What year did Stetson switch to black leather sweatbands?

[MattJH]

As I understand it from reading this forum for several years, the Stetsons with black leather sweatbands are considered a sign of a downturn of the company's quality in craftsmanship. I just received this stingy Royal Stetson in 7 5/8 Long Oval. As you can see, it was fairly poorly listed and photographed, hence the low price (I'm assuming). The felt is very thick and malleable, and it has an olive tint to it (it'd be a good Oktoberfest fedora). I like it a lot so far and I'll post pictures later. But in the meantime, it has the black leather sweatband and my curiosity is piqued. If it helps, it was sold at The Jones Store, an apparently well-known Kansas City department store.

 

[Woodfluter]

Not to complicate the matter, but my Open Road 25 has a brown (not black) sweatband, and I'm guessing it is from the 60's. And my vintage Royal Stetson long oval has a grey sweatband. Both of them are definitely not the "classic" tan color, nor the later black.

Hence I wonder...was there an abrupt transition or a gradual one with permutations? Or did they indulge in different sweatband colors for different hats for a while in the past?

[muddying the waters here]

- Bill