Muskrat? fur hat with label query

Pinkcoke

Pinkcoke

Alumni
Lovely and soft I think this is muskrat judging by the fur guide it certainly seems to match the description however the hairs on mine look longer than the examples shown.
It seems to have been constructed of many layers, the middle one of which I believe to be straw malts when I pick it up! Other than that it is in excellent condition and shapes itself to your head anyway. All the layers you can see are hidden under the grosgrain band when it's flipped down.
I am most interested in when this might date from and the curiously named label. I know it's pre-1962 when Griffin & Spalding were taken over by Debenhams but no idea other than that and what is the significance of writing 'model hat room' on the label? Is this a property tag? a new line or range? I read someone's memoir of working in one of these british department stores and they certainly had different floors for different areas, possibly a entire hat room?

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My "guess" is that Model Hat Room was the hat department in the store - or "better" hats anyway. I will leave the fur id and dating to others - although at first glimpse it looks late 1950's to me.
 
Ah I see model as in a model example thankyou Linn, I did think the woven straight text label was quite 50s compared to others I have but the hat style is obviously something that's been around since a man could skin a muskrat!
 
Hi,

I hope this is the hat you referred to in your recent post? I am getting a 1960s vibe from this, but it could be mid to late 1950s. The style is classic so it is hard to date it exactly. Very nicely made, with a french lining. The middle layer you refer to is willow/esparterie. Linn is right that the "Model Hat Room" was for the more expensive hats. None of the off-the-rack hats as it were. In the "good old" days, a model hat was often a hat that was custom made only....you went in to a special room or area of a store and saw just 1 hat "model" of each style, or they would bring hats out to you from a back room, sometimes modeled by an employee, and then the house milliner or their assistant would size your head and make the hat to your specifications, changing the color or trims, etc. Model hats were often copies French styles too. Always custom made and always more expensive!

I cannot help you with the fur ID, but it closely resembles mink to me.
 
Yes Babara thankyou very much, there's so much info there I didn't know! I love the idea of the model hat room, such luxury!
The darker fur at the back of the hat seems to be a tail so maybe somebody might recognise what sort it is. It does have quite a dense layer of the grey hairs though I was trying to show in the closeup.
 
Hi Pinkcoke
Just thought I'd mention that although Griffin & Spalding may have been taken over by Debenhams in 1962, it continued to trade as Griffin & Spalding, probably until some time in the 1970s when most Debenhams owned stores changed their names to Debenhams. So a post 1962 date is possible.
Ruth
 
Sorry yes that's right Ruth I'd read it somewhere but I'm still trying to sort this out. I'm contacting Debenhams about specific changeover dates because I now have 3 items relating to department stores now in their name.
 
Hi Pinkcoke, I am sorry that I did not chime in earlier. I have not been visiting here often but decided to take a peek at the posts today. I just wanted to id the fur type for you. The hat you have shown is as Barbara thought it resembled. It is mink fur.
 
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