Post by Drum on Jul 10, 2024 15:18:27 GMT
I’ve been thinking about the vagaries of trying to discern details about the timing of various changes to a product that was handmade while evolving through various stages of increased production and diverse locations, from suburban basements to actual manufacturing lines and, eventually the use of machines, etc.
Where there IS no consistency of data, conclusions are nearly impossible to reach with any degree of accuracy or truth.
Consider the T1: One of the most obvious features of the first version of this hat is the location of the wind cords in the brim of the hat rather than the band as became the norm for all Tilleys at some point, but when?
My survey has revealed examples of T1’s with wind cords in the brim with three different iterations of tags and labels. From the very first hats with no tags/labels (1983) to two different versions of tags (with and without address) and even hats with a first version crown label that probably wasn’t used until 1987. Meanwhile, I have also seen T1’s with wind cords in the hat band that have tags (pre-crown label) as well as those with brim cords and the first version of the crown label that debuted post-1986!
This begs the question: was there a finite point at which design changes were implemented across the production line or… more likely, not? Clearly there was a point at which Tilley was making T1’s with wind cords in two different locations at the same times.
Likewise for the T3, formally introduced in 1986, which I have found with various combinations of early and later features across the years 1986-1989, including first version hats with 3rd version crown labels and 3rd version hats with first version crown labels, buttons/snaps, etc.
I am beginning to think that any effort to track and chart this volatile moment in the history of Tilley hat production is pure folly.
Probably, the best way to identify Tilley hats is by decades rather than years, at least until they began to add mfg dates to the labeling in about 2003.
Anyway, this is probably why I did not make it through three semesters of archaeology study before switching more general history topics. I crave a more confident narrative, I guess.
Where there IS no consistency of data, conclusions are nearly impossible to reach with any degree of accuracy or truth.
Consider the T1: One of the most obvious features of the first version of this hat is the location of the wind cords in the brim of the hat rather than the band as became the norm for all Tilleys at some point, but when?
My survey has revealed examples of T1’s with wind cords in the brim with three different iterations of tags and labels. From the very first hats with no tags/labels (1983) to two different versions of tags (with and without address) and even hats with a first version crown label that probably wasn’t used until 1987. Meanwhile, I have also seen T1’s with wind cords in the hat band that have tags (pre-crown label) as well as those with brim cords and the first version of the crown label that debuted post-1986!
This begs the question: was there a finite point at which design changes were implemented across the production line or… more likely, not? Clearly there was a point at which Tilley was making T1’s with wind cords in two different locations at the same times.
Likewise for the T3, formally introduced in 1986, which I have found with various combinations of early and later features across the years 1986-1989, including first version hats with 3rd version crown labels and 3rd version hats with first version crown labels, buttons/snaps, etc.
I am beginning to think that any effort to track and chart this volatile moment in the history of Tilley hat production is pure folly.
Probably, the best way to identify Tilley hats is by decades rather than years, at least until they began to add mfg dates to the labeling in about 2003.
Anyway, this is probably why I did not make it through three semesters of archaeology study before switching more general history topics. I crave a more confident narrative, I guess.
