I’ve had a few hats over the years. Here are a quick three hundred. I have studio photos of another two hundred or so which I haven’t gotten around to formatting and editing, then there are all the ones which never made it to the white background. There’s a pretty good cross section of styles, colors and eras represented here. Enjoy!

Now on eBay!  LINKThis vintage hat is a very interesting early style. It has a western raw edge kettle curled brim, but with dimensions more along the lines of a fedora or a homburg.  It has a western style bow, but of wide dress hat proportions.  Stetson made these around the turn of the century- but this one is a custom made job, probably from the 1960s.  It’s a great, versatile style which you rarely run across, and when you do, usually examples are 100 years old and in poor condition.  This one is like new.Size: 7Brim Width: 2-3/4″Ribbon Width: 1-1/8″    

Now on eBay!  LINKThis vintage campaign hat was made by Castle Hats, in the 1940s for the Park Service.  It has a Bri-Lea Insured Leather sweatband.  The stitching holding the sweatband into the hat is coming undone for about half of it, but as it is a reeded sweatband, it should be a relatively easy repair.  The felt has a few scattered shallow moth bites and stains, consistent with its usage in the wilds of California.  The leather hatband is tooled with fish, quail, flowers and the text “State of California”.  The leather is in very good shape. This is one of the earlier type models, with more ties to the western Boss of the Plains hat made famous by Stetson, than with the military campaign hat.  It is not vented like later models, and has a straight sided flat topped crown.  These were sold open crowned, and the owner of the hat put in the dents, unlike later models which came pre-blocked from the factory.  Size: 7-1/4Brim Width: 3″Band Width: 1-1/4″Crown Height: 4-1/2″    

Now on eBay!  LINKThis vintage fedora was made in the 1940s.  I bought it in Halifax Nova Scotia, so it’s likely that it is of Canadian manufacture.  The lining is marked “men about town”, with three men in top hats.  There was at some point also a crest and manufacturer’s name imprinted in gold on the sweatband, but for some reason, someone put masking tape overtop, and later removed some of it, taking the top layer of leather with it.  Despite this damage, the leather of the sweatband is still soft and supple, with a great russet tone.  The fur felt has that great ’30s and ’40s softness to it.  It has an underwelt brim edge, a tall crown, and is creased with a center dent.  The size tag is long gone and there is no reorder tag. The sweatband measures just over 23″, putting it in the 7-3/8 range. I wear a 7-1/4, and it is too big for me. The felt is in excellent condition.Size: 7-3/8Brim Width: 2-5/8″Ribbon Width: 1-3/8″Crown Height: 5-3/4″