The Official Stetson Nutria Quality Thread

[Blare]

I don't believe I remembered to post this here back in January, when I acquired it. Gorgeous blue-grey Nutria Quality. 3" brim, 5" crown as creased.

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What a fantastic hat, Mark.

 

[VoodooSan]

What a fantastic hat, Mark.

Thanks, Joe!!

 

[MikeinRome]

Stetson Boss Raw Edge, Kettle Finish, Real Nutria. Brim is just shy of 4 1/2 inches and open crown is 7 inches. Best I can tell, the Lot Number is either 233, dating this hat about 1905, or else it's X233 with a 3, 5 or 6 before the 233. The number 233 is also hand-written with a black marker on the sweatband However, I'm not sure that the mfg tags in this hat were used very early, so I hesitate to make a firm estimate of the hat's age, but it's certainly early 30's or before.

 

[MikeinRome]

Stetson Boss Raw Edge, Kettle Finish, Real Nutria. Brim is just shy of 4 1/2 inches and open crown is 6 3/4 to 7 inches. Best I can tell, the Lot Number is either 233, dating this hat about 1905, or else it's X233 with a 5 or 6 before the 233. The number 233 is also hand-written with a black marker on the sweatband However, I'm not sure that the mfg tags in this hat were used very early, so I hesitate to make a firm estimate of the hat's age, but it's certainly early 30's or before.

A couple of other photos. On the inside edge of the sweatband there's a thin gold colored line.

 

[VoodooSan]

Stetson Boss Raw Edge, Kettle Finish, Real Nutria. Brim is just shy of 4 1/2 inches and open crown is 7 inches. Best I can tell, the Lot Number is either 233, dating this hat about 1905, or else it's X233 with a 3, 5 or 6 before the 233. The number 233 is also hand-written with a black marker on the sweatband However, I'm not sure that the mfg tags in this hat were used very early, so I hesitate to make a firm estimate of the hat's age, but it's certainly early 30's or before.

Simply stunning!

 

[RossRYoung]

Nice BREKF hat there, Mike. Glad you added that last line because it’s most likely a 20-30’s hat based on the overall scope of the hat.

 

[RossRYoung]

I took a peek back through several threads, and I can’t find where I shared this one before. Should be documented here though anyway.

Dime thin and very moldable NQ felt. Nice 3ply ribbon with some slight tail frays. Very generous proportions at 6 1/2 x 4”. I haven’t worn it in quite some time because it was always too big. But the last time I wore it, I must of put the perfect amount of sweat into it because now she fits like a dream. Sweat did almost completely dry rot though, but I have no intentions of replacing it. Liner is from @Jesse John

 

[Bamaboots]

I took a peek back through several threads, and I can’t find where I shared this one before. Should be documented here though anyway.

Dime thin and very moldable NQ felt. Nice 3ply ribbon with some slight tail frays. Very generous proportions at 6 1/2 x 4”. I haven’t worn it in quite some time because it was always too big. But the last time I wore it, I must of put the perfect amount of sweat into it because now she fits like a dream. Sweat did almost completely dry rot though, but I have no intentions of replacing it. Liner is from @Jesse John

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I have a couple of 3 ply NQ's but none with the generous proportions of yours. They're great hats and that's a good find. JJ has an eye. Smith and Chandler sold a lot of western hats.

 

[alanfgag]

Nice BREKF hat there, Mike. Glad you added that last line because it’s most likely a 20-30’s hat based on the overall scope of the hat.

Agree with that... likely the first digit in the LOTXXXX is unreadable. Nice addition.

 

[Mr. Bonez]

Just scooped this Bound edge one up
and the 2nd one I sold a few weeks ago. Love these Nutria quality

 

[One Drop]

What a spectacular hat, I wish it was my size (I guess it's closest to a 7 ⅛ rather than a 7?)

 

[Mr. Bonez]

What a spectacular hat, I wish it was my size (I guess it's closest to a 7 ⅛ rather than a 7?)

I’ll take some ruler measurements of the inside for you later this morning.

