Hat storage

[kflach]

I'm now up to three hats. One is a bowler and the other two have 4 to 6 inch brims. I know there are hat storage boxes you can buy, but those cost more money than I have available at this time, so I'm wondering what other options there are for storing my hats between matches. I currently just sit 2 of them on top of my dresser and one of them sits on top of a round-topped vase.

Is a hat rack like this a bad idea?
http://www.amazon.com/Finish-Wood-Hall-Style-Stand/dp/B0002KNLGS

[Pancho Peacemaker]

I picked up two of these at Cavenders:

http://www.cavenders.com/product.asp?cat=6&dept_id=4599&pf_id=BD51848&cm_vc=productpage

I think they were on sale as I paid less than $20 for mine.

Oklahoma Tom has the most extensive hat collection I've seen.  He has a couple of these for his collection:

[kflach]

Thanks. Those are some good ideas.

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[Trap]

mine hang on pegs on the wall

[River City John]

Ditto pegs on the wall in the breezeway, plus an antique cast iron hall tree in my 'man cave'.

No hat I own warrants it's own coffin, although they look about used up . . .

RCJ

[Forty Rod]

I have a brass one with four hooks above and four more below.  Cost about $15.00 at goodwill Industries and fits the corner between the window and the bookcase.

[kflach]

Do hooks and pegs eventually deform the hat? Is that such a long slow process that it isn't noticeable?

[Shotgun Franklin]

For seasonal storage I put the hat inside a trash bag and hang it on a set of deer antlers. Other times they take turns hanging on my head.

[River City John]

Do hooks and pegs eventually deform the hat? Is that such a long slow process that it isn't noticeable?

Your head will deform a hat far worse than a peg will.
Some of my soft wheel caps will sag a bit on the peg, but the moment I put them on my noggin they reshape themselves. I do have to brush my hats off from time to time as dust settles on the upright surface after a time.
What is perhaps the worst damage to watch out for is to make sure they are not hanging in direct sunlight for extended periods in the same position, as some may fade a bit. (Learned this when one of my bowlers that I wore infrequently started to look 'rusty-black' on the side that faced the window after about a year.) If wearing outside they get evenly exposed so any potential fading goes unnoticed. Sunlight can shrink a hat, especially if it had been reshaped and stretched to custom fit.

RCJ

['Monterrey' Jack Brass]

kflach - Unless you're concerned about a top hat, derby hat or a straw boater hat, any sort of hard core preservation effort to keep a hat's shape is likley overkill. I figure a hat, expensive or otherwise, is a tool as much as it is a clothing item and meant to be used as such. I should think keeping working hats in the open air hanging on a peg is just fine and does them ample justice.

The above is not worth the two centavos in my pocket to anyone but me though I thought I'd post none-the-less.

Brass

[kflach]

I've got a derby but my main concern is not hard core preservation. I just want to keep 'em reasonable and eliminate some of the clutter around the house. I've found some inexpensive mannequin heads that I might use (http://www.hairdirect.com/store/Male-Styrofoam-Head.aspx). I figure if I paint a bullet hole in the forehead and maybe add a couple of scars they won't look too "sissy."  <grin>

Either that, or the peg/hook option is sounding pretty good if I can find wall space.

[Delmonico]

One thing a lot of folks don't know, never leave a hat locked in the car in the summer.  Seen a lot of hats ruined that way, warps them all out of shape. 

At the begainning of every summer they have radio spots that tell you not to leave the kids, the dog or grandma in a hot car, how hard would it be to add "hats."

[Forty Rod]

If you hang them on pegs keep them away from sunlight in windows and heater vents for the same reasons Delmonico mentioned. 

My windows never get direct sunlight on that side of the house and the vent is baffled to move air away from that side of the room.