Adventurebilt sets up shop in a Mall (well not really)

[bigrex]

So, I had a weird dream about Steve maybe a week ago. I suppose it's rather strange to dream about someone you've never met. I figure it must be a symptom of the waiting period for the hat I'm expecting, anyway, Steve had a shop set up in a futuristic looking mall on a corner wall. Cool hats were decorating the walls, along with moose antlers, coonskin caps, steer horn gunpowder pouches, rifles, etc. He even had jewelers cabinets with gemstones, archeological artifacts, pocket watches, and old photos of people sporting 19th and 20th century hats. Very cool store, I must have caught him around closing time since the store appeared to be closing up as he was finishing up a hat. The hat looked like quite the custom creation, a brown cowboy hat decorated with feathers, bear claws, snakeskin, a hand burnished silver concho band and maybe some turquoise thrown in there too. Anyway, quite the hat shop you might say, albeit a fictional one.

[Digger4Glory]

Great dream, because that sounds like a store I would love to go to!

[hulkamad]

Wow. Sounds like someone has been sampling the Moroccan ganja.

At least your dream was better than mine. I dreamed that the postal service delivered bluejeans instead of my adventurebilt hat.

What is it with dreams on this forum?

[BendingOak]

Oh boy here we go again with the dreams.

DAVID???????

[DR Ulloa]

Oh boy here we go again with the dreams.

DAVID???????

WHAT?!!!!!!!

Just because I was the first screwy COW member to have a dream with a hatter doesn't mean I am going to comment on every thread about another dream from a screwy member...oops. What have I done!

Dave

[BendingOak]

Oh boy here we go again with the dreams.

DAVID???????

WHAT?!!!!!!!

Just because I was the first screwy COW member to have a dream with a hatter doesn't mean I am going to comment on every thread about another dream from a screwy member...oops. What have I done!

Dave

You crack me up

[DR Ulloa]

Oh boy here we go again with the dreams.

DAVID???????

WHAT?!!!!!!!

Just because I was the first screwy COW member to have a dream with a hatter doesn't mean I am going to comment on every thread about another dream from a screwy member...oops. What have I done!

Dave

You crack me up

Then my job here is done. Up, up, and away!

Dave

[Bruce Wayne]

I have nothing to add to this thread other than Netcherbillin.

[bigrex]

Um, no comment. Well, I guess I should make some follow-up comments...I guess when you've been waiting for a couple years for a hat an odd dream or two is to be expected, I'm just glad it wasn't a nightmare. I'm sure the dreams won't be so rampant once the wait time drops off to a few months. I wouldn't have shared this if there weren't a precedent on the forum (Dr. David U.) and I'm sure there are others that don't bother sharing their own, lol.

Diggerglory,

Yep, it was a pretty cool store, really seemed like a cross between a small museum and a hatter store since it was set in a mall that looked like it was in the future or something.

Hulkamad,

It does sound that way doesn't it? Well, I don't drink, so I can't blame it on that. Adventurebilt blue jeans? Wow, handmade blue jeans.

BendingOak,

Yeah, here we go again, be careful or I'll buy one of your hats and start having dreams about your hat shop.

Dr. Ulloa,

What was your dream again? Can you recount it again for us here? Just kidding.

Bruce Wayne,

Netcherbillin? What's that? Sounds like a German pickpocket.

Rex

[DR Ulloa]

BigRex, Netchurebilling is one of mine as well. I was at Universal Studios last year when a drunk dude asked me about the hat. I told him it was an Adventurebilt and he replies "Yeah! Netchurebillin, I gotta look 'em up. Nice f'n hat dude!" Nice guy, but I don't think he ever found that Netchurebillin hat he longed for so much...

Dave

[RaiderZee]

+ ( x ) =

[Indiana Jeff]

Bink? Is that you?

Well played, Zee.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Fedora]

I seldom dream and remember them, so when I do, it's a treat. Recently I had a very vivid dream. I was wandering in this huge Mall, lost and came upon a shop that said Penman Hats. I had already been wandering for hours in this huge mall when I found John's shop. The dream ended as I was looking at his sign and trying to figure out how John ended up in a mall. So, I never got to go inside, although I was looking forward to it, in the dream.

I just read this post here, as I have been too busy to even post here this week, and chills run up the old spine. You dreamed of my shop in a mall, and I had dreamed of John's shop in a mall. Now that is Twighlight Zone weird!!

But if I had a shop, a walk in, it would be similiar to what you dreamed. A hat shop with all sorts of artifacts, and many odd ball hats and such. Plenty of Indy memorbilia too. And a lovely female employee to take your money. But my main helper would be an old grizzly looking guy, white beard, imagine Wishbone the cook from the ancient Wagon Train series on t.v. A desert rat, but with charm. Or Gabby _. Gosh, I wish I was John's age!! With all of that time ahead of me to really dive into this hatmaking the way John has.

So, being an old fart, with the end in sight with these hats, I am a bit envious of the age factor. Sure wish I had started making hats, when I was a young man. These days, I am just fighting to stay healthy enough to do the last installment of the Indy series. Getting older *****, so don't believe what you hear on this. Getting older isn't what it is cracked up to be. One day you feel fine, and then everything starts to go downhill, and it does this fast. When you are younger, you see the doc once a year, just for a checkup. Then you start having to go every month or so.... Enjoy that youth my friends, it is fleeting. Because one day, that mileage will indeed catch up with you.

