The Cavanagh Club

[Levallois]

"It was my understanding that there would be no math . . . . ." When you crunch the numbers like that Brad I can see your point.

John

 

[Brad Bowers]

"It was my understanding that there would be no math . . . . ." When you crunch the numbers like that Brad I can see your point.

John

Believe me, I hated to do it. Many historians and math just don't get along.

Actually, I think I calculated wrong, which just confirms why I didn't go into astronomy as a profession.

For some reason, I squared 26 and then multiplied it by 99,999, when I think I should have only multiplied 26 * 99,999, which gives merely 2,599,974 combinations, not 67 million. No idea what I was thinking. But, the idea comes out the same.

Brad

 

[Marc Chevalier]

 

[Garrett]

they spelled CAVANAGH incorrectly :eusa_doh:

 

[Brad Bowers]

they spelled CAVANAGH incorrectly :eusa_doh:

One of my biggest pet peeves!

Brad

 

[Lefty]

Hey, the sign only promises that you'll look smarter.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Hey, the sign only promises that you'll look smarter.

lol

 

[Sam Craig]

Go Cavanagh

What America needs is a company like Cavanagh again!

There was something special about their hats.

The colors are so rich.

I have a great old Cavanagh fedora I've owned for ... I don't know, more than 30 years, at least ...

It's grey, I guess, but the grey has a brownish tinge to it, too, especially in certain light.

It's got the Cavanagh edge, which is also great, and that beautiful old Cav liner.

Great hats.:eusa_clap

 

[Jauntyone]

My first Cavanagh!

I'd like to apply for membership; I won this Cavanagh long-hair recently on eBay. It's interesting in that it has a dimensional brim: 1 7/8" front and back and 1 3/4" on the sides. The ribbon is smooth satin and it was made in Canada.

The felt has that "clay-like" ability to be molded and shaped easily, plus it's incredibly soft. I really like this hat!

 

[Brad Bowers]

Welcome to the club, Jauntyone!:eusa_clap

We've seen Canadian-made Dobbs hats before, but this is the first Cavanagh. Great find.

Brad

 

[buler]

Gotham

Here is a Cav Gotham I recently picked up. From the looks of the logos, tags, and sweat I'd say its not that old. Not sure if the $35 price helps date it. I would think its been a while since you could buy a new Cav for $35. It is a quality made hat. The felt is pretty nice.

B

 

[Brad Bowers]

Here's the best image yet of the exterior of the Cavanagh shop. It's from a 1936 ad. The artwork is stylized, at least where the automobiles are concerned.

Patronage at the store was up so much in 1936 that the Cavanagh shop had to expand "to include the entire corner at 47th Street." The ad was placed to mark the occasion. I suspect this is the reason the Cavanagh address references on liners and ads changed from "247 Park Avenue" to "Park Avenue at 47th Street." If that's the case, we can possibly use 1936 as a marking point for dating hats with addresses. It makes sense that this would be the catalyst for that change.

The ad also notes the new line of Carroll John Hats, designed by John Cavanagh's son and aimed at "young gentlemen of college and prep school years," which explains why these are lower priced. So, we now have a year for the introduction of that line.

Brad

 

[Brad Bowers]

Here is a Cav Gotham I recently picked up. From the looks of the logos, tags, and sweat I'd say its not that old. Not sure if the $35 price helps date it. I would think its been a while since you could buy a new Cav for $35. It is a quality made hat. The felt is pretty nice.

B

Nice find, buler. That's a post-1972, Garland-made Cavanagh, or possibly Winchester-made, though I don't know how long Winchester operated under Koracorp and subsequent owners before becoming independent. Your hat could even date to the 1980s.

I've seen a few instances the past year that Cavanagh Edges were produced at least into the 1970s. It doesn't look like the Cavanagh Edge is as well-defined as they used to be.

Brad

 

[ScottF]

I've seen a few instances the past year that Cavanagh Edges were produced at least into the 1970s. It doesn't look like the Cavanagh Edge is as well-defined as they used to be.

Brad

That's good info - thanks. I've been telling people late '50s based on what I've seen posted here.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I used to think that they didn't make it past the 1972 closure of the Norwalk factory, but this past year I've changed my mind.

Brad

 

[S. Beagles]

Here's my contribution to the Cavanagh Club

Hello, Won this one off a Goodwill auction about three weeks ago. Its the only Cavanagh I own or ever had the pleasure of owning. I've always been a Stetson and Dobbs fan but I believe this one is my favorite hat now.




By the way, Hope you guys are forgiving about poor photograpy skills.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Welcome to the Lounge, Mr. Beagles. Nice looking Cavanagh there, good proportions. I can't tell, does it have a Cavanagh Edge or an sewn overwelt on the brim edge?

Glad you're enjoying the hat!

Brad

 

[S. Beagles]

Thank you for the welcome and compliments, Brad. I appologize for the poor photos and I may have loaded too small a pixel to see details on the brim(my first photo post ). I believe it would have the Cavanagh Edge as it looks rolled but is not stitched. Am not sure of the age but would guess maybe later years. It does'nt have the "Cavanagh Edge" logo on the sweat band. Underneath the band is a paper tag that reads Regency and color as Sable.
S. Beagles

 

[Brad Bowers]

Cavanagh Surprise

I received a Cavanagh today that I won off eBay. In the original auction, I wasn't sure it was a true Cavanagh. I could date the liner to post-1936 to about 1945 or so, but beyond that the hat was questionable. It looked like it had a sewn overwelt and a poorly installed sweatband, suggesting a overhaul at some point. The ribbon didn't look quite right for a Cavanagh. I hemmed and hawed about it for a while, and then finally decided to take a chance on it.

Turns out, it is a true Cavanagh, and is very different from what I discerned in the photos. First, it's not brown, as the auction said, but a beautiful olive green, once the dirt and dust was swept away.

Second, what looked to me like a sewn overwelt is really just a bound edge, but it's a factory bound edge, and not something applied later.

Third, where I thought the sweatband looked improperly seated in the hat was correct, but for the wrong reason. I thought it was just an amateur replacement, but the sweatband is really one of those Carter sweatbands, where the sweatband tape has button holes in it, and metal buttons are sewn to the inside of the crown, and the sweatband just buttons to the hat.

The liner tip is really faded, and I don't know why, because the sweatband doesn't look that worn. A new sweatband could have been button in to replace an old one, but the leather is in fine shape, and the seam is taped instead of sewn. Maybe they supplied replacement bands with the hat at the time of purchase, however.

The hat has a 5 7/8" crown, perhaps 6". The brim is 2 1/2 front and back, and 2 11/16 on the sides. The ribbon is 1 5/8" tall, and as you can see has the Cavanagh frayed end. The felt is soft, light, and pliable.

The only real flaw is a big critter crater, almost, but not quite, through the felt. You can see how the sweatband floats in this shot.

The only remaining tag in the hat was this portion of the size tag floating around inside.

The previous owner had used an old Social Security claim form as a sizer. No information on it, though.

I'm going to say this hat is circa 1940. A nice example of a different style from Cavanagh.

Brad

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

What a beautiful find Brad.
No makers or retailers marks on the sweat?