POP CULTURE AUCTION SELLS VINTAGE HATS FOR RECORD PRICES

Anthony V. Pugliese III recently auctioned off little bits of history from his collection of pop culture items. And I just had the great good fortune to interview this savvy business man and land developer last week.

Of the 1000 items that were for sale, 800 were sold and many of them were hats from the archives of our culture.

The Wicked Witch’s Hat from the movie, “The Wizard of Oz” sold for $200,000 (it was worn in 1939 by Margaret Hamilton) and the bowler from the movie, “Clockwork Orange” worn by Malcom McDowell in the Stanley Kubrick film sold for $28,000. Would you believe that the hat worn by Odd Job in the 1964 movie “Goldfinger” sold for $130,000. It turns out the hat has a customized mounted steel brim and was worn by Harold Sakata who played the henchman in the Bond series. There are two hats like this and the other one sold for $120,000 at Christies in 1998.

Marlon Brando's hat from The Godfather	Stan Laurel's hat

There were many amazing hats to be had, the hat worn by Gary Cooper in “Sergeant York” was on the list as well as the James Cagney hat from “13 Rue Madeleine.” I am not sure if all the hats sold, but there was a gray Stetson fedora that Marlon Brando wore in “The Godfather.”

If you want more information on the auction contact: Guernsey’s in NYC at 212-794-2280. They handled the auction for Pugliese III. This man knows how to collect and has a great eye for history and for art.

This is what the auction house had to say about the The Pugliese Collection:

“It may well be the finest collection focusing on 20th Century pop culture ever privately assembled. Approximately eight hundred and fifty of the most extraordinary objects imaginable from the worlds of motion pictures, popular music, magic, television and politics were gathered over several decades by Anthony V. Pugliese III, a man who might well be described as a true visionary.”

Indeed, Mr. Pugliese is sharing his wonderful Collection with the rest of the world as he shifts his interests towards the creation of Destiny, the nation's largest eco-sustainable community currently being sensitively created in central Florida. A portion of the proceeds from the remarkable event are earmarked for the Audubon Society, long known for its important environmental work.

The Wizard of Oz hat worn by Margaret Hamilton in 1939