Cubs and Yankees Straw Fedora
 

Anyone ever seen these before? I picked these two up online not long ago, and they were described as being 1940's-era, but having them in hand they look almost too good. One way or another, I plan on re-selling them, and there's a voice whispering in one ear to just remain ignorant and pass them on with the same description, but the voice in the other ear (the one not spoken with a forked tongue) compels me to find out the truth first so that I can describe them accurately. Any ideas?

The logos look more like 1970s era to me. I should preface this by stating I am not familiar with these Hats, and perhaps someone on this board is. But I have collected these types of souvenirs for 20+ years, and I am very familiar with similar items sold at the Ballparks (and the evolution of team logo variations).

It would be easy to pass these off as 1940s or 50s. Neither the Cubs or Yankees logos have changed much over the past 6 decades. But there are subtleties that indicate the age of the items in question. The Yankees Top Hat & Bat logo on your Hat looks a bit more simplistic than earlier examples. This was a sweeping trend of the '70s. Just look at how the Pennants and Pinbacks of that era became more basic and less artistic.

Same for the Cubs logo. That thicker "C" really looks more '70s to me. This is just my educated guess after having viewed hundreds of items like this. I think that the seller embellished the age of these Hats by about 3 decades or so. The condition would indicate the same. There is also a chance that the plastic "Player" charms were added at a later date (to make the Hats appear older). The Player figures do look more '50s - '60s than the logos on the Hat Bands.

Sorry to ramble, but I believe late '60s/early 70s for both of these Hats. Still cool items, and still very collectible. Perhaps just not as old as the original seller indicated. Hope this helps, and I'm eager to hear what others think!

Mark

I would have to whole heartedly agree with Mark on this one.
I recall that a Nolan Ryan collector friend of mine purchased a Mets version of this hat that had Mets tickets ranging from 1968-1971 shoved into the Mets "ribbon" that surrounded the hat on eBay about 5 years ago. I would have to say that that confirms Mark's time frame.

If you want, I can ask my friend to shoot a digital photo of it so that I can post it here if you feel that this would help. PLMK

I would agree with Mark as to the time period these were sold. If I was listing them I would list them as being from the 1960's. They were probably sold for several years and it would be difficult to narrow down the year these were issued. A St. Louis Cardinals version of this hat was just sold offered on Ebay and listed properly as being from the Sixties.

I can also confirm the late 60s early 70s time frame. I still have the Mets version of this hat that I bought new as a kid in approximately 1970.
Yours are in very nice condition.

Greg
http://www.baseballbasement.com

Take a look at these Cubs logos...

http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=54

Its pretty clear to me that these hats are not 40's or 50's. The logo used was used over a 20 year period but these hats certainly have an overall late 60's look to them.

Thanks for the advice guys. Much appreciated.

Also, thank you for posting that website Andrew. I had not stumbled across it before, but that will be a big help down the road I'm sure!