it did.

And what a story it is! It made my day! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[carter]

Great story and a terrific way to Pay It Forward, Matt. :cheers1:

Thanks to Lefty and JTL for the additional information they posted. We may never know the entire history of the Stetson brand but a lot resides on this forum and more is yet to be discovered.

 

[handlebar bart]

Classy move Matt:eusa_clap

 

[jimmy the lid]

Great story, Matt.

Here's a lid that was posted by David Conwill. The ribbon looks very similar to your lid (especially in terms of width), and the liner looks to be a match. This one appears to date from at least the 60's...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Ande1964]

Nice

That's awesome, Matt. Well done!

Anj

 

[MattJH]

Jimmy - Close match! The brim on that one has an overwelt while the one I gave Oscar had a raw edge. The brim width on that one appears a bit narrower, too, and the size tag has the "7" next to the fraction while mine just had the fraction alone. Still, the closest match so far.

 

[jpbales]

the sweatband looks familiar...

Standard embossed label for a Royal Stetson.

This is from my Stetson Leghorn hat I recently acquired, and inquired about, but no one except Carter and Gene were nice enough to help me tho [huh]

I'm going to cry myself a river now

Anyway, beautiful hat and a great story to go with it!

 

[jimmy the lid]

Sorry about that jp! Hard to tell anything particularly definitive based solely on that sweatband, though. [huh]

In any event, the sweat that you have posted is not a match to Matt's Whippet -- but this one is, at least in terms of the leather:

Note the textured appearance of the sweat, which is from a mid-50's Whippet. I have always associated this particular kind of textured sweat with Stetsons from the mid-50's timeframe. To my eye, the sweat I have posted seems wider than the sweat in Matt's lid, which may indicate that Matt's sweat is closer to the 60's.

The thing that makes Matt's hat hard to date is that it seems to incorporate elements from different time periods... But, I'm starting to think that early 60's may not be far off.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[carouselvic]

Stratoliner





Here is the same textured sweat. Also with the full 7 3/8.

 

[jimmy the lid]

In terms of width and texture of the sweatband, yours seems to be right on target, Victor. The other common element is that your liner logo appears to match the logo appearing in Matt's hat (gold on purple version).

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that the "fraction" approach on the size tag survived into the 60's on some models -- but I'll check into that...

Any idea about the age of that Strat?

Cheers,
JtL

 

[carouselvic]

The difference between the two Stetson liners is colors used. When white satin was used, red and blue was used with the gold. When purple and maroon satin was used gold was the entire logo. It's just my guess that it was because red and blue did not show up well on the colored satin. I believe my strat to be early 60's.
I should qualify that white satin in the 50's used an all gold logo as well.

 

[jimmy the lid]

I agree -- same logo, but different color scheme used relative to the colored liner.

As far as Matt's Whippet goes, the brim treatment is still in question. I'm inclined to think that this particular brim has been altered. Maybe not -- but I'd sure need to see some convincing evidence that Whippets were ever offered in a raw edge version. Jury's still out on this one...

Cheers,
JtL

 

[carouselvic]

Agreed

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'd say that that whippet has been modified with a brim trim and a liner replace.