Club Obi Wan

All,

I am looking for opinions concerning the quality of Baron Hats and people's personal experiences both with the company and the hats themselves. I am looking at possibly buying a hat from them (not an Indy fedora, but their Lone Ranger hat), and would like to hear what people have to say about their products and services.

I don't want this to turn into a Baron Hats/Crystal Skull discussion. I don't care what they did or did not do in regards to the Crystal Skull, and I'm asking that it not be part of the discussion.

Moderators, if you feel this thread is inappropriate, please shut it down.

Mike

FJ, there are probably still threads about Barons in the archives if you look for them, though most are probably locked because they turned ugly. I know I've seen posts from members who have purchased hats from Barons. As long as this thread talks specifically about the quality of their products and services and stays clear of the usual mudslinging and arguments regarding the Indy hat, I'll let it go until you get your questions answered. But as soon as it goes downhill and turns ugly, then it gets shut down.

All thoughts on Baron's aside, I've only heard good things about their work. Everyone I know that has one of their hats speak very highly of them. I know Baron's has been around for quite some time. Did they make the hats for the original series?

Dave

Dave, if you do some some digging in the archives, you'll find that Baron's and the Indy connection is a touchy subject, which is what we want to avoid here. Read the archives and you'll find out why.

I have a Walt Disney's ZORRO hat replica made by Baron's. Terrific quality.

Jack

binkmeisterRick wrote:Dave, if you do some some digging in the archives, you'll find that Baron's and the Indy connection is a touchy subject, which is what we want to avoid here. Read the archives and you'll find out why.

No digging necessary, Rick. I've spent countless hours reading the limitless information on these boards. Thats why I opened that post with "All thoughts on Baron's aside..." I tried to keep my post as unbiased and passionless as possible.

Dave

binkmeisterRick wrote:Dave, if you do some some digging in the archives, you'll find that Baron's and the Indy connection is a touchy subject, which is what we want to avoid here. Read the archives and you'll find out why.

i think he may have been asking whether or not they made the original lone ranger hats... not the original indy hats.

Oh, now Bink's response makes sense. I was a little confused as to the response, but figured he was just sending some juicy reading my way, which I love. No, I know all about Baron's and Indy. I was asking about the Lone Ranger hat. Thanks WE.

Dave

Bink, thank you for letting this stay open for now. I am familiar with all of the Indy related issues, and that's why I asked for them to be left out of it. I am just concerned with the opinions regarding their products and services.

Dave, I don't believe they made the hat for the original series. Their product description says that it has been recreated from a hat that they were given by Clayton Moore and verified with information from the Gene Autry museum.

Jack, I might be sending you pm at some point in regards to your Zorro hat.

Thank you everyone for the information so far. Any more opinions/experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Sorry, Dave, I didn't realize you were talking about the LR. Next time I'll cut the eye holes in my mask before reading.

Well, we know for sure Clayton Moore owned at least one Peters Brothers hat:

http://www.pbhats.com/FAME/Default.htm



That's Joe Sr. as a boy on the left. Tom, his Grand-Dad, and co-founder of the shop is shaking hands with Mr. Moore...er... The Lone Ranger, I mean.

Regards! Michaelson

I would get the lone Ranger hat from Petersbrothers my self if they still make it.

Bending Oak, I'm not sure if they made the Lone Ranger hat to begin with. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see that Tom seems to be presenting Clayton with a black cowboy hat. I would be curious as to if they actually made the hat or not.

Mike

I met the Lone Ranger once... when I was six. He said he liked my double holster cap gun rig. It was in Fountain Hills, AZ. He was promoting White Castle Hamburgers. Kind of funny what one rememebers.

binkmeisterRick wrote:Sorry, Dave, I didn't realize you were talking about the LR. Next time I'll cut the eye holes in my mask before reading.

Maybe Mike can lend you his Lone Ranger hat once he gets it and you'll have half the costume ready for Holloween!

Dave

FloatinJoe wrote:Bending Oak, I'm not sure if they made the Lone Ranger hat to begin with. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see that Tom seems to be presenting Clayton with a black cowboy hat. I would be curious as to if they actually made the hat or not.

Mike

I don't know either way. It really doesn't matter either way to me but PetersBrothers is a Western hatter for the most part and I would think they would have a large selection of Western felt and could make most any Western hat.

That is a fact, and they've been making them since 1917.

The hat being presented by Joe's Grand-Dad (I corrected that above. It wasn't his Dad ) to Mr. Moore was indeed black, and a special presentation and request. They said it was so Moore could wear it when he was out of costume. The photo was shot in 1956 behind the Ft. Worth movie theater in downtown Ft. Worth.

Joe told me though they didn't make any of the hats used by Moore in the series or films, they have made a LOT of Lone Ranger hats for customers over the years, so it's not an un-known at all to his shop. As a matter of fact, according to Joe, the Lone Ranger was his number 1 hero when he was growing up, followed by Hopalong Cassidy, so the details have always been important to him regarding that hat. I told him him same for me regarding LR, but Roy Rogers was MY close second (since old Leonard Slye was from my hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio....Dry Run to be exact, so he was a hometown boy for me).

Anyway.....

Regards! Michaelson

I just bought a cliffhanger from Barons. I have had it a couple of weeks and it is a wonderful hat. I bought the 100% beaver. I wear it everywhere everyday. I have been on an extended canoe trip and I wore it the entire time. The only hardship it went through was extended sweating and the sun baking it.It hasn't had a lot of hard wear and tear yet but everyday it breaks in a little better. I will give it another month of canoeing and hiking and it will be perfect. So basically the quality of the hat is excellent but I can only lay claim to the beaver fedora.

As far as the company goes I would go out on a limb and say they provided me with excellent customer service. Mark mejia the owner called me personally and told me he was having trouble getting the right body for my hat because he could not reach his felt provider. He said that it would take longer to get my fedora completed then he originally intended and he wanted to ship me a loaner fedora made of fine rabbit fur until mine was complete. He also went as far as to give me a 50 gift certificate for the extra waiting period and 25.00 off another hat purchase I was making. All of this because the fedora was going to take an extra week to get it to me. And in the end he even upgraded the shipping at no extra cost so I would get it even sooner.

So basically they make an excellent quality hat and provide some of the best customer service I have received from a business. I would buy from them again with no hesitation.


Beaverlid

Baron's does alot of Hollywood work, and they have a good name from what I have heard. Nothing wrong with their work, or their hats, and they are famous, although this came about from the prior owner.

Honestly, the only complaint I ever heard, was the pricing. But, heck, they are in an area with high overheads. So, very understandable.

They still even have the head shapes of famous stars like Bogey. The shop has a long and good history. I have nothing bad to say about Barons. And if I had the bucks, I would buy a hat from them, if I needed to. Fedora

Fedora wrote:Baron's does alot of Hollywood work, and they have a good name from what I have heard. Nothing wrong with their work, or their hats, and they are famous, although this came about from the prior owner.

Honestly, the only complaint I ever heard, was the pricing. But, heck, they are in an area with high overheads. So, very understandable.

They still even have the head shapes of famous stars like Bogey. The shop has a long and good history. I have nothing bad to say about Barons. And if I had the bucks, I would buy a hat from them, if I needed to. Fedora

I can't imagine you wearing anything but an Indy hat IE: Raiders or CS. Steve if you did what would it be?

Thank you everyone for your input. I'll be sure to let you know what I decide to do (I have no idea when that will be though).

Moderators, I believe I've received enough input, so if you'd like to lock down the thread, I'm good with it.

If anyone has any other input, please feel free to PM or email me.

Thanks again,
Mike