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MissMoriah
01-21-2005, 12:43 PM
Hi,

I was wondering if anyone here has or is working on the Disneyland Railroad. I would like to know who manufactures the conductor hats. I would like to get a similar hat made for a friend. I was told by a conductor that they are made by a company in Chicago but he could not recall the name and the stamp or tag in his hat had been rubbed away. If anyone knows who makes them, please let me know. Thanks!

Sorry adding an edit. I should have titled the thread Conductor caps.

VickiC
01-21-2005, 12:48 PM
They look like Osh Gosh style hats to me.

Stupid_American
01-21-2005, 02:53 PM
I believe here's one (http://www.jelsma.com/clothing_conductorshat.html) similiar to Disney's style.

PhilMP
01-21-2005, 02:57 PM
Vicki, I think you're thinking of the engineer hats. :) The conductor hats are the really stiff-looking dark blue ones with the little black brim. I've always thought it looked like a blue fez for a guy with a big head.

No idea who makes them though.

Phil

smd4
01-21-2005, 03:07 PM
I have one of the current hats, but no manufacturer is listed inside, as I recall (I'm at work now, but will double-check when I get home).

The hat S_A linked to is actually quite a bit different than the conductor hats--the DRR hats are not flared at the top, for instance, and don't have gold braiding. The ones used today are really cheap and light weight, with the rattan portion being made out of molded plastic. In the old SF&D days, the hats were of much higher quality, with real rattan and leather brims.

Trying to get the manufacturer to make one may be difficult; I remember when I was trying to get a repro. The manufacturer needed a minimum order quantity of something like 50, and we never could get that many people to sign up. I also tried all the local area costume shops, to no avail.

olegc
01-21-2005, 04:05 PM
while not the actual manufacturer there were many listed when I did a google search. From the toy...
http://www.rileystrickshop.com/httpdocs/Hats/Hats5.htm

to the museum quality
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_74.html
(not for purchase)

to the basic (with adjustable sizing)
http://www.giftsrr.com/Hats/ConductorBrakemanHats.htm

None of them seem to be stovepipe style (most are flared).

I am sure if you took the time and worded the search right you'd find something similar - but I doubt you will find exactly the same thing..

Stupid_American
01-21-2005, 05:40 PM
Then there's these. (http://www.transquip.net/railroaduniformsuniformaccessories/)

It's okay; you can call me stupid!

AB29
01-22-2005, 01:56 AM
A similar style is used by the fire service.....they are called bell caps.....maybe if you know of a uniform store in your area you might be able to pick up one there..... :cool:

sdfilmcritic
01-22-2005, 01:58 AM
I like the hats shown on the hats page (http://www.transquip.net/railroaduniformsuniformaccessories/) that was posted earlier. They're cool!

I was wondering why the costume department doesn't have the women wear the ladies conductor's hat and the guys wear the men conductor's hat. Would it be for cost value to have twice as many hats instead of one unisex hat? I think it would be great to add an interesting variety to the railroad wardrobe by using the hats "C" (for the guys) and "D" (for the ladies). Then for the engineers they could alternate between the two caps seen in the "H" picture. Have the engineers on one train wear one of the two caps and the engineers on the other train wear the other cap. If there's a third trian operating for the day there could be one cap of each style worn (with the assumption there are two engineers operating every train).

smd4
01-22-2005, 10:38 AM
Okay, I checked my hat--no manufacturer or marks of any kind are apparent--only a small size tag (7 1/4") that also includes a place to mark the "Lot" and the "Price." Both are blank. There is diamond- or parallelogram-shaped piece of clear plastic sewn into the top where I've seen manufacturer's information stored on other hats.

One ofthe big differences between the actual DRR hat and the ones shown above, is that that on the real thing, the mesh portion is at the top of the hat; most others I've seen have the mesh on the bottom portion of the hat.

The reason "female" conductor hats, as shown in the links above, aren't used on the DRR is because that style is far too modern for a 19th century railroad, having come into use in the 1930s.

MissMoriah
01-22-2005, 07:00 PM
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and information. I will look around the websites and see if any strike my friend's fancy.

sdfilmcritic
01-23-2005, 12:52 PM
The reason "female" conductor hats, as shown in the links above, aren't used on the DRR is because that style is far too modern for a 19th century railroad, having come into use in the 1930s.Too modern? But I think it would be a great addition! Oh well, I can't have everything my way. :sigh: ;)

hbquikcomjamesl
01-24-2005, 06:39 AM
Actually, in recent years, Amtrak has gone to the traditional style of caps for train crews.

smd4
02-07-2005, 01:08 PM
MissMoriah,

The manufacturer of the DRR conductor caps is Midway Cap Co., and indeed they are located in Chicago. I was unable to locate a website in the quick search I did.

A friend of mine will be selling his original Santa Fe & Disneyland RR Conductor cap, with cast SF&D conductor hat badge, in the next week or so on a well-known internet auction site, for those collectors interested in obtaining an exceedingly rare piece of DRR history.