The Resistol Roundup

[BobHufford]

Strat is the grocery getter today.

<whisper> Dude … wrong thread </whisper>

 

[Rmccamey]

Nice one, Don.

Just received this Resistol Beaver Supreme Rocker B along with a carying case. According to the seller, this had belong to her husband's grandfather late Texan US Congressman Albert Thomas.

Not a really thick felt, easily shaped with a very smooth hand. I'll most likely keep the gambler telescope crease for now due to the time it has remained like this and the likely permanent shadow. The horsehair band was already there over top the original grosgrain ribbon and not sewn in place.

It has a 2-3/4" brim and a 5-1/4" open crown, but only 3-5/8" as creased.

The case is fabric wrapped and padded on the inside which is nice, but not quite as nice as my Stetson 100 case on the outside.

I now have a Resistol Rocker B and a Stetson Rocking JB. This hat has a much nicer hand and lighter feel on the head.

I saw another Rocker B on here, and although this isn't as pristine, I'm proud to be the recipient and caregiver of this beautiful and possibility historic hat.

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[wsmontana]

It is almost impossible for me to post or read anything on this site lately but here goes…

5X Beaver Hand Creased Red Liner

 

[VoodooSan]

It is almost impossible for me to post or read anything on this site lately but here goes…

5X Beaver Hand Creased Red Liner

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VERY nice, Bill!

 

[wsmontana]

VERY nice, Bill!

Thanks Mark!

 

[Hurricane Jack]

It is almost impossible for me to post or read anything on this site lately but here goes…

5X Beaver Hand Creased Red Liner

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Can’t beat a nice vintage red liner.

 

[wsmontana]

Can’t beat a nice vintage red liner.

Yes, agreed, these are very nice.

 

[DaveProc]

Resistol 3X Beaver I picked up for $15.
1967 newspaper from behind the sweat.

 

[blewnote]

Here's a Resistol I picked up last week. Guessing it's a San Antonio based on the 5 3/4"" open crown and 2 5/8" brim to the best of my ability to measure.

Based on some other people's comments about the Byer-Rolnick designation dropping off after 1968, and the lettering on the Three X being very similar to the hat made for the Governor of Alaska that's posted in this thread I figure it dates to mid-late 60s.

It's in great shape, but very dusty. Debating leaving it the way it is or rebashing it to a diamond after cleaning it well. The felt is definitely moldable, but I think it was stored in its cattleman crease for a while because it really likes that right now!

I'd say the close up of the sweatband shows the true color of the felt, it's more of a stone color silverbelly than tan.

 

[blewnote]

 

[wsmontana]

Here is a 3X Beaver Resistol Wichita in color Cordova.

Size is 7 1/2, brim is 3 1/2”, crown is 6” as shaped and 7” open.

 

[BobHufford]

Not my hat, but I don’t recall seeing women’s specific sizing (circumference in inches) on a red-liner Resistol in the wild.

 

[ShadowXY]

Haven't gone through all 111 pages but surely have almost made it through half.

For example would this unmarked with clearly wrinkles in the folded crease area be a fur felt or wool?
Hesitant to get a hat with no fur content marking as it might not shape well.

Still have the question about the felt content of a resistol say 60'70's hat that has no mention of fur content or any X's on the sweat band. Can that mean it's not a fur felt & it's wool or maybe rabbit of rabbit/wool?

I've seen a Resistol 70's with wool written on the sweatband but wondering if a hat has no reference to the content & it's vintage say 60's 70's if it's rabbit or wool/

Resistol seems to have marked many older Fedora's with a Beaver or X content so I would imagine that no mention of Beaver means there is no Beaver but could there be rabbit?

Thanks


oooohhh would that horizontal dent bash at the top in the front be a mule kick? That's interesting but I'm preferring the Tycoon I got. Love that.

 

[Blare]

Haven't gone through all 111 pages but surely have almost made it through half.

For example would this unmarked with clearly wrinkles in the folded crease area be a fur felt or wool?
Hesitant to get a hat with no fur content marking as it might not shape well.

Still have the question about the felt content of a resistol say 60'70's hat that has no mention of fur content or any X's on the sweat band. Can that mean it's not a fur felt & it's wool or maybe rabbit of rabbit/wool?

I've seen a Resistol 70's with wool written on the sweatband but wondering if a hat has no reference to the content & it's vintage say 60's 70's if it's rabbit or wool/

Resistol seems to have marked many older Fedora's with a Beaver or X content so I would imagine that no mention of Beaver means there is no Beaver but could there be rabbit?

