(January 3, 2014 at 12:04 pm)pocaracas Wrote:Can't argue that one. They all definitely look similar. The Open Road is a near twin cousin to the Stetson Stratoliner which came out in the late 1930s-early 1940s. Both hats have the same ribbon treatment and open crown height. The major differences between the two are the brim, for one. Both came in the same varying brim widths though. The Stratoliner was a true fedora where the Open Road is a dress western style fedora with a bit of a cowboy curl to the brim. Also the felt density varied between the two. Open Roads, (and cowboy hats), were made with a heavier fur felt of usually Beaver and Rabbit mixed, indicated by a number of Xs on the leather sweat band. The larger the number of Xs, the higher the percentage of Beaver fur in the blend of the felt. The Stratoliner was made from a lighter weight "dress" felt, Rabbit. The Stratoliner also had a wider range of color choices as well. Other collectible fedoras included the Stetson "Whippet" which usually had a wide brim with the edge bound by a ribbon. In the very first Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger wore a Whippet. Another collectible is the Stetson "Playboy". It has a nice brim treatment of three rows of stitching around the brim. Most of these vintage hats come with a big price tag reaching to hundreds of dollars. It takes a lot of patience and waiting for the right one to come around at an affordable price. I just scored another one off a bidding site that I paid around $50 for. The resale value on that hat is $400 +. The big Western I showed a couple pages pages back, I only paid $6 for. But I can resell that one for around $200. Collectors won't think twice about dropping big money for one. If you want a nice fedora, make sure it's fur felt and not a cheap inexpensive wool felt.(January 3, 2014 at 11:26 am)A Theist Wrote: Another in my collection of vintage fedoras and Western hats...This one's a Royal Stetson Open Road fedora...No offense, your collection seems cool, but all your hats look the same to me...
How are there "open road" versions and others?
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