Vintage Stetson

[Meggiethrifts]

Help! I need help with identifying this hat. I think it was made before 1983 bc of the workers union tag on it. I don’t know what I have here! Thank you so much in advance?

 

[The Vintage Vendeuse]

Wikipedia agrees that the UHCMW merged with ACTWU in 1983, but some hat collectors seem to believe that the UHCMW labels continued to be used into the mid-1990s, until the subsequent merger with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
Your size label includes the European size (57) as well as the American size (7 1/8). I've read that this dual sizing started in/after the 1970s, sometime after Stetson was sold off to the Stevens Hat Co. in 1971.
That barcode label looks pretty modern... I'm thinking your hat is no earlier than 1980s/90s.

 

[plousia]

I've read that barcodes were first used in 1974, but only came into wide use in the 80s.

 

[JimR56]

Hmm... when I look at that label (or sticker?) with the barcode, it looks like something that a dry cleaner might have used ("ticket number", "job number"). I don't know the age of the hat, but I'm just not sure that the barcode is necessarily an indicator of its age. Just food for thought...

 

[plousia]

Could be, but I've never heard of dry cleaners using barcodes, and it also has the hat size and shape on it.

 

[JimR56]

I thought the size and shape might have been included just as identifiers (albeit superfluous). Couldn't understand why an original label in a hat would say "ticket number" and "job number".

 

[JimR56]

 

[JimR56]

One with "job number" and a barcode...

 

[plousia]

Interesting. Those look like tags to me, it doesn't seem a dry cleaner would be likely to put a sticker on a garment that might be difficult to remove? The wording is unusual for a garment label though, as you say.

 

[JimR56]

it doesn't seem a dry cleaner would be likely to put a sticker on a garment that might be difficult to remove?

I buy a lot of used clothing on ebay and other online marketplaces. I bought one denim shirt recently that had three separate dry cleaner's labels (all from the same business) affixed to the fabric on the shirt's interior in different places. I say "affixed" because it wasn't clear to me exactly how they were attached. They were thick and durable, and maybe stitched as well as glued to the fabric. They really seemed rather permanently attached, and I didn't even attempt to remove them. The only explanation I could think of was that they were doing this for advertising purposes.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

I agree it looks to be from the 1980's or 1990's. From a price and value standpoint, it really doesn't make much difference if it is from the 1970''s 80's or 90's. Its generally the older Stetson hats (and other men's hats) that collectors look for and which have a higher value. Its a nice hat in a decent size.

 

[The Vintage Vendeuse]

I agree it looks to be from the 1980's or 1990's. From a price and value standpoint, it really doesn't make much difference if it is from the 1970''s 80's or 90's. Its generally the older Stetson hats (and other men's hats) that collectors look for and which have a higher value. Its a nice hat in a decent size.

I agree, any value would be much the same whether 70s/80s/90s. It's generally the pre-1971 Stetsons that collectors prefer... before the Stevens buy-out. And the older, the better.