Club Obi Wan

I just learned something new over at the Fedora Lounge. It seems that back in the day, Borsalino aged their felt bodies before turning them into hats. Why? Because aged felt does not taper like, let us call it, green felt. Nowadays, no one to my knowledge ages the bodies like the old days, and that may be why new felt tapers easier than vintage felt. There may be something to this. I also heard that my felt maker used to age the bodies, but with fewer felt factories around nowadays, they cannot afford to do so. I can vouch for that, because I had to wait for over 2 weeks for them to run my bodies!! They were out, and it took that long for them to get time to do so.

There is some good news to this. Even the modern bodies(assuming they are high enough quality to be reblocked a few times), will succumb to the ageing, as the hat gets older sitting on your head, or in your closet. I had noticed that after a couple of reblocks my own hats started taking a long time to taper again, and this has to be the reason.

It seems that fine felt shares something in common with fine wine. The secret is in the ageing!! Fedora

Well then, just age the next hat for me for 2 years..........it's ok, I can wait You know, it seems to me someone submitted an article about an 'elite' Italian hattery that ages their hats for some time before they sell them....anyone remember that post?!?!?

"The most important ingrediant in making a fine hat is time." http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA ... 56,00.html The raw fur is stored for up to two years in a humid environment, then several months in a humidified room after bodies are dyed.

WOW! There really IS truth to the older the hat, the better! I bet this is why my 1920's mercury felt AB is holding up so well.

Thats really interesting Fedora.

One question though. When yuo say "age the bodies" does that mean the bodies are left alone for a few years before they are used to makes hats or are they artificially aged somehow?

It all certainly sounds logical though.

Hey Bink: Have you ever posted a pic of this beauty? . I remember it came up in discussion when someone else posted their 20's Mercury but I don't remember if you took a pic of your lid?

Sure would be nice to see it.

Ps. I'll pm you today on something else my friend.

Warmest regards
Kilgour Trout

Once I get a digital camera, I plan to take updated pics of all my gear, namely the hats! I'll post 'em when I get 'em!

bink

Here is another picture of my vintage Borsalino:

This sat in a closet in a hat box for sixty plus years. It is totally straight-sided.

BTW, my Brown 20's Mercury Adventurebilt hasn't tapered at all, and neither has my contemporary Adventurebilt, the one I took to California. And the gray one is as perfect as the day I took it out of the box.
These will age on my head and not in a closet.

Hey Hemingway, a quick question about the Brown 20's Mercury Fedora.

1) Is this an actual AB, made by our very own Fedora.
1-a) How much did it cost.
2) I thought that the mercury hats were not good for some one to wear do to the mercury content, why is this different with your hat.

Love your vintage Fedora, nice.
Say hi to Speilberg
Thanks, Croft

I can answer number's one and three

One...yes, they are actual AB's made by Fedora.

Three...no. The mercury is evaporated during the felting process, and leaves no residue, so they're perfectly safe to wear. It was the HAT maker who breathed the mercury vapors, eventually driving them mad (mad as a hatter?) that suffered the effects of mercury poisoning.

Steve no longer has these 1920's mercury felt cones, but a few of us were in the right place at the right time when he did. Yes. I also own one.

Regards! Michaelson

Indiana Croft wrote:Hey Hemingway, a quick question about the Brown 20's Mercury Fedora.

1) Is this an actual AB, made by our very own Fedora.
1-a) How much did it cost.
2) I thought that the mercury hats were not good for some one to wear do to the mercury content, why is this different with your hat.

Love your vintage Fedora, nice.
Say hi to Speilberg
Thanks, Croft

Hey Croft! Always good to hear from you.
The picture above is a vintage Borsalino that I picked up in a vintage shop (along with the 1940's tie).

Here is a picture of my vintage Adventurebilt made by our very own Steve Delk:


Mercury is used in the production of the hat and would affect the hatter over long term exposure. I suppose it would harm me were I to eat my hat, but I will be very careful to not say, "If I am wrong, I will eat my hat." Therefore, I should be fine.

For price and availability, you would have to contact Steve.

Ah, Michaelson beat me to the post once again!!!!
So, it is safe to eat my hat then?

I'd try to sell it first. You'd get more out of the process.

Regards!

Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:I'd try to sell it first. You'd get more out of the process.

Regards!

Michaelson

NO! I will never part with this hat, either by selling, trading, or eating! It is too special. "I will never let go of my precious..."

I bet Steve added crack to these particular hats to make us not want to part with them. Well, all save one.

bink

EASY there, gollum. Back to your cave.....

Regards! Michaelson

Age and taper...I thought this was a post about the middleage spread:

Your waist starts out like this: | |

You grow into this: \ /

Then after a few years into this: / \

THANK you, Fedoraman!!! That's EXACTLY what goes through my mind everytime I see that subject title, but didn't want to post it!!

HIGH regards!

Michaelson

Fedoraman wrote:
Then after a few years into this: / \

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO plz No!

You know some of us dont sleep cuz of that