Help with information about this beret please

[bluejeandreamin]

I just picked this wool hat up at the thrift, it was too good to pass up!

I'm having a difficult time finding much about Mr. Martin as a company, other than a page on the Lafayette Preservation Society. Just curious if anyone knows more about them, and would love to get an idea of which decade this may be from. I'm thinking 70's. Thank you in advance!

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Hi,

What a great color for a beret. I have no information about the maker, but have had a number of Mr. Martin hats over the years. If my memory serves me, they were all from the 1960s. Not sure if there was a real Mr. Martin or if it was a made up name, like a trade name for a large hat making company.

We have a few members here with access to old newspapers and such, so maybe one of them can dig up more info.

 

[bluejeandreamin]

Thank you that is helpful! I was thinking that it wouldn't likely have a union made label if it were made by a small operation (husband and wife) as stated in the article I found. Your point of being part of a larger company makes sense. I think the union stamp even mentions hatters, but I can't quite read the other words.

 

[lkranieri]

I was not able to find much information about Mr. Martin hats, but what I found thus far is:

-- I started seeing mentions of Mr. Martin hats around the mid-1960s and I think the latest mention I saw was in around 1978
-- a small mention in an article in a 1969 newspaper noted: "At the budget hat level, George Gross, president of Mr. Martin, said that he has been figuring costs so closely that he will have to increase prices."
-- from a 1961 article: "...hat manufacturer George Gross of Forest Hills...(leaves) Sunday for (an) Israel vacation..."
-- the 1950 federal census for Queens in New York listed millinery manufacturer George Gross, born in NY in 1908
-- a January 1998 Florida newspaper reported the death of George Gross of Palm Harbor who was born in New York City and who "...worked as a ladies millinery sales executive..." I have no idea if this obit is for the same George Gross who was president of Mr. Martin, but I am guessing it is that same person.