Was this AL CAPONE'S own Stetson?

[Marc Chevalier]

 

[Marc Chevalier]

 

[jamespowers]

The liner and logos look to be from the correct era but how would you track down the provenance? Aside from DNA typing I mean.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

how would you track down the provenance? Aside from DNA typing I mean.

I was being hopeful and tongue-in-cheek at the same time. There are no initials on the sweatband (let alone "A.C."!), so I guess we'll never know. What's undeniable is that this hat looks a lot like Capone's in the photos.

 

[Twitch]

For all intent it is the hat. It is so close as to be a twin. I'm not sure I'd care as long as you could say "yeah, it's a duplicate to Capone's."

 

[jamespowers]

I was being hopeful and tongue-in-cheek at the same time. There are no initials on the sweatband (let alone "A.C."!), so I guess we'll never know. What's undeniable is that this hat looks a lot like Capone's in the photos.

Art has the dies for the intials. We can make it really "authentic."

 

[stylinfedoras]

With all the money that man had it is more likely that he bought Borsalino rather than Stetson. But then I am not a gambling man so who knows.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

You have a point. Borsalino, after all, is Italian. But Stetson was just about as good, and Capone always called himself (in public, at least) an American businessman.

 

[tonyb]

Sounds like a job for Geraldo.

 

[Matt Deckard]

First glance makes me say no as the one on Al looks lighter in color. Though age may have darkened the hat, I doubt the hat on Al is the grey hat in the current pic.

 

[scotrace]

Lighting, flash, etc.

First glance makes me say no as the one on Al looks lighter in color. Though age may have darkened the hat, I doubt the hat on Al is the grey hat in the current pic.

Not sure I'd rule it out on color.

 

[Harry Lime]

Close but probably not.

I think it's a very cool hat and you're lucky to have one that old and that large. I think it's close to Al's but a couple of things make me doubt it was his.

1) Color. The color is a bit dark and sort of a "standard" grey. Al and certain members of his gang wore a very har to get "pearl grey." Almost white but with a bluish cast under it.

2) The hat is from Harry Lyton's. The majority of Capone's clothes, including his sil shirts and wildly colore suits, came from Marshall Field's. In it's prime Field's was much more high end, more of a Nieman Marcus of it's time, nothing like the shell it is today (for a few more months at least.)

Johnny, the guy who taught Graham everything he knows, made the Capone hat for Deniron in The Untouchables. He also owned a hat worn by one of the Feds that escorted Capone to San Quentin.

So...very cool hat, doubtful it was Al's, probable it was owned by someone who tried to emulate his style (quite possible someone in his gang.)

Harry Lime