Up for offers we have a legendary western model from Stetson: \"The Boss Raw Edge.\" The impressively proportioned \"Boss\" was a pretty big seller for Stetson during the teens & twenties of the last century. The Boss was blocked with a massively tall crowns and a nice wide brim finished with an attractive pencil curl. Naturally, these sold well among the folks out west who were still living an honest-to-goodness \"western\" life style, but they would also pop up here `n there on the heads of American gents who were from slightly more urbanized walks of life. Heck, The Boss would even show up in eastern cities now & again. I guess we can thank the silent screen for that: one of the new medium\'s most popular genres back then was the cowboy picture. Long before Indiana Jones turned a mere hat into a key facet of a movie character\'s persona, heroic cowboys like Tom Mix galloped across the silver screen performing feats of derring-do---all while sporting cowboy hats with majestic profiles similar to the one you see here.Stars like Tom Mix may have helped bring hats like Stetson\'s Boss Raw Edge into the realm of fashion, but that little trend ended many decades ago. The same goes for hats like this Stetson: while there are any number of contemporary reproductions of hats styled this way out there today, their often slipshod construction quality renders them little more than pale, costume-like imitations of original hats like this Boss. If you\'re used to experiencing the unpleasant cardboard-like quality of the western-weight felts being produced today, then you\'ll find handling this Boss Raw Edge nothing short of a revelation. This is a beautifully fashioned hat that was made using materials & production methods that fell out of use before the beginning of the Second World War. No one has made hats like this Boss for a very, very long time. Tags, stamps, and trimmings on this Boss Raw Edge indicate it was produced sometime during the mid-1920s--very early 30s time frame.That means this lid is around 90 years old and I regret to report it is showing its age a little, as you might expect. Actually, the hat is structurally sound and reasonably clean, so it is wearable. However, as so often happens with felt hats that have been around this long, some hungry moths have done quite a bit of nibbling on this once-mighty Stetson. Nevertheless, despite the presence of these moth divots, I\'d say this terrific Boss is still sufficiently large & in charge to make an impressive display item. If you\'ve been looking for one of these sought-after but seldom-seen Stetsons, you\'ll want to read on for all the pertinent specs & condition details:Size & Dimensions: Circular size sticker by the sweatband seam lists the size as 7 1/2. The sweatband seems to have drawn in a little over the years, however, as the hat appears to fit a bit smaller. I measure the internal circumference (hard to do with absolute accuracy) as around 22 3/4\" or so. I wear a size 7 1/4 myself and this hat fits me fairly well---it\'s only a wee bit loose on my noggin. It definitely doesn\'t seem two whole sizes too large.Brim measures 3 3/8\" out to the beginning of that elegant pencil curl. Crown as creased is 6 1/4\" tall at highest point (crown is nearly 7\" tall open). Grosgrain ribbon adorning the crown is 1\" wide. Brown leather sweatband is 1 7/8\" wide.Condition: The felt & finish here are pretty spellbinding. This hat is rendered from Stetson\'s \"Clear Nutria\" fur felt, which makes this Boss even more of a rarity. Nutria fur makes for a wonderful felt hat, but the felting & finishing process is considerably more difficult & labor-intensive than it is with other fur fibers. This extra work added a couple of bucks to the price of a hat in Stetson\'s Nutria line, which probably placed them out of reach for a lot of folks. For a variety of reasons, Stetson didn\'t make a whole lot of these Clear Nutria hats---it\'s exceedingly rare to see one from this era at this late date. That\'s a shame, because handling this felt is a real delight! The felt is quite smooth, rich to the touch, dense, and extremely supple. You can mold it into your desired shape with ease---almost as if it were made of clay. I didn\'t put much effort into creasing this Boss: like a rough-hewn cowboy of old, I just karate-chopped the center dent & squeezed the front of the crown to create the pinches you see here. I admit I\'m a pretty poor excuse for a cowboy, so you may wish to change the crease. Once you have the hat in hand, you\'ll be able to do so with a few deft flicks of your fingers. It has been ages since any hat company has had the resources, skill, and incentive to produce felts with the marvelous texture & tactile responsiveness of Stetson\'s circa 1920s Clear Nutria.The taupe-colored felt is fairly clean: I don\'t see any major stains or blemishes. There\'s a faint smudge or two to indicate ordinary handling, but that\'s about it. A clean & block might help restore a bit of the hat\'s original luster, but it looks pretty good now. The grosgrain ribbon treatment was once a cream color that I\'m sure was quite lovely; unfortunately, the grosgrain has oxidized a bit over the years. That process has left a band of discoloration around most of the ribbon, as you can see. By the way, the frayed trailing end of the ribbon treatment\'s \"bow\" is not a consequence of the aging process---that fraying was executed by the nimble-fingered ladies working in the Stetson factory finishing room; this fraying was supposed to demonstrate the quality of the grosgrain ribbon. This practice was a common element of hat finishing during the 20s & 30s; most hat companies eliminated this labor-intensive feature during the postwar era in the name of production expediency.As I indicated above, some malicious moths have done a bit of feasting on the felt. It looks like they never actually made it all the way through the felt---I couldn\'t find any holes, save for a single tiny pinhole near the edge of the pencil curl. Instead, they just nibbled on this Boss here `n there, all over the hat. As you can see in the pics, there are numerous divots, nips, grazed spots, and chewed-up areas all around the brim & crown. It breaks one\'s heart to see this sort of moth damage, but for what it\'s worth, I\'ve seen far worse on hats from this era. Actually, if you decide to wear this Boss, the moth bites might not be all that noticeable---as long as you keep folks at a distance.Inside the hat, that beautifully finished dark brown leather band has stiffened slightly with age, but it\'s still somewhat flexible. The stitching is good and the leather doesn\'t seem to have any dry rot or brittleness. There\'s one small kink in the reed, but that shouldn\'t affect wear (by the way, that is an actual reed, as opposed to the monofilament material used in later hats). I think you\'ll be able to get some wear out of this sweatband, but do be careful, eh? They won\'t be making any more of these... Stamped in gold on the leather: \"John B. Stetson Co. The Boss Raw Edge Clear Nutria\" and \"Cody Trading Co. The Big Cash Store Cody, Wyo\" (the name & charming slogan of the hat\'s original retailer). The hat has no liner, although it probably did, originally.Although it\'s always disappointing to find a great hat with notable moth damage, I still feel this Stetson Boss Raw Edge manages to retain a kind of ragged nobility; I\'m certain it deserves a spot on someone\'s shelf of hat or western-related memorabilia. Even further, I\'d say the opportunity to handle Stetson\'s 20s-era Clear Nutria felt is worth the price of the opening offer alone! Whether the winning buyer decides to give this hat a little rehab work & wear it, or preserve it like the rare collectible it is, I hope this remarkable Stetson finds itself a good home. I dare say you won\'t see another Clear Nutria Boss Raw edge come down the pike anytime soon; if you\'ve always wanted a chance to handle one of these, don\'t let this one get away! Offered at a low starting offer with . Thanks for reading & happy offerding!

I describe these vintage items to thebest of my ability; unless I\'ve made a demonstrable error in my description,all sales are final. Having said that, I will also stipulate that I willdo everything within reason to ensure our transaction is a pleasant one.If you have any questions or concerns, don\'t hesitate to contact me; Iwill respond promptly and do what is necessary to resolve the matter to ourmutual satisfaction. Shipping includes delivery confirmation &insurance. International buyers: I handle overseas shipping on acase-by-case basis. If you live outside the US, please contact me beforeyou offer.