Stetson Labels: History and How to Date Them
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John B. Stetson opened his hat business in Philadelphia in 1865 and by 1886 it was the largest hat maker in the United States. Stetson is still in production, so a Stetson hat is dated by its construction, felt grade and labels rather than the name alone.
Company history
The Vintage Fashion Guild (VFG) records the story that Stetson made his first hat, of beaver fur felt with a wide brim and tall crown, in the Western gold fields in the early 1860s. In 1865 he opened a small shop in Philadelphia. His hats succeeded first in the American West; dressier hats were added in 1872. By 1886 Stetson was the largest US hat maker, and in 1906 it produced over two million hats, by then made with modern machinery.
Label timeline
| Label or clue | Approximate dates | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Stetson, Philadelphia | From 1865 | The company's start |
| Dress hats | From 1872 | Not only Western styles |
| Machine production at scale | By 1906 | Over two million hats a year |
What it helps date
- Separate size tags are common in 1930s and 1940s hats: vintage sizing.
- Hats are exempt from care labels, so a missing care label proves nothing: care labels.
- One United Hatters union label design ran from 1934 to 1983, so it dates a hat only loosely: vintage label lookup.
Values
Our hats and handbags values guide puts the middle half of Stetson results at about $45 to $164 at auction (23 results), with a 4X Beaver "Tom Mix" at about $720 and a Great Plains 3X buffalo felt with box at about $270 (Barnebys); the top results are high-grade beaver and fur felts. Prices are estimates as of 2026.
check sold prices for stetson vintage fedora on eBay
Sources
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Guides that mention Stetson
- Vintage Hat and Handbag Values: Hermès, Chanel, Coach, Leiber and More2026 price ranges for vintage handbags (Hermès, Chanel, Coach, Leiber, mesh, Lucite) and hats (Stetson, Daché, Schiaparelli), from sold data.
Related
- Dating Vintage Clothing by the Care LabelHow US, Canadian and European care labels date a garment: the 1971 FTC rule, the 1983 rewrite, 1997 symbols, and the clues that fool people.
- Vintage Hat and Handbag Values: Hermès, Chanel, Coach, Leiber and More2026 price ranges for vintage handbags (Hermès, Chanel, Coach, Leiber, mesh, Lucite) and hats (Stetson, Daché, Schiaparelli), from sold data.
- Vintage Label Lookup: Date Clothing by Label, RN and Union TagFree printable vintage label dating cheat sheet with union label versions, RN and WPL numbers, care and fiber law dates, ZIP codes and zipper clues.
- Vintage Clothing Sizes Explained: Why a Vintage 14 Fits Like a Modern 6How US women's clothing and pattern sizes changed from the 1930s to today, with measurement tables, and how to tell if a vintage garment will fit.