Club Obi Wan

About a year ago Steve and I discovered something a little bit unusual.
No! Not that picture of Bink in a Kilt! Mind you he's got some great
looking legs eh (Hold it...Did I just say that out loud?)

Well....I really didn't know what I was looking at when I sent Steve a pic and asked "When did Cavanaugh make a Western Hat?" Well, from what Steve
knew this was perhaps just a bit rare.

Now I won't go into the story of how this hat was rescued from the ebay
mob by a true gent, while I was out servicing Aircraft that Night!
Since then, the passage of time has gone quick and the wait has resulted in this....take a gander at the legs on this lid eh? Sorry Bink!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/K ... avIndy.jpg

Folks...Steve has Created something unique, A Cavanaugh Indy.

Hat's and Hatmaker's don't come like this often.

I hope Steve can drop a few cent's of what he got and how he worked to
get it to this.

Warm Regards
Kilgour Trout

SWEET! I like the color of that hat, to boot! (Nevermind there's no plaid in the picture. )

I've often heard it mentioned, but what exactly is the cavanaugh edge? I know this isn't technically what the discussion's about, but this is as close as I could get. Love the hat btw. Nice to see it get rescued from evilBay. :junior: -IJ

A Cavanagh edge is a brand name edge where the felt is folded onto itself without any stitching. The generic term is the under or overwelt edge, although other versions have visible stitching or are glued to look like that. Think of it sort of as a bound edge using the felt itself.

From what I can determine, about the only western style Cavanagh made during the Hat Corporation of America era was an Open Road style. I don't think they really tapped this market until the Koracorp period, post-1972.

Steve, did you get a feel for the age of the hat? I know Cavanaghs are notoriously hard to date, since they tended not to change over time.

Brad

Kilgour Trout wrote:About a year ago Steve and I discovered something a little bit unusual.
No! Not that picture of Bink in a Kilt! Mind you he's got some great
looking legs eh (Hold it...Did I just say that out loud?)

Sorry, I just had to.


Kilgourm, forgive me. It really is a beautiful hat.

Steve, did you get a feel for the age of the hat? I know Cavanaghs are notoriously hard to date, since they tended not to change over time.

I have no idea. But it was a western hat, soft crown, very stiff brim. I had no clue Cavanagh EVER made western hats. And this is the first one I have ever seen. Now, I have a question, was the Cavanagh brand name ever bought by anyone, later on? You know, like Hatco has bought Resistol, Charley One Horse, etc? I have a hard time believing this was made by the original Cavanagh Company. But it is there, as clear as day, on the tip of the liner and sweatband. By the way, the liner was glued in, but I don't know if this was done later on by the owner, or if it was done this way by the factory. All the Cavanaghs I have ever owned came with a hand sewn in liner. But, I have only owned 3 or 4. All came with the Cavanagh edge treatment, but of course this one is raw brimmed. Fedora

Hat Corporation of America (not the same as the current Hatco) got out of the hat business altogether in 1972 and sold their licensing rights to the Cavanagh, Dobbs, Knox, Crofut & Knapp, Dunlap, Champ, Byron, and Berg brands to Koracorp, who owned Byer-Rolnick. This is why I consider a true Cavanagh to have been made only between 1928 and 1972. After '72, the quality was nowhere near the same, as you end up with things like glued-in liners.

This sounds like a '70s hat for sure. I have one from that time period with a glued-in liner, but the liner has poor quality printing. Surprisingly, though, it has a Cavanagh Edge.

The new Cavanaghs that Hatco makes these days are about the same as the 1970s quality. John Cavanagh is probably dizzy from all that spinning in his grave.

Brad

Ah Well...It may be fools gold
but it's still a dandy lookin hat for a fool like
me

Actually, I think that with the new AB sweat and
reblocking it probably increased in quality to a factor of 100 .

My Momma would say it just take's a bit of "Luv"
to change it into something special .
But really, it's the hands of a craftsman that makes all the
difference. Look what folk are paying for a basic Rabbit
Fedora from HJ.

It may sound over the top, but Steve can take a lump of
coal and turn it into a diamond that Mr. Cavanaugh would be
happy with. So...Send me my Coal and I'll put it on my head with
Pride eh!

Cheers
Kilgour Trout

Oh, it's definitely better now than as it came from the factory! There's no denying that, and it's far better than any factory hat today. Enjoy it!

This little gem helped me out, as well. I'm working on a history of Cavanagh (started out as a history of the Cavanagh Edge!), so even little pieces of information that I can glean like this are invaluable to me.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Brad

Brad...Hearing the history of Hat's and Hatmaker's is immensely
interesting to me. I really need to do some digging as well.
Could you make some recommendations on any books or
historical sites?

I know it may sound weird but I often fall asleep
thinking about hat blocks and how things are done to make a hat. .
Uhh..maybe I said too much 8-[

I'd sure like to hear you speak at a Summit!

Warm Regards
Kilgour

Well...it was worth the wait!

A certain Cavanaugh with some AB charm showed up at my
door today all the way from Mississippi!

It has all the cue's of the classic Indy with something
new about it. The colour is amazing, the block unique
and even though it may be a later Cavanaugh it sure has much
improved feel.

So...take a look.
Please Ignore the homely dude under the hat, unfortunately
he seems to be around for most of my shots, for some strange reason

Steve...it's fantastic!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/K ... CN1374.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/K ... CN1373.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/K ... CN1375.jpg

Cheers
Man...I feel like could fight Commies in this for some strange reason

Kilgour Trout

KG, I think that is the perfect bash for that hat! A tight pinch wouldn't do it justice IMHO of course.

Peace.

that hat fits you really well. congrats!

Thanks Bemo and Chiliana!

You know, it's always strikes me as funny that the only time I
think to get a shot of a hat is when I'm not dressed for it eh!

The 3/4 shot is nice but it doesn't do the block shape full justice.
The pinch is about 4 3/4's and the front and sides reflect the new Indy lid
I think.

I'll try and take a couple more shots tomorrow and post them so you can
see the excellent work Steve has done on this.

I'm wearing it for sure, with shirt and tie tomorrow

Cheers
Kilgour Trout

Very nice, Kilgour! I love that color.
Good job, Steve.

Brad

And such a handsome guy to boot! Glad it suits Rob. High regards to my friend up North! Steve