These days, for some reason, right before I go into sleep, my brain, on its own plays a film strip of various things I have done and seen in my blessed life. It is really vivid and I watch it. It is filled with people I loved and who have passed on. It is filled with times in my youth while in the military, and things in that era I would just as soon forget. Those comrades are still young, as I was back then. And many are no longer here, but I can see them so clearly in that period right before I drift off to sleep. And all the people I see are forever young. It is bittersweet, which is what life becomes once you do get older. Life is full of victories, happy times but also very sad times and filled with regrets and what ifs? I just hope each one of you live the life that I have been blessed with. And I wish that you may live long and prosper.

This will be my last post for awhile. I will be looking in on you guys though from time to time. I am just burned out a bit these days and find little joy in things I used to find alot of joy in. Its the age more than the mileage, I think. My energy is waning quite a bit these days, and I need what I do have for completeing my back log of hats. But I am not going anywhere anytime soon.

If they shoot Indy 5 in 2011, I will be caught up by then on orders, and will make those hats, if called upon by Bernie. But, I don't plan on being around for much longer after that. My plans now are to just offer a couple hundred Indy 5 hats,(instead of being an idiot and selling thousands) and once those are sold, I am retiring for good. The site comes down and I will ride off into the sunset, with my fedora on my head. Then I will start the downhill path and spend time with my kids and grandkids and do a bit of traveling, in which I hope to meet many of my friends here, in person. I can't imagine a better retirement than that.

And I will leave you guys in the capable hands of Marc, John and LLS, for your hat needs and services. I feel John and LLS will carry on my own vision of Indy hats for many, many years. I don't want to sound pretentious, but these guys will carry on what I started with the AB line, here on this very site a few years ago. I plan on working it so we get John and LLS included on the Indy 5 hats, so there will be a chain involved, and you guys will still be able to buy an Indy hat, made by the guys who did the film hats. Good Lord willin' and the creeks don't rise.

I can still be reached by email, and always check that daily, although many times, I just have too many that get built up, and it takes me awhile to get back with you. Once I get caught up, I will once again take all phone calls too, something I have really missed since this Indy 4 deal. I am looking forward to that, as I love talking to my customers and friends. Hopefully the ones I have spoken to, feel that as well.

Also, I will make sure that John and LLS have replicas of my CS blocks, so they can take care of my own hats I have made over the years. I am not gonna leave my customers hanging, without being able to get their CS hat reblocked on the identical blocks we used for Indy 4. So, I will pass torch onto them, and supply them with the right blocks, and will even make sure they know the little tricks used with those film hats. The fans have always come first with me, as most may know, the oldtimers do anyways. I never got into this hat deal to make money. I charged 225 for years for my own pure beaver hats. And only went up to try and stop some of the demand once it sunk in that I was getting in over my head.

So, I reckon I have done as I always do and wrote way too long a post. Hopefully this won't be a boring post though. You guys are the best and the patience in regards to your ordered hats is appreciated more than I could ever say with just words. When you finally do get your hat from me, that you ordered, just realize it is probably the last hat I will ever make for you, and others. I hope that will make it worth the long wait, and will also make it a special hat. I still put all of my heart and soul into each hat that I make. Even with my fading eyesight. I can only see through one eye well these days, but it seems to suffice. No depth in my vision though, but you work with what you have. Take care. Steve Delk

[JC1972]

Steve, what a great read. Not boring at all, quite the opposite actually. Our community owes you so much for what you've done. I hope I can get a hat from you, just to say I did business with Steve Delk. Take care and hope you get that fire back to do what you love so much!

[IndianaSean]

+ ( x ) =

Zee...um is that what goes on in your head all day? At least it wasn't Harrison and then a picture of a pink pony.

Sean

[Mitch LaRue]

Mr. Delk,
You, sir, are a Gentleman... and one whose lead any fella in his right mind would be proud to follow - be he a gifted HatMaker or just a guy trying to make his way through this crazy, modern world as a kind, decent, honorable human being whose word is his Bond.


Your words, stories and opinions ALWAYS make for a great read and valuable food for thought... I enjoy them every time you take a moment to post & share them.

I'm NO Hat Artisan... but you INSPIRE me, sir...

and countless others, too... of this I am sure.

[DR Ulloa]

####, Steve, every time I read these types of posts, I get sad and depressed. I wish I had found COW sooner so I could have gotten to know you even better. I hate reading about your health issues. Just know that we all love you here and owe you a debt of gratitude. You really served us these past couple years with service that is unlike any other in the world except for those hatters you named in your post. You guys are all stand up guys but they have you to thank for their busniess model and their proficiency in hat making, though they have each refined their skills themselves. Steve, I hate reading you wont be posting here very often, but you have to take care of yourself. I still have a hat on order with you and its a custom one so I know I'll be getting a phone call from you when its time for that one to be made. At least I have that to look forward to. I need to order another before you hang up the "Closed" sign. Please, make sure to stop in Miami on your travels. I'll show you around town, take you to the best Cuban