Moderators: Indiana Jeff, Dalexs
And because of this rarity, do I even consider posting a pic of me at all. 
The hat looks good on ya. 
I love those Stetson's you own.
Yeah, it's just the lighting. This hat is a tannish/greenish hat, so I guess a tan hat with some green undertone.In that lighting, it reminds me a bit of the camel color AB you just made me, Steve!
Fedora wrote:I had a fellow fan fly all the way down to meet me last week, and he got the cashier at my local coffee stop to snap this pic of us. This is a rare pic, mostly because I hate cameras.
Had a great conversation with Rodney, and it just reminded me of how much I miss talking to the fellow gear heads.
Now, the color is not an Indy color, but I like this vintage hat so much that it is part of my hat rotation. Plus, it won't taper!! I use it alot on rainy days, along with my beaver hats. Although on this day, it did not rain. Just grabbed it as I was walking out the door.
Too much of a rarity if you ask me. We need more Steve Delk photos around here. Great hat buddy. At least I think so, given the tiny little blurry picture.Fedora wrote:This is a rare pic, mostly because I hate cameras.
given the tiny little blurry picture.
That's my affect upon cameras. They generally take their last pic, when they take mine. Looks like this one pooped out BEFORE the pic was totally exposed. I have done some reading on the stones. I am an Atlantis junkie. I'm really into it. I've read the Edgar Cayce readings and researched the Sphynx and its connection quite bit. But, that wasn't me.Fedora wrote:Oh, Dave, did I just see you on a History Channel film? Looked like you and your name was in the credits. The show was about those stones off of Bimini I think, the ones some think may be remants of Atlantis. Fedora
So, any Ulloa is connected to me someway or another. Good eye, though catching that name and thinking of me. 
Starring Ray Romano as Steve Delk.. that would be.. horrid! But, it'd be better than Everybody Hates Steve, especially since that simply isn't true.binkmeisterRick wrote:It's the gearheads' favorite show—Everybody Love Steve!
Worn by the Master himself. 
My theory is, fur ages and no longer will react to the heat, or the wetting/ drying phase a hat will go through. This theory is slowing approaching the factual, due to a scientific, but old paper that was posted on another site, that pertained to felting, and the chemicals used. This paper stated that once raw fur got too old, it lost its felting qualities. Why? Because if fur is not felted when it is within a certain age, the scales that chemicals raise up, basically fall off of the fiber. These scales are what creates "felting" or matting in the first place, so, few or no scales means the fur won't felt. I extrapolated this to also mean, a vintage hat has the same thing to happen to the scales, that interlock to form felt. They fall off, or get damaged with age. Except in the case of a hat, the hat remains felted, but no longer "felts" or shrinks, as no scales are there, or few are there to interweave, even more than they did when the hat was first made. I term those old hats as having dead fur. No longer alive. The "alive" term was found in a hatting book, where an old hatter was telling one reason fur was so hard to work with, i.e. in feltmaking, was because as he termed it, "fur is alive" and has variations. FedoraSteve, you were saying that a vintage hat like that is most resistant to tapering? What makes one like that more durable than our modern felt hats?
I read a post awhile back and I think it had referenced the mercury being outlawed in the very first part of the 1940's (Brad, was that your post from somewhere way back???). I would think that mercury felt stockpiles likely were made into hats throughout the 1940's and possibly a few past 1950, though...Fedora wrote:Oh, I just wanted to add, that I have never had any of my vintage hats to taper. But, my vintage hats were made mostly in the 40's, a few in the 50's and a couple prior to 1940. Many of these were probably mercury carroted hats, as I think they outlawed the use of mercury in the US in 1947 or 48. Did the use of mercury figure into the taper proofness of vintage hats. I really don't know for sure. Probably not, as the age factor I feel is the main culprit. But, that's just an opinion. Fedora
They still turn up every now and again in old established hatmakers dead stock to this very day.XPLSV wrote: I would think that mercury felt stockpiles likely were made into hats throughout the 1940's and possibly a few past 1950, though...
Bernie
You better believe it! Bout 3 years ago, my bud Sharpetoyes found a little known hatter up north. A Greek chap, past retirment age, who had mercury bodies in the basement of his retail hat shop. He mostly sold factory hats, but would make you one, if you wanted. Sharpetoyes I think bought every vintage mercury body the guy had, in the form of a hat. And, he stole them, pricewise. The old hatter's name was Gus. I think. Boy would I love to spend some time in his basement, with all of those old blocks and hand hat tools. It would be like a museum experience, for me.They still turn up every now and again in old established hatmakers dead stock to this very day.
