I was in one of my favorite thrifting spots. It was a rainy day with nothing much else to do so I was scouring the store from one end to the other. I know sometimes it can be a little overwhelming to enter some of these stores because they have so much inventory you can stand there and not even know where to begin. I tend to start in the front right hand corner and work my way around to the front left corner of the store. This can take hours or minutes, it depends on how hard you want to look. To find the real gems, you must take your time and look over items. You need to look high on shelves, low on shelves, end caps, display racks and even on the floor.
I found this hat sitting on top of a rack of men's clothes. I liked it and thought it would look good as a woman's hat. When I picked it up and turned it over, I saw the Stetson logo staring back at me. I was so excited! I turned the hat around looking for a price tag and you are not going to believe it but it was marked $6.00. Yes, that is right, only $6.00. I snatched that hat and held it in my hands for dear life. I could hardly contain my excitement at the register. I was trying to be cool and not draw attention to the fact this was a Stetson, half afraid the cashier would notice and say "sorry, this was marked wrong" or something like that. As I approached the register for checkout, the cashier looked it all over and even said" wow, this is a nice looking hat." I simply said "yes, I thought so too.". I paid for it and I was out of there. I called my husband from the car out is the store parking lots squealing with joy at my great find. Darn, he wasn't in his office. I would have to wait until he came home to tell him.
I had the hat at my house for a couple of weeks when I finally found the time to head to the local western wear store. It's not that close to me so it took me a while to make a trip there. I walked in with my newly purchased hat so proud. I was greeted my a young lady and I told her I would like to have my hat cleaned and shaped. She called for the gentleman I needed to speak to that would handle that. He came out, his name was Greg. I remember because it is my husband's name. I told him what I was interested in. His first question was, where did you get this? I was so excited to tell him I found it at a thrift store for $6.00. His eyes got big and he laughed and said "no kidding, you got a great buy." He went on to tell me he knows a lot about Stetson hats and even knew about the Stetson family that lived local. He said he could tell just by looking at the hat's logo and the style and colors used it was a vintage early 1970's hat. My face lit up! I asked him what he though the hat might be worth today. He said around $150.00! Woo Hoo!! I was excited to hear that. It took him no time at all to have my hat ready. When I went to pay, he told me it was on the house. He said my story of acquiring that hat made his day. That was a few years ago, whenever I look at that hat it still makes me smile.
So don't forget to look up, look down and look all around. Touch things pick things up and take advantage of the smart phone you probably have with you. I Google name brands all the time while thrifting.
Make it a great day!