Thanks

Really hard to tell from the photo.

The “beaver quotient” is kind of the age old question around here. This is something that varies not only from brand to brand but also era to era. It is believed many hats even those marked Beaver X(**X) may have little to no beaver content. Even seen joked about Beaver **X means a beaver once walked through the factory where the felt was made. That being said any hat that indicates Beaver X will most likely be a 100% fur felt hat... these formulations are all proprietary… but assure if not mentioned specifically mostly hare or rabbit.

While there is no requirement to list fur content, for Wool it is required that the percentage of be on the label. You will usually see a small tag with a WPL number and the percentage of wool. That is unless it was removed.

In hand you will likely become quick to tell the difference just by touch. Wool is generally rougher texture and is usually less dense. But in photos it can be sometimes tricky. In the absence of tags there are often other tell tale signs like sweatband quality or other details. But that also kinds comes with experience.

I hope any of this is helpful.

 

[ShadowXY]

Really hard to tell from the photo.

The “beaver quotient” is kind of the age old question around here. This is something that varies not only from brand to brand but also era to era. It is believed many hats even those marked Beaver X(**X) may have little to no beaver content. Even seen joked about Beaver **X means a beaver once walked through the factory where the felt was made. That being said any hat that indicates Beaver X will most likely be a 100% fur felt hat... these formulations are all proprietary… but assure if not mentioned specifically mostly hare or rabbit.

While there is no requirement to list fur content, for Wool it is required that the percentage of be on the label. You will usually see a small tag with a WPL number and the percentage of wool. That is unless it was removed.

In hand you will likely become quick to tell the difference just by touch. Wool is generally rougher texture and is usually less dense. But in photos it can be sometimes tricky. In the absence of tags there are often other tell tale signs like sweatband quality or other details. But that also kinds comes with experience.

I hope any of this is helpful.

Thanks, It's hard to tell from photo's but it's good to know that if it's wool it needs to be labeled but then again lables can get unattached. Soyou then of the opinion that a good vintage Resistol hat without beaver or X on the band would most likely be rabbit/hare? That would be good to know as any fir felt by a reputable hat maker should be better than wool.

Guess, I'll stick to what I can see & not speculate. Thanks

 

[Rmccamey]

Here is an UNCONFIRMED felt mix purportedly used by the American Hat Company in Bowie, TX.

I find it interesting that they use the same scale for two different measures - 0 to 100X as a percentage beaver and everything above 100X as a sort of "quality scale".

Really hard to tell from the photo.

The “beaver quotient” is kind of the age old question around here. This is something that varies not only from brand to brand but also era to era. It is believed many hats even those marked Beaver X(**X) may have little to no beaver content. Even seen joked about Beaver **X means a beaver once walked through the factory where the felt was made. That being said any hat that indicates Beaver X will most likely be a 100% fur felt hat... these formulations are all proprietary… but assure if not mentioned specifically mostly hare or rabbit.

While there is no requirement to list fur content, for Wool it is required that the percentage of be on the label. You will usually see a small tag with a WPL number and the percentage of wool. That is unless it was removed.

In hand you will likely become quick to tell the difference just by touch. Wool is generally rougher texture and is usually less dense. But in photos it can be sometimes tricky. In the absence of tags there are often other tell tale signs like sweatband quality or other details. But that also kinds comes with experience.

I hope any of this is helpful.

 

[jlee562]

Don't over think it. Vintage hats are far likelier to be fur rather than wool. There were relatively fewer wool hats around because the low end of the spectrum was occupied by cheaper fur felts. Where we do see wool felts, they are usually children's hats, or like the Penney's Marathon version of a brand name maker. So the fact that you are looking at a brand name maker in the first place, makes it more likely to be fur.

The spidering you're pointing out is more likely due to the hat in question being relatively more modern rather than being wool. For another, wool hats have blocked in creases, that squared off 'trough' with a mule kick? That's not a blocked in crease.

More generally, worth revisiting this thread from Hatco:

Beaver, Hare, and Rabbit. Most know this. However within those three there a total of nine different qualities. I haven't gotten permission to post those so I won't.

What determines the qualities of the fur?

Type of Skin
Enviroment and Season
Age
Color of fur
And the process used to get the fur. (Cleaning method, shearing depth, Carrotting etc)

This is for illustrative purposes only. I do not know the ratios of fur mixtures. I am going to pick an odd arbitrary number for the X.

