Vtg LESTER LANIN ORCHESTRA SOUVENIR HAT / BEANIE Green, Black Type, White Pompom

Description

Vintage Lester Lanin* beanie hat, in a kelly green with his signature type in black at the rim and a full white pompom at the top. Made in the New York City, USA, the hat measures 11.5 inches in diameter at the band, 14.25 inches in diameter at the brim and is about 7.5 inches tall when flat.  Save for some yellowing stains from wear at the inner band (see photos), the hat is in excellent pre-owned, vintage condition.
According to his 2004 obituary in the
New York Times
, "Lester Lanin, who, from the White House to Buckingham Palace, from the Plaza Hotel to the grand ballrooms of the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers, epitomized a rarefied and perhaps fading species -- the society bandleader . . . Mr. Lanin was famous for giving away multicolored cotton hats, 50,000 a year, with "Lester Lanin" emblazoned in script behind the brim. He liked to say he was in 'the happiness business.'"