Vintage Stetson Imperial Homburg Hat 1970s Fedora Size 7 1/8
$225.00
Brand Poppy's Vintage Clothing
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This is a wonderful Stetson homburg styled fedora hat. The lining is stamped “Imperial Stetson” and the sweatband is gold stamped with “Made in Canada Genuine Leather” and with the retailer’s name “Henri Henri coin Ste Catherine Est et Hotel de Ville Montreal”. Henri Henri is a venerable Montreal men’s hat shop still in business today. The label at the back sweatband states that it is a size “7 1/8” - the European type sizing of 57 is also indicated. It measures 22” around the sweatband and 7 5/8” by 6 1/2” across the opening.
The Imperial Stetson was the second highest quality that Stetson produced, comparable to 3X beaver felt. It was made in Canada, most likely during the 1970s, due to the use of the European sizing on the cardboard tag. The history of Stetson in Canada is interesting. They established manufacturing in Canada in 1935 to avoid excise taxes being levied on American exports and continued to have a Canadian presence until the Canadian operations were taken over by Biltmore in 1970. In 1982, after Biltmore filed bankruptcy, Stetson (USA) bought the assets of Biltmore, before they themselves filed Chapter 11 in 1986. So, dating this hat is a bit of a challenge - it was either made by Stetson right around 1970 or made for them under contract by Biltmore, although I think that the former scenario is probably more likely.
The hat is made in a quite unusual slight reddish tone of medium brown. It has a turned edge on the brim that is lined in grosgrain. The crown is decorated with a band around its base in the same grosgrain. The hat is in excellent condition - it looks to have use no use, it is very clean with no observable defect.