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.
Tag Archives: The Texas Hat
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″