Lets say we have a 12X hat, (no such thing as a 12X hat) and we list the ingredients of the hat.

50% Rabbit

30% Hare

20% Beaver

Suddenly we've given our competitors an advantage. They can make a hat or they can say a hat is 40% Rabbit 35% Hare and 25% Beaver and label it as a 12X or a 9X or whatever and sell it cheaper.

How is that possible How could they sell it cheaper? It's got more of the good stuff!

Remember there 9 levels of quality of fur between Beaver Hare and Rabbit.

Well I'm going to break the rule I set for myself above and just explain it so there's no confusion. Hopefully this is not hidden knowledge.

Without getting too specific there are 3 levels of Hare fur:

Strongest to Weakest

Turkey Back
Double Ring
Single Ring

So we can make a hat that is 50% Beaver and 50% Turkey Back Hare.
It's going to be listed as 50% Beaver and 50% Hare (b/c really what is turkey back or double ring going to mean to the average consumer?) Are they willing to get that deep into it? I say no.

Our competitor can make a hat that is 50% Beaver and 50% Single Ring Hare. A lesser quality hat. If they choose to put a tag of ingredients on there it's just going to say 50% Beaver 50% hare. The same tag as ours even though it's lesser quality hat.

Joe Q Public looks at our hat:

18X 50% Beaver 50% Hare $400

Joe Q Public looks at our Competitors hat:

18X 50% Beaver 50% Hare $350

If he trusts our brand and our quality and believes in our brand he'll buy our hat.

If he is concerned about cost 1st, he is more likely to buy the competitors hat b/c the tags both list the same ratio.

 

[One Drop]

Here is an UNCONFIRMED felt mix purportedly used by the American Hat Company in Bowie, TX.

I find it interesting that they use the same scale for two different measures - 0 to 100X as a percentage beaver and everything above 100X as a sort of "quality scale".





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I recently saw an excellent long video of someone getting a 1000X built for them, taken from step to step from selecting a hood to boxing. Their description of their rating philosophy and what the X ratings represent at their company chimed with this, and actually makes sense to me in the current hat world where X inflation has become unmoored from any easily understood or useful metric. Though these modern style hats don't really appeal to me, I must say that video and others I've seen about the company certainly garnered my respect, they really do seem committed to making a superior product (at a hefty price), and to adding a bit of transparency to what they do.

 

[M Hatman]

Just got this NOS 3XB, two cord "San Antonio". Not the first I have seen with the two cord, I don't mind it but generally prefer the usual OR type crown ribbon. Has the usual 2 5/8 bound brim. Not sure when made, circa 1985 maybe??? Perhaps even as late as the 1990's? The Resistol experts can let me know. Came with the "buckle" pin and a feather (removed that). Hand creased with a very high narrow Alpine/Cattleman (usually I add gutter bumps for more headroom, though a high as the creases are, not really necessary on this hat). Crease is 4 5/8" in front/back so sits well. Will probably keep it as creased rather than do a complete re-crease as I usually do....something about this hat looks good like it is. Crown is soft but firm, brim is somewhat stiff but by no means board stiff. Nice very dark brown roan sweat (looks black in the photos, it is not). Overall, I like it, and it is a change from the usual style of this hat.

PS: I guess the union tag would date it 1983 or prior when this union merged with Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union.

 

[Frunobulax]

Just got this NOS 3XB, two cord "San Antonio". Not the first I have seen with the two cord, I don't mind it but generally prefer the usual OR type crown ribbon. Has the usual 2 5/8 bound brim. Not sure when made, circa 1985 maybe??? Perhaps even as late as the 1990's? The Resistol experts can let me know. Came with the "buckle" pin and a feather (removed that). Hand creased with a very high narrow Alpine/Cattleman (usually I add gutter bumps for more headroom, though a high as the creases are, not really necessary on this hat). Crease is 4 5/8" in front/back so sits well. Will probably keep it as creased rather than do a complete re-crease as I usually do....something about this hat looks good like it is. Crown is soft but firm, brim is somewhat stiff but by no means board stiff. Nice very dark brown roan sweat (looks black in the photos, it is not). Overall, I like it, and it is a change from the usual style of this hat.

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PS: I guess the union tag would date it 1983 or prior when this union merged with Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union.

The absence of a UPC might push it back into the 70s.