Someone knowledgeable on WWII Era hats?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 2000hpbob
  • Start date Start date
2

2000hpbob

Guest
Hello, I recently was going through some of my fathers old things (he was a collector) and found some antique hats. I have an appreciation for the things he collected i just know very little about them so I figured I would seek knowledge from people who know more about the subject. My father was a colonel in the military during world war II these hats were most likely purchased for his civilian outfits somewhere overseas (although there is a Dobbs hat marked "made in the USA" and my father had very expensive taste so i would imagine these would be worth a bit of money. Im not looking to sell them at this time just trying to gather information about them(although if you would happen to know the value of one of them i would be curious). I have pictures of the hats i just cant figure out how to put them up on this site (if someone could explain that to me it would be greatly appreciated) but for the mean time ill just post all the visual descriptions. The first hat is a Dobbs hat it is black size 7 1/4 marked made in the USA, in the center it reads "Dobbs FIFTH AVENUE new york" and on the side it had a marking that is in cursive the first word is famous the second word starts with a B. The second hat is a "BEAVER HATS" and the marking on the side are "Pure Beaver Quality" with a emblem "Centredent" and "Custom made 7". The third hat is beige and reads in the center" MARQUE GRAND LUXE Borsaline grand prix paris 1900 Antica Casa Fondata nel 1857" The size is 5 and the side readings are "XXXXX" "Fabbricato per Giuseppe Marino". The fourth had as a soft easily bendable black hat marked in the center "KNOX new york" the side markings are "OVALIZED SIXTEENTHS TRADEMARK" "KNOX John T. Shayne&CO. CHICAGO and "F.T.W." which were his initials. Also there is a bow-tie in the collection with the markings "BROOKS BROTHERS MAKERS ALL SILK WOVEN IN ENGLAND". If anyone could provide some information about these it would be greatly appreciated. Thank You, Robert.

Heres the link to pictures(thanks pinkcoke): http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/2000hpbob/?start=all
 
Hi your picture isn't showing; either it is too big a size or you are missing a character from the file address currently showing.

The easiest way to show a picture is actually to host it on somewhere like Photobucket or Flikr; then you can post a full size picture and several in one post.
 
I usually cant view the images on my computer regardless but can anyone see the hats in the below link vv? Thank you.

2000hpbob



If not the link is http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/2000hpbob/?start=all
 
The first does not work, but it won't because it is the link to an album rather than a single picture, the insert picture button is only for one picture each.

The second album link does work however.
 
I can see them. The 'best' hat is the Borsalino, it is Italian made and it appears to be later 40s early 50s. The Knox, I would say early 50s, the Dobbs about the same. The Knox and Dobbs would have been purchased in the US. They were all good hats, all snap brim fedoras, which are desirable. However a sz 7 1/4 is on the smaller size for today's man, so that keeps the value down a bit. If you were to research closing prices on vintage fedoras on one of the auction sites, you would find the highest values are up in the larger sizes such as 7 1/2 and 7 5/8. Is the Knox missing its hat band?

The best place to read up on these is The Fedora Lounge: http://thefedoralounge.com/. Those guys really, really know their hats.

The bow tie is a really good quality formal tie for wear with a tuxedo, i.e. 'black tie'. Because it has the adjustable sizing, it was not custom made for him. As to the date, the butterfly bow tie was around through the 30s -40s, and even some in the 50s. It is a US made tie of England fabric and was sold in the US. This shape did have a revival in the 70s, of course, but this is an earlier tie.

Hollis
 
Thank you hollis, very informative. The Knox still has its hat band it is just small and blends in and is hard to see on the picture. Could you give me a rough estimate of what the value an any of these hats would be because i haven't a clue. Thanks again, Robert.
 
I haven't handled these in a while and am not comfortable giving an evaluation. If you follow ebay's closed auctions for a bit, you can get a handle on that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top