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Old hats and hat box of my Grandfather


Allen Worsham

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My Grandfather was born in Texas and raised on a ranch. As a young man he worked in the oil industry as a driller in Texas and then his family moved to California in 1916 where he worked as a driller in the Southern California oil fields. A few years later he decided to get a better career as he was going to get married so he went to Barber School and apprenticed in a Barber Shop for awhile and then opened his own Barber Shop which he had for about 20 years. In the 1940's he got his Insurance and Real Estate License and operated his own shop for a number of years before he died in 1959 at the age of 61. He was always a pretty sharp dresser and always wore hats which was common for most business men in the 1920's to 1950's. He had a number of different types and styles of hats ranging from straw Skimmer hats to different types and colors of fedoras. About a month ago my sister was digging though old boxes in her garage that belonged to my aunt and came across an old hat box that had 5 hats in it that were my Grandfather's. The box did get a bit of water damage and all but 1 of the hats were in good condition but did smell quite musty. The 5 hats consisted of 1 straw "Skimmer" that was water damaged and was not repairable but it will still work to put out on display or in a shadow box. There was 1 felt fedora that looked like it had been used in a play as a "Ranger" hat and had a Ranger Service pin attached to it and had some holes in it from the play, so it got tossed. The other 2 felt fedoras were in good shape as was the 1 straw Panama.

The 2 felt fedoras I took into a shop that deals with vintage clothing and hats and they do hat re-blocking and reshaping of the crowns and brims as well as replacing the sweat bands and the outside ribbons. So I left those 2 there and he should have them both ready to go in about 2 weeks. The straw Panama was in need of some deep cleaning which the hat guy was hesitant to do as he did not want to damage the straw, so I took it home and gave it gentle bath in some warm water and a bit of clear liquid laundry soap and used a toothbrush on the stains to get them out. So after rinsing it all off I dabbed it with white towel to get most of the water out and then used a hair dryer on lightly to gently dry it and then put a hat stretcher inside to keep it from shrinking. The Panama has yellowed from the sun as it got worn quite a bit in the California sun, and I tried to gently clean the pleated black silk ribbon but it was pretty worn out and had to be tossed. So later this week I will take the Panama into the hat guy and have him re-block it and reset the crown and the snap brim front and back and put on a new pleated ribbon. It has a few wrinkles in the brim right now but the hat guy should be able to steam it and get it all smoothed out.

The hat box that the hats were all stuffed into was not in the best condition as the bottom had separated from the box and the lid had the center separated as well. It was repaired using clear tape many years ago but did not hold and i could not tear it off without tearing off the graphics from the box and lid. So the best I could do was use a tube of Construction Adhesive in a caulking gun on the inside of the box and top to hold it together. It actually worked out pretty well and my wife really likes the box and we put it out on display with the old "Skimmer" hat.  

 

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It was pretty cool Ron. I was very excited to get that box as it is from my Grandfather but also because I am a hat guy and have a few fedoras and a Panama that I wear regulay.The hat box is really cool and is from the 1940' era according to my research. Dobbs Hats are still in business and they have changed their hat box designs over the years. The box I have has images of 1920's New York City on it. That Skimmer hat that is sitting on the box is from the late 1920's to early 1930'S. All the fedoras are from the 1940's to early 1950's as far as I can find.

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Those hats are worth a fortune to the right person. DOBBS AND STETSON were once sold in manhattan and all the ritzy places.  we had a guy who used to steam and block hats here in Newark nj. back when it was a rich area but he has gotten old and no longer does it.  look for someone around who still steams and blocks hats if you want to restore them.

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I dropped off the Panama hat today to the hat guy and took a couple of cell phone photos of the 2 felt fedoras I dropped off earlier as I forgot to take photos at home. The beige one is my favorite of the 2 felt fedoras as it is more my personal style. The ribbon on that one will be replaced as it has some sweat stains on it and the hat guy has ribbon that is identical to it in his shop. It has a "Diamond" crown which was very popular back in the 1940's and 1950's but you don't see that much today as most fedoras have a center dent or a "Tear Drop" crown. The dark brown one is not really my style or color, but I really like the pin holding the pleated silk ribbon on it. The hat guy may have to change out the ribbon depending on how it holds up to the steaming process.

 

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Here is my Dobbs hat box. I am sure it is later than yours and not a cool. I really like that one you have.

 

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There were three hats inside.

 

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This one was custom for a local Men's store here in Florence.

 

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This brown one is my favorite. Here are the other two.

 

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I am very much a hat person. I may have to find a place to clean these and replace the ribbon so I can wear them.

 

 

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Those are nice looking hats John!

Well worth getting them looked at and cleaned up a bit.

 

 

I'm going to check on it. There was a place here I used to take my Stetson to get it shaped but they went out of business. I need to see if there is another place. There is a hat place downtown not too far from my office I am going to go by and see what they can tell me.

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