The Lee Lounge

[Landman]

Beautiful hat, Aaron.

 

[randooch]

Glad it all worked out Aaron and you ended up with a swell Lee

+One

Mike, that's the best-looking stingy I've seen in many moons.

 

[mikespens]

Thanks Randall and good to hear from you.

 

[buler]

Lee ad 1915

 

[rclark]

Picked up a Lee Adventure on eBay last week. I received it and cleaned it up over the weekend. Incredibly impressive felt!

Before:



After:

 

[Landman]

Rick,

That's a beauty. You have found some great hats recently!

 

[rclark]

Thanks Mike! I have a newfound appreciation for Lee hats. I can't believe the quality of the felt and how easily it takes a dry crease.

 

[mayserwegener]

What is interesting is some (maybe all) 50s Lee's were not blocked open crown. For example here is a new old stock Lee Trinity of mine (sold it a long while ago). This hat would not easily take a dry crease but still high quality felt.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?18237-The-Lee-Lounge&p=889367&viewfull=1#post889367


I still have a new old stock Lee Trinity that I will post photos of tomorrow. It's mentioned way back in this thread but the photos are now missing. It is also not blocked open crown and would take some work to set it up differently.

 

[g.durand]

Rick--nice find. I agree, Lee made some nice hats and early-50s and earlier rival most other brands of the era. Steve is correct, '50s Lees seem to have been factory blocked. I have a Trinity that may even be a late '40s hat and it was blocked. There is always the possibility it was later blocked during a refurb. I have two others, an Edgelee and a Harmony, both Silver Label quality, and they appear to have been sold open crown. They appear to be late '40s or early '50s hats, but dating info on Lee hats seems to be scarce. But one thing is certain, they all have top-quality felt and workmanship.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Rick; Truly a great model of a vtg. Lee hat. Check out this thread as it showcases some great Lee hats. The model line in the 40-50's was incredibly diverse.

Mayserwegener is spot on in his post that few Lee's were open crown. I see in almost all 50's advertisements that the Lee (and even Adam fedoras of equal age) proudly stated they were pre-creased. Fad, a way to segment the market or identify a niche - I have no idea. A couple of my Lee's that I have cleaned (steam, brush, white gas bath, steam and brush then crease) never lost their crease. No way -no how.

On the other hand - marvelous felt and ribbon work. For the price in the day, I think they were a great buy for the consumer. As a vtg - excellent wearing hat.



Thanks for sharing. Best of wishes in your wearing of this fedora and the hunt of other Lees, Eric -

 

[mayserwegener]

The Lee Trinity that I posted above was new old stock from the JohnnyPhi Hirsch's find (also the one I will post tomorrow). From what I can remember the Lee's from that find were not open crown (probably mid 1950s). Also most German and Austrian hat's from the mid to later 1950s on were factory creased but this did not impact quality (see other factors like elsewhere). In both cases it was a change based on customer demand (a hat that will keep it's form which actually goes back to early 1900s) .

 

[mayserwegener]

Lee Blue Label "Trinity", size 7 3/8, probably mid 1950s. This hat is new old stock (never worn) when I acquired it (only worn a few times). As you can see it was factory machine blocked in this form and it would not take dry hand creasing (not that I would want to change it).

 

[rclark]

Very nice! Interesting that the Adventure I have did not come factory creased.

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks! Does it mention "Treated by DuPont "ARIDEX" Water Repellent Shape Retaining on the sweatband? They look to be from the same time period.

 

[rclark]

No it doesn't.

 

[mayserwegener]

It was just a change in direction. Open crown hats were becoming less popular. Men wanted hats that held their shape.

"Treated by DuPont "ARIDEX" Water Repellent Shape Retaining"

 

[hatophile]

Wow a super fine Steve. A change from your German hats. Is that from Johnny Phi?

 

[mayserwegener]

Wow a super fine Steve. A change from your German hats. Is that from Johnny Phi?

Yes this is from a while ago (the photos were missing from the original post in this thread). I am totally focused on German and Austrian vintage makers now but I have kept some American hats that were sold out of MD and DC stores.

 

[g.durand]

I just found a Lee Trinity Blue Label with labeling and other details very similar to yours, Steve. In the photos I saw it doesn't look like it has the plastic crown tip protector. It has the same $10 price tag, but no OPS label. It doesn't appear to be factory blocked. I'll post photos when I receive it.

 

[1mach1]

Lee Blue Label "Trinity", size 7 3/8, probably mid 1950s. This hat is new old stock (never worn) when I acquired it (only worn a few times). As you can see it was factory machine blocked in this form and it would not take dry hand creasing (not that I would want to change it).

Beautiful, Steve. Great color. And it's my size!