Just had a nice visit at PB this morning and discussed Milan hat restoration.
Joe Peters created the first bespoke Milan straw Indy back in 2005 (I still have it), and many folks have ordered it since.
Apparently Poppa Joe ordered a thousand each of 3 inch and 2 inch brim bodies, and they’ve been working through that inventory ever since 2004!
They are getting low on the 3 inch, so if you’ve had an itch to buy one someday, you may want to pull the trigger pretty soon. They don’t just make Indy hats out of these bodies.
This body is definitely a sunblocker where many aren’t, and last for decades.....literally!
They can replace the ribbon and sweatband, and attempt to add a little stiffner to the straw, but once it starts to loosen up, there’s not much they can do to the hat.
Staying out of the rain is best, but if you WEAR your hat, as you well know, you never know what Mother Nature will throw at it.
I was told one customer had his Indy straw on a cruise and it blew off into the ocean. They eventually fished it out and once dry, it was sent back into PB for refurbishment. They said they were QUITE surprised how well it survived, but didn’t recommend doing that.
I was also told they made a 6 oz Winchester felt hat for a customer recently (in their rating system, a 1000x beaver) that I didn’t even know Winchester offered as a felt weight!
Anyway, Peters Brothers are still there, hand making hats like the have since 1917 and are still a part of our collective history here in the hobby, as other than the makers like Steve Delk and HatsDirect, they were the FIRST to offer bespoke Indy fedoras and one of the FIRST vendors to hold and Indygear summit at the shop.
Nice people.
Regards! Michaelson
(dang, I'm sounding like my late Dad now! 
)
hope it is mine!
