Wind Cords???

[PutALidOnIt]

I feel that the presence of a wind cord lends a distinctive touch to a classic lid, but I have a couple with cords that seem to be loose; that is, they are noticeably longer than the circumference of the crown at the intersection with the brim. It's not really that bad, the worst one wants to sit about 1/4" off the band.

This may be fashion minutiae, but just out of curiosity, is this common on certain hats, or are mine simply stretched out? I know this isn't rocket science, but I have tried taking up the slack at the bow, causing the button to dangle somewhat sloppily off the bow of the band. I have opted for the loose line rather than the dangling button. Any observations or preferences on this?

 

[Snrbfshn]

I'll ditto PALOI's question...

I have a silverbelly Borsalino with a cord that's a full coupla inches too much, with it wound all around the bow and it's still too loose on the crown. It falls off anytime I turn the hat over:

And on a few other hats the cords are a loose fit, but not as bad as above.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I guess I'm confused, as all of my wind trolleys are self-tightening, that is, with the button looped through the cord where it attaches to the bow, if you pull back on the button, and slack is taken up and the cord pulls taut against the crown. Maybe these are different; Snrbfshn, I see two cords coming out of the button, whereas mine only has one. One end of the cord is attached to the bow, and the other is attached to the button.

Brad

 

[PutALidOnIt]

One of mine that is particularly strange is a Mallory Dallas on which the button appears to be sewn to the bow (appears original, since there are holes thru which the threads pass). I am not accustomed to being foiled by such a simple device, but I'm not willing to damage the hat to find out how it works...maybe its intent is cosmetic, but I wouldn't think that an old lid would have a 'fake' wind trolley...

 

[Snrbfshn]

Brad - what you see is...

It looks like a doubled cord coming off the button, but it's where the previous owner strung the too-long cord around and through the bow to create a long loop to put the button through. I left it as it was when I got it, 'cause I couldn't figure out how to shorten the cord.

PALOI - I have a Wormser that also has a button sewn to the bow. And there's not even a pretense of a cord to imply functionality.

 

[riccardo]

Hi to all,
how wearing correctly a wind cord?
Any pics of you about it?
Best regards.
Riccardo.

 

[PutALidOnIt]

Thanks for that bit of info, Snrbfshn. It makes it an Aaahaaah; it would seem that there are different ways that the button comes into the mix. I am glad I didn't try to wrestle the button loose on the aforementioned Mallory...which brings me to another thread:

How different, within a given era, are the Stetson Stratoliner, Mallory Dallas, Dobbs Westward, etc? I'm sure there are other high crown, small-banded semi-western style fedoras of which I am ignorant...

You guys are full of great information! Thanks.
...kinda makes me feel bad when I bid against Snrbfshn, Johnnysan, etal...OK, maybe not that bad...:cheers1:

 

[MattC]

Fake wind cord

I've also got a Mallory with a fake wind cord; its a c-crown reg fedora style. I think on hats from some of the less high priced manufacturers, this was not unusual.