REQ: A sticky thread for how to date hats.

[MattJH]

Some of you seem to know how to do it by the appearance of the hat alone. I don't. I'm pretty certain that most others don't. Think there's any way some of you could consolidate your accumulated knowledge into an illustrated, succinct post teaching all of us how to do this? I understand that most of it is guesswork without a dated receipt or internal tag, but educated guesswork is better than pulling a decade out of thin air.

Possible or impossible?

 

[Lefty]

Seconded.
The one on dating Stetsons by price is one of the best threads out there.

 

[MattJH]

Yes. I did do searches of archived threads but mostly found very scattered snippets rather than a single point of reference. In those searches, I also found a thread on how to date Borsalinos if you still have the serial number tag under the sweatband. It was helpful.

I'm basically looking for an all-purpose thread for the other brands; Knox, Dobbs, Adam, Bond, etc. "If the lining is..." and "If the sweatband is..." and "If the brim edge is..." That sort of thing. I don't know if it's possible, but if it is, that would be excellent.

 

[Lefty]

I forgot the Borso one. That's good too.

I know what you mean. Brown sweat seems like a given, but it would be great to learn about all of those other factors like:
the sloping Dobbs logo,
embroidered Stetson liner,
black, embossed Stetson info. in the leather vs. gold,
the style of the little bow in the back,
etc.

Dinerman really seems to have his finger on this one. Of course, I think he's handled more vintage hats than many of us ever will.

What you're proposing sounds very difficult, but would certainly be an amazing resource.

 

[Viper Man]

Personally, I sort of like the mystery. Plus, by not having all of that info in one place, you may still be able to land a decent vintage hat for a good price.

 

[Brad Bowers]

What, and give eBay sellers yet another resource to accurately describe and price their hats?!?!?!? Perish the thought! lol

It's a good idea in concept, but I can see it becoming unwieldy rather fast, unless the moderators can keep it edited into a concise format. There are generalities, which could be covered quite easily, but then there are a lot of variables to cover within each brand. Organizing it would almost require multiple threads. It would almost be better to have it on a website, with menu-accessible information.

Brad

 

[MattJH]

Bother.

Oh well. You're all probably right about it causing an increase in prices.

Let me rephrase my question, then; who wants to come over and date my 7 vintage hats?

 

[tonyb]

That "succinct" part might be tough to accomplish, Dumbjaw. But you're right that educated guesswork beats uneducated guesswork. And there's certainly a supply of educated sorts around here. My only concern is that a person might take some of that guesswork, educated as it might be, as absolutely definitive. Obviously, some information is more reliable than others, so some separation between "take it to the bank" information and "hold it 'til next Tuesday, maybe" would be to the better.

 

[RPeers]

What, and give eBay sellers yet another resource to accurately describe and price their hats?!?!?!? Perish the thought! lol

Maybe lock it for members with at least 20 posts or more...

 

[AlanC]

Yeah, we certainly need yet another sticky.

If such a thread comes together maybe we could sticky it temporarily then simply link it in the Important Threads stickied thread.

 

[MississippiLong]

There are generalities, which could be covered quite easily

Maybe we create a thread which is just for the dating of hats. People post pics of their hat/lining along with the specs and the knowledgeable folks around here can estimate the hats birthday (along with the info that led them to such a conclusion) This thread may end up being long and at times heated debates may break out, but it also could cut down on the "any idea how old my vintage hat is?" posts in the ebay thread and the new hats thread. (both threads are LONG and at times heated debates break out there as well!)
Wouldn't need to be a sticky because every novice vintage hat buyer will be asking age, including myself.


Whaddyuthink fellas?


gabe

 

[AlanC]

^Not a bad idea at all.

 

[Dinerman]

Dinerman really seems to have his finger on this one. Of course, I think he's handled more vintage hats than many of us ever will.

I'll try to help, but the it's hard to make sweeping generalizations about the ages of hats. Things didn't change all at the same time, details and styles changed at different times from company to company. Show me a particular hat and I can give you an approximate age, but even then, some really stump me.

 

[MississippiLong]

I'll try to help, but the it's hard to make sweeping generalizations about the ages of hats. Things didn't change all at the same time, details and styles changed at different times from company to company. Show me a particular hat and I can give you an approximate age, but even then, some really stump me.

Thats why I started the post about dating hats! take it on a case by case basis. In time I think the "generalizations" will make themselves evident, along with the small mutations in the transition periods.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Be prepared though; Some folks have a desire in mind for what they want the answer to be and are disappointed if someone IDs their hat as coming from the 60s let's say instead of the 30s. I got kinda' snippy about that myself one time when I posted a photo of a hat asking for info, and I'm still a little embarrassed about it.

G

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'll try to help, but the it's hard to make sweeping generalizations about the ages of hats. Things didn't change all at the same time, details and styles changed at different times from company to company. Show me a particular hat and I can give you an approximate age, but even then, some really stump me.

I agree. I find it very difficult also to tell from photographs. Frankly, modern hats often look very similar to older ones. Even in vintage stores can't tell just by looking. Really old things do seem to send out some kind of vibes, though.

bk