HELP- Dating Vintage Cain-Sloan (Tennessee) Hats

Hi All,
I have recently found 3 vintage Cain-Sloan (Tennessee) hats that I am having trouble trying to date. I have spent hours researching the tags, with little success. There really isn't a lot of info out there about the Cain-Sloan department store, and only one tag is shown in the VFG label resource. Since I am pretty new to educating myself on hats, I was hoping someone out there with more experience can help me. I have attached the photos of the 3 hats, with the corresponding label for each one. Thoughts anyone?

1. Blue/white hat- 50s??

2. Black velvet hat- All over velvet with pink interior lining. Black satin accent in center of front bow. I was told 40's but I am not convinced.

3. Grey velour hat w/ bead and sequin accent- Was told 40's, which is a good guess, but wanted another opinion. I do think this one is the older of the three, due to the missing gold CS emblem between the S & L in Sloan.

Also, any info you could share with me on how you came to these dates, would be greatly appreciated...The more I can learn, the better I will know when I see another one

Thank you!!!

 

It is not easy to date accurately from just your photos, but here is a good estimate.

#1 is late 1950s to early 1960s

#2 is mid 1950s, possibly early 1960s

#3 is early 1950s, possible very late 1940s.

 

Thank you! Do you have any recommendations on books that I can purchase that will help with dating hats?

 

In my humble opinion, the best books out there as far as dating hats are the two editions of Susan Langley's "Hats and Bonnets 1770 - 1970". The first edition is 1998, and the expanded revised later edition came out in 2009. If you can, buy both editions. Nothing else really compares.

You can always post photos here of your hats, we are more than happy to help in dating them.

 

Thank you Barbara! I have heard great things about the Langely books from other threads, so it was great to hear that you recommend them as well! I went ahead and purchased them both, but I'm sure I will still need to post photos of hats that are trickey to date!

Thanks again!

Nicole