Stevens Hats

[MattC]

Has anyone heard of this brand? Know anything about quality?

 

[feltfan]

I have two. One is a basic workhorse early 50s hat, the other is
a 3X Beaver 10 (with $10 price tag) perhaps late 40s, and
has a Cavanagh-style edge and is overall a pretty nice hat.

I like their style and ruggedness, especially for what must have
been a midrange hat. Both hats have an extra sweat barrier
betwen the liner and leather sweat. Comfortable. Felt is nice, too.

My later hat, with the bound edge, has seen a lot of rain with
no appreciable change. It is currently out of service due to a
big drop of tree sap, though...:cry:

Based on the two I have, the sizes run a touch smaller than
some other American hats (e.g. Stetson or Mallory).

 

[Art Fawcett]

Although I haven't researched the name Matt I have heard of them and in fact have owned them. They appear to be a middle of the road brand based on the one's I have had. My first impression of them was that they didn't make their own hats because they were so similar to the "Lee" brand that made hats for so many other companies.
Geeze, did that make sense?

 

[besdor]

Stevens Hats were located in St Joseph Mo. They were in business until 1972 when they purchased the license to make Stetson Hats . This factory made Stetson Hats until they closed the factory this year and combined it with the factory in Garland TX .
The building in St Jo is still there if anybody wants to buy it .

 

[MattC]

Any connection to Bee

Did the same company make Bee? I thought they were in St. Joseph too.

 

[MattC]

Middle of the Road

Art, when you say middle of the road--what would you have put on the low end? I know Cavanagh was at the top, Stetson all over, Mallory and Lee in the middle. Was Champ low end?

 

[Art Fawcett]

In my opinion yes Matt, champ is low to middle end, wool hats bottom of the barrel. I don't want this to sound derogatory though. There is and was always a market for the low end hats so thats not a bad thing, it just is. It's kindof like what Ford did, make a car for the every man.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Thanks for the info besdor...don't know where my mind is...you are right of course.

 

[MattC]

Always liked Champ

While I appreciate high end hats, I like mid and lower end hats that are decently made as well. There is a definite style in some Lee, Champ and Mallory hats, a kind of a "race track/times square/guys and dolls look that I really like.

 

[Johnnysan]

I have to agree with you, Matt...two of my favorites bear the Champ label. I guess that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and perhaps it's just in the fact that even a "low-end" vintage hat still beats the pants off many "high-end" current hats. Wear them in good health! :cheers1:

 

[feltfan]

Bee Hats was in St. Louis, no?

http://stlcin.missouri.org/devprojects/projinfo.cfm?DevProjectID=318&isComOFf=1

I have a couple of them- they're okay everyday hats,
nothing special.

Regarding quality... Some Lee hats and a lot of
Mallory hats (though certainly not the majority)
are top knotch hats. Their best may not be as
good as the best Cavanagh or Borsalinos, but I'd
be thrilled to find a nice Lee or a Mallory Premier quality
hat in my size. And I'm among the many who find a
light weight Champ a pleasure, if no where near as nice
as a contemporary Borsalino.

As Johnnysan points out, good examples of any of those
hats beat anything you can buy off the shelf today.

 

[MattC]

Champ summerweight

The pic in my avatar is an old unlined champ lightweight.

 

[Johnnysan]

Got one just like it and it sees a lot of use in those "in between" months!

 

[Art Fawcett]

Champs are definitely well styled hats. I believe they were marketed to the younger crowd so they tend to be a little "rackish". My kinda styling

 

[MattC]

Not so easy to find

Those rakish Champs (and Lees and Mallorys) are not all that easy to find though. Art, from the pictures I've seen, I get the impression that you can and do reproduce the look (or the looks) in a fair number of your hats. True?

 

[Art Fawcett]

True Matt, I'm a kid at heart AND I like the look.