 

[Mr. Bonez]

Here is the actual link
For additional photos
https://ebay.us/m/26zGj1

 

[Mr. Bonez]

What a spectacular hat, I wish it was my size (I guess it's closest to a 7 ⅛ rather than a 7?)

 

[jallison]

Just scooped this Bound edge one up
and the 2nd one I sold a few weeks ago. Love these Nutria quality

I have a Nutria Quality hat which appears barely worn; it was in my fathers things. I am planning to sell it to someone who knows about such items but first should probably educate myself -- I am wondering if it can be dated/identified by these photos? Or if someone could suggest who might be able to assist? Thank you in advance!

 

[RossRYoung]

I have a Nutria Quality hat which appears barely worn; it was in my fathers things. I am planning to sell it to someone who knows about such items but first should probably educate myself -- I am wondering if it can be dated/identified by these photos? Or if someone could suggest who might be able to assist? Thank you in advance!

I sent this to @Jesse John, he’d give it a great home

 

[MikeinRome]

What I think may be a Stetson Nutria Quality hat from about the early to mid 1930's that had work or alterations done to it. The sweatband was replaced with a Nutria Quality sweatband with a maple leaf in the Stetson emblem, and I think this was done around 1953-55. There's some oilskin behind it in places. The hatband ribbon is also a very recent replacement by the seller. This also could have been a basic Boss Raw Edge hat, since they were also Nutria Quality level. The brim was about 4 inches before making the curl. The seller told me it had damage and he trimmed off about a quarter inch. I measure the open crown at 6 1/2 inches, but the mfg tag says 6 1/8 inches, I think. The size is missing from the tag. Don't know if that's intentional because the hat size was possibly altered. The Block Number looks strange. The 2 Stetson mfg tags were put on the side of the hat and a white tag with numbers was put where the mfg tags usually are. The seller was in Idaho and he bought it there at auction from the son of the hat's owner who supposedly bought it in the late 40's, so the seller assumed it was a 40's hat. The last photo was this hat before the seller started changing it.

 

[MikeinRome]

What I think may be a Stetson Nutria Quality hat from about the early to mid 1930's that had work or alterations done to it. The sweatband was replaced with a Nutria Quality sweatband with a maple leaf in the Stetson emblem, and I think this was done around 1953-55. There's some oilskin behind it in places. The hatband ribbon is also a very recent replacement by the seller. This also could have been a basic Boss Raw Edge hat, since they were also Nutria Quality level. The brim was about 4 inches before making the curl. The seller told me it had damage and he trimmed off about a quarter inch. I measure the open crown at 6 1/2 inches, but the mfg tag says 6 1/8 inches, I think. The size is missing from the tag. Don't know if that's intentional because the hat size was possibly altered. The Block Number looks strange. The 2 Stetson mfg tags were put on the side of the hat and a white tag with numbers was put where the mfg tags usually are. The seller was in Idaho and he bought it there at auction from the son of the hat's owner who supposedly bought it in the late 40's, so the seller assumed it was a 40's hat. The last photo was this hat before the seller started changing it.

Some additional notes: The seller said he bought 2 hats from the same person at auction and both were missing their sweatbands. He received a plastic bag containing 2 sweatbands and no info about which one went to which hat. One was the Nutria Quality band he later put in my hat because it looked like it fit, and the other sweatband was a Stetson Number 1 Quality band that was too bad to reuse. The other hat he sold on Etsy, here's photos of it, along with the other Number 1 sweatband.

 

[MikeinRome]

Mid to late 1920's Stetson Clear Nutria, 3 1/2 inch bound brim and 6 1/4 inch open crown. Purchased some months ago on Fedora Lounge Classified at which time the hat had no hatband ribbon but there was a faint shadow where it had been. I replaced it with some modern ribbon I found in China, since the old stuff seems virtually unobtainable. Has Lot Number 5792, which is the exact same Number as my documented Tom Mix Clear Nutria hat. My "Stanford 28" hat (1928) is Lot Number 6086, so this Nutria hat here was made about 1927, I'd say.