1950s Peters Bros Shady Oak Banker’s Special

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271978818190
This vintage hat was made by Peters Bros Inc of Fort Worth, Texas. It is the Texas Hat, the Shady Oak Bankers Special One Hundred. Costing $100 new in the 1950s, this was an incredibly fine high end hat, made from Swiss felt. It was made for a Max Krauss. Please remember that the X rating system has inflated grossly over the years and that it has no consistency from manufacturer to manufacturer, so the 6X rating on this made it, at the time, one of the finest hats money could buy. It is a 6-7/8.

 photo edit shady oak.jpg

 photo DSCF9088.jpg

 photo DSCF9089.jpg

 photo DSCF9090.jpg

 photo DSCF9091.jpg

 photo DSCF9092.jpg

 photo DSCF9093.jpg

 photo DSCF9094.jpg

Advertisement

Peters Bros Shady Oaks Fifty

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281305948803
This vintage hat was made in the 1950s by Peters Brothers Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas. It is “The Texas Hat” – the Shady Oaks Banker’s Special. Later models would change the name to the Shady Oak, dropping the s. These were the models famously presented to presidents, and worn by wealthy Texas oilmen. It retailed for $50 in the 1950s, an extremely expensive hat for the time, and the quality really shows. I would say it is comparable to Stetson’s 7X Clear Beaver felt of the period.
The beaver felt hoods used in these earlier models were made in Switzerland. I have read they used these imported felt bodies because mercury processing was still done in Switzerland at that time, which resulted in a higher quality felt.

Size: 7-3/8
Brim Width: 3″
Crown Height: 5-1/2″

 photo IMG_0443.jpg

 photo IMG_0444.jpg

 photo IMG_0445.jpg

 photo IMG_0446.jpg

 photo IMG_0447.jpg

 photo IMG_0448.jpg

 photo IMG_0449.jpg

 photo IMG_0450.jpg

 photo IMG_0451.jpg

Peters Bros Shady Oak Bankers Special 75

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271370313623
This vintage hat was made in Fort Worth Texas by Peters Bros. It is a “Shady Oak Banker’s Special”, and originally sold for seventy five dollars, making it more than three times as expensive as an average fur felt Stetson of the time. It is made from dress weight beaver felt. The hat is styled similarly to an earlier Stetson Playboy, with a raw brim with a stitched edge detail and a thin ribbon. At some time, the hat must have had some work done, as it has a liner from Fort Worth’s other noted hatter, Hatter’s Hats.

Size: 7
Brim Width: 2-1/2″
Crown Height: 5-3/8″

Peters Bros Shady Oak Bankers Special One Hundred

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271327357768
This vintage hat was custom made by Peters Brothers of Fort Worth, Texas. It is their famed “Shady Oak Banker’s Special” model, in the One Hundred grade, meaning that when it originally retailed for $100, at a time when the average fur felt hat in a comparable style was running about $20. The hat has a seamless welt edge. Cavanagh called their version the Cavanagh Edge. Stetson called theirs the Mode Edge. The hat has a narrow, western style single cord hat band.

Size: 7-5/8″
Brim Width: 2-3/4″
Crown Height: 5-1/2″

 photo IMG_0083.jpg

 photo IMG_0084.jpg

 photo IMG_0085-2.jpg

 photo IMG_0086-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0087-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0088-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0089-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0090-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0091.jpg

Peters Bros Shady Oak Bankers Special 75

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271327370482
This vintage hat was made in Fort Worth Texas by Peters Bros. It is a “Shady Oak Banker’s Special”, and originally sold for seventy five dollars, making it about three times as expensive as a fur felt Stetson Open Road of the time. It is made from dress weight beaver felt. The hat is a dressy western style, with a short brim with a stitched edge detail and a medium width corded western hatband. At some time, the hat must have had some work done, as it has a liner from Fort Worth’s other noted hatter, Hatter’s Hats.

Size: 7
Brim Width: 2-1/2″
Crown Height: 5-3/8″

 photo IMG_0108.jpg

 photo IMG_0110-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0109.jpg

 photo IMG_0111-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0112-1.jpg

 photo IMG_0113.jpg

 photo IMG_0114.jpg

 photo IMG_0115.jpg