Correct way to carry a Fedora?

In-depth discussion of the Fedora of Indiana Jones and all other hats appearing in the Indiana Jones movies

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Captain D
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Correct way to carry a Fedora?

Post by Captain D »

Hi, new hat owner here!

My dad was admiring my Adventurebilt Beaver hat and he and I weren't sure how to properly carry a fedora, lol. This may sound kind of an odd question...but should you or shouldn't you carry it by the front pinch of the hat?

When I pick up my AB hat, I pick it up from the sides and only handle the front pinch when doing some slight adjusting. I know that we can see Indy picking it up by the pinch, especially in LC when he chats with Walter Donovan in the beginning of the movie. I realize that the AB fedora is pretty tough, and I don't have to baby it, but would it damage the hat if I were to keep picking it up by the front pinch?

One last question while I'm here :wink: I was in a hat shop recently, and they had rabbit and beaver hats for sale. I couldn't really tell the difference between the two. Are there specific characteristics that one can look for to distinguish beween rabbit and beaver simply by looking at them...?

Thank you for your time, and I apologize for the many questions!
Kind Regards,
Captain D
Last edited by Captain D on Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Feraud
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Post by Feraud »

No one should ever apologize for asking questions!

You should handle you hat by the brim. Try to avoid holding it by the crown. The idea is that excessive handling at the "pinch" point of the crown could damage it.

I am not sure how many folks could identify beaver or rabbit felt by looks alone. Handling both materials would give you the experience to tell the two apart.
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Mulceber
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Post by Mulceber »

Supposedly, you're supposed to not handle it by the pinch, as that can cause the felt in that area to literally crack. However, bare in mind that that rule was made in a world of rabbit felt hats. I remember hearing that beaver fur, and especially thinner beaver fur (such as you see in the AB beaver) is much more resistant to this. That also explains why characters like Bogie and Indy carried theirs by the pinch, as they would undoubtedly have been wearing beaver.

As for how to tell them apart, it's really simple. Beaver felt is WAAAAYYY softer than rabbit. As a person who owns one of each, I have NO trouble telling them apart. If you look at photographs, rabbit (especially older rabbit hats) even look rougher. :junior: -IJ
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Indiana Williams
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Post by Indiana Williams »

That also explains why characters like Bogie and Indy carried theirs by the pinch, as they would undoubtedly have been wearing beaver.
from what ive heard the fedoras that ford wore in the movies were rabbit.
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Vannevar
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Post by Vannevar »

I always hold it by the brim. never by the pinch for reasons stated above.
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Marc
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Post by Marc »

Grap the hat at the brim for the reasons mentioned above. This goes for ALL hats, no matter what they're made of.

A beaver hat being softer than a rabbit hat isn't a guideline. Look at the Western hats for example. They're stiff as cardboard and often made of pure beaver. The stiffnes of a hat doesn't say anything about it's quality.

Beaver can be pounced out better and you'll never get that slick a surface on a rabbit hat.

Regards,

Marc
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Bufflehead Jones
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Post by Bufflehead Jones »

I always pick it up by the brim. If I squeeze it hard enough to pick it up by the pinch, I even feel like I am damaging the hat. You must remember that Indy (Harrison Ford) didn't care if he damaged the hat. The prop guys would just get him a new one, and it didn't have to last forever, just til the end of filming. They also were trying to beat up the hat going for a certain look. For these reasons, I don't think that I want to treat my hat the same way that they treated the movie hat.
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Captain D
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Post by Captain D »

Thank you for the replies guys! :D

All very interesting info indeed! I'm glad to learn of all of this early on rather than having the AB (or any fedora) longer and having handled it wrongly...

Take care & thank you again for the replies!
Captain D
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Mulceber
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Post by Mulceber »

Jpevh wrote:from what ive heard the fedoras that ford wore in the movies were rabbit.
I'm not saying they weren't. I'm saying Indy WOULD have worn beaver, if he were a real person.
Look at the Western hats for example.
Yes, but we're talking fedoras here, not cowboy hats. I have yet to see a beaver FEDORA that was not soft and relatively floppy.

I'm not saying you should grab a hat by the pinch your whole life, I'm saying that if you want a nice, Indy-looking pinch on it, you should make sure you grab it by the pinch for the first few weeks after you get it, then switch to grabbing it by the brim. :junior: -IJ
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