Re: Indy's fedora and other dress hats

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Posted by Greg from kenn003a-p1-055.cybertours.com on August 05, 1999 at 14:59:40:

In Reply to: Indy's fedora and other dress hats posted by Steve on August 05, 1999 at 08:11:05:

: I've been watching a few old movies lately, and all seem to feature people wearing hats. No surprise of course. I have noticed one thing though, and that is that most of the fedoras worn all have narrow brims. And of course if you look through a hat catalog you will notice that most dress hats sport a relatively narrow brim. For a long time I felt that there was something different about Indy's fedora and of course its the fact that his has a wide brim.(relatively speaking) I wonder if this was common back in the 30's?
: Theres something else. Was Indy a trendsetter in wearing his fedora with the clothes he commonly wore while on his adventures? After all the fedora is a dress hat commonly worn with suits. I remember watching an old Twilight Zone and one of the characters was a man wearing khaki work clothes, a leather jacket, and a fedora. So maybe the fedora was an all purpose hat-I don't know. Anybody know anything about this subject?
:
The answer to the first question is yes, hat brims got narrower and narrower throughout the first half of this decade, until, as you may know, in the 1960's, the style was to wear them with 1 1/4 inch brims. There was some differentiation of course, but there were definitely more 2 1/2 and 3 inch brims on hats in the 1930's and 40's. Watch TV series like Hercule Poirot (interestingly, Herbert Johnson did most of the hats for this series), and you'll see Chief Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings both wearing wider brim hats like Indy's (actually, I think a few of them have been Poets of different colors). I love the clothing and style of the 20's through the late thirties so I've done a bit of study on the time period. The fedora was indeed an all-purpose hat that transcended economic barriers, being worn by wealthy businessmen and farmhands alike. Just look at photos from the Depression and the Dustbowl. You'll see that most men wore either a fedora or donegal cap. The condition and cleanliness of the hat was what separated the rich from poor. The rich could also afford many different hats, wearing a new one each day, light colored ones in the summer and spring, black, grey or brown ones in the fall and winter. My Grandfather, who was coming of age in the 30's and 40's in Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, was a short-brim guy, and had several short-brim fur felts made-to-fit by Henry the Hatter himself, the famous hatter from Lynn, MA. When I was researching Petersham ribbon, most of the hatters to whom I spoke said that Henry was a legend, so I wish I had taken a few of his hats when he died. Anyway, hope all that helps, sorry about the rambling at the end. I love fur felt hats and wish they would come back in style, but I will wear them anyway until they do.

Greg



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