Titlist Hoppe dating

I don't visit here often or I would have responded to this.

Check the link at the bottom of this post - it's very old information, but basically describes how I date Titlists and Hoppe Pros. I plan to update the labels and some of the dates, but just haven't gotten around to it.

I would have to go back and check scans, but almost all of the early '40s HP's have the wider rings - one exception I remember owning was a brownish-orange one with the shield-style weight-stamp on the forearm....so it might have to do somewhat with the wood used. Chris Tate could certainly chime in here, if he sees this thread.

The best way to correlate ring width with age would be to get familiar with the three basic fonts of the 'B' in 'Brunswick' on the blue labels - you will only see ivory rings on the two earlier versions, and not so often on the second-earliest (1950's). Fascinating stuff - please visit my site and feel free to email me with questions.

Also, keep in mind that the Hoppe name was being applied in late 1940. That limits the dating of the curly B drastically.