I have a letter from Bernie that is his response to Mark. It was never posted on TFC, I don't think. I of course, cannot post it as it was not meant for me, but for Mark. But, in that letter, Bernie laid out to Mark exactly what Mark did, in Bernie's presence, as no hats were ever left at Barons. They left with Bernie. This was early on in the development stage. I had been sent photos from TLC to use as a model to do the creases. Creases pop out in shipment. Mark put them back in, and Bernie may have had him push them back a bit farther on the sides. Once Bernie left with the 5 or 6 hats to N.M. Bernie learned to recrease the hats himself, out of neccessity. Creases pop out in action scenes. The remaining 30 hats were sent directly to Western Costume, for the liner color change and what Bernie referred to as aging. They were then shipped directly to Hawaii, and Bernie tweaked any creases that had popped out in transit.Not only that, but the claim is still being put out that Baron's had to reshape all the hats for CS, not just the first few samples.
I don't have any hard feelings towards Mark, and I hope this will eventually die down. He was proud to have been involved in a small way with the new Indy fedora. Who would not be? He has never apologized to me or Marc, and I don't expect one. But, I sure would have, if I had been in his shoes. Mark and I are different human beings.
Personally I resent the "kitchen sink" hatter remark. This was originally used as a "cut" towards me, last year by one of my detractors. It is alive and well it seems, and still being bantered about. It means much more than a small hatter folks, as you probably surmised.
The old hatters basically used a pot of boiling water to steam their hats, and unless you were a factory or a big hatter, this technique was used for decades by many fine hatters. The kitchen sink reference was not referring to these old hatters, but to a new one-me. A cut down. An insult.
Any hatter that takes credit for another's work cannot be defended. Only an idiot would try and do so. That's the cold hard truth of the matter. But, I hold no grudges. I am not like that. Fedora