Mr. John, maker of church hats?

cmpollack

cmpollack

VFG Member
Along with the various vintage examples, a recent search for Mr. John hats turned up a slew of new ones at designer millinery sites.

They seem to be all be referred to as "Mr John Classic", though I couldn't find a label shot (ie to see if the label is the same as the "Mr John Classic" label used some fifty years ago...

Here are two sites carrying the line:

http://frimaging.com/php/store.php?cid=2&PHPSESSID=109c8a5faa7f751356586e9b1ff263e4

http://www.samuelshats.com/Catalog_c207459.html

Anyone know who bought the Mr John name?
 
Yes, I did see that site Marge--thanks!

Between the USPTO site and a fascinating article Lynne the Amazing Vintage Sleuth pointed me at, I have concluded that the current manufacturer of the hats is Kathy Jeanne Inc.. (I'd definitely recommend reading the article Lynne linked me to, which is an interview with Sal Cumella, a lifelong hat-biz guy and ultimately a millinery designer and vice president for Mr John himself).

No one actually seems to own rights to the Mr John Classic logo right now (though Kathy Jeanne apparently uses it in their hats); it was originally filed/used in 1961, and then from 1994 to 2002 it was owned by the Mr John Fashion Boutiques. Maybe Kathy Jeanne has filed for it but it is pending?

Anyway, the Dorel Hat Co was acquired by Kathy Jeanne from Sal Cumella in 2005, so that's where the hats are coming from.

However they came by the label, the new hats don't bear any resemblance (physical or spiritual) to 60s Mr John Classics, IMO!
 
Hi,

Great topic!... and thanks for all the links and info. I remember when I managed a hat shop long ago, and Kathy Jeanne was first starting out, just a small family business. We had a few of her first line of hats. There was also a story about her in our local NJ newspaper, with her photo and some of her first lines of caps and sports hats, and they showed a few pretty vintage 1930's inspired hats with veils and tiny flowers. I loved those. Now the company is huge and taking over the biggest labels. I am really flabbergasted! Who knew??

The Mr. John label seems to just go on and on and on forever, taken over again and again. So funny!! The hats today (to me) just don't have the quality though. Not too many "ready to wear" hat makers have the old world craftsmanship and milliner touches. Even many of the $400.00 ++ hats are made of pressed wools which are inferior but still sell. Even in 1990 we had Jack McConnell church hats that retailed for over $600.00 and they were cheap wools, plastic pearls, turkey feathers, and ALL the trims were GLUED on!! Yuck! Can you guess I am not a fan of JM hats? Louise Greene of course still makes quality and uses the fur felts and velours. I have a photo of John from the 1960's....and should post it here...he looks very happy with his toupee a bit askew! Thanks again for the links, I loved reading them!
 
Even in 1990 we had Jack McConnell church hats that retailed for over $600.00 and they were cheap wools, plastic pearls, turkey feathers, and ALL the trims were GLUED on!! Yuck!
Click to expand...

That is very, VERY sad (and yuck indeed!) Makes you wonder if the reason women don't wear hats much these days is because most of the ones currently available just don't induce covetous and lustful cravings a la the older, painstakingly fashioned beauties...

And if you have a pic of Mr John, you MUST post it here, by all means!
 
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