Vintage Biltmore Pure Beaver Grey Plush Fedora Hat Deluxe Fur Size 7 1/4

This is a wonderful men’s fedora hat made by Biltmore of Canada.  The hat is made in a high pile grey coloured pure beaver fur plush.  The brim can be turned up or worn down depending on preference.  The crown has a matching braid around its base.  The sweatband is gold stamped “Canadian Beaver”.  and the lining is stamped with the Biltmore double beaver logo and with text that reads “Biltmore Pure Canadian Beaver”  It  is sized as a 7 1/4 - it measures 22 5/8” around the sweatband and 8 1/4” by 6 1/2” across the opening.  The brim measures 2” in width at the front and the crown measures 5” in height.  The hat is in very good condition with the exception of a reddish/yellowish discolouration at the base of the crown mostly at the left side, a bit at the front - I’ve had another Biltmore plush like this previously and realized that it was caused by contact with a feather that had been there previously.  The best way to deal with this is simply to replace the feather/feathers in the left area or re-band the crown.

Biltmore was founded in 1917 and was Canada’s premier hat maker, rival to Stetson.  In fact, after Stetson (Canada) went on a Canadian acquisition binge during the 1960s, Biltmore was able to eliminate its main competitor (Stetson) by buying it in 1970.  In 1982, after Biltmore filed bankruptcy, Stetson (USA) bought the assets of Biltmore, before they themselves filed Chapter 11 in 1986.  The Biltmore brand was withdrawn from the market from 1982 until 1988, when a group of Canadian investors revived it.  Biltmore has always been a quality maker, even producing the Dobbs and Knox brands in Canada.

This is a fabulous hat, rarely seen pure Beaver plush - great look and very nice quality!