Dating Vintage Max Eckard top hat with surprise inside

[carla rey]

Hi all!

I'm listing this Max Eckard top hat with original box. I've had it for quite a while, I just sort of forgot about it. From what I've learned the Max Eckard shop in Berlin did not survive WW2.

The hat itself is perfect. It has a nap to the outer fabric, is it silk plush?
Leather sweatband with ribbon running thru, number 59, and little monogram staples reading 'FH'. The hat measures 5 and 3/8th inches high, inside head size is 23 inches around.



My favorite part? The Berlin newspaper stuffed inside the hat from 1935 with cabaret advertisements.

 

[Avantbo]

Fantastic! I wonder who FH was?

Germany by that time, economically was heading for a fall but heads in the clouds--and then a fruit case made it all the more worse.

Use to get this a lot when renovating properties, under thread bare carpets or stuck to floor boards WW1, WW2

Do you have any info on who Max Eckard was?

 

[carla rey]

Fantastic! I wonder who FH was?

Germany by that time, economically was heading for a fall but heads in the clouds--and then a fruit case made it all the more worse.

Use to get this a lot when renovating properties, under thread bare carpets or stuck to floor boards WW1, WW2

Do you have any info on who Max Eckard was?

Very little on Max Eckard on the internet at all, just references to hats with no information on who/what/when he was.

 

[GemGem]

Very little on Max Eckard on the internet at all, just references to hats with no information on who/what/when he was.

You have probably already checked but sometimes there is some info on the inside on the hat under the leather band or to the reverse of it. Looks like silk plush to me. LOVE the newspaper sheets! I’m always intrigued to learn the local news back in the hay day of the item!

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

what a treasure, Carla!!!

 

[anothertimevintageapparel]

You need to contact the German guy on IG. I will tag you later. He wears and collects.
But, can one ship to Germany?
And Excellent piece

 

[carla rey]

Thank you Suzanne, yes please tag me.

 

[denisebrain]

I don't know if you mean Claus Jahnke Suzanne? https://www.instagram.com/clausjahnkecollection/?hl=en
He would know if anyone. He lives in Vancouver BC.

 

[anothertimevintageapparel]

No, Wilhelm Zeppelin, he is in Germany. But, yes Claus would know also

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

What a great find, with that hat box. Yes, silk plush. As we have discussed with other antique top hats, dating exactly is often difficult. I would place it WWI to 1920s. Those newspapers!!!

The fact that is is 23" around the interior makes it an even nicer find, most that survived seem to be size small.

 

[carla rey]

thank you everyone for the great advice!

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

Nice one, Carla. Those newspapers such a bonus!

 

[Midge]

Don't know if you found this too... here's a postcard from 1906 showing Friedrichstrasse in Berlin and a big advertisement of the Max Ecakrd factory on the side of the house (but no indication that the factory was really there): https://oldthing.de/Berlin-Friedrichstrasse-Hut-Fabrik-Max-Eckard-Kat-Berlin-0024400666
There's a few more Eckard top hats listed on Ebay Germany.
What makes the search a little difficult is that there was a German actor who went by the same (stage) name - not that I've ever heard of him before!

 

[BonniesVintageClothesLine]

You're top hat looks like the condition is excellent! Hope you have good luck in finding out more about this great hat and also good luck with getting a really nice price for it, too.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

I have also been thinking about the hat box. If it is original to that specific hat (which we might assume it is), those types of hat boxes fell out of favor around WWI. I am not sure about Germany specifically on this. The box actually looks more late Victorian to early Edwardian. The hat might be that early, maybe 1900-1910 but I still think a tad bit later. It is really quite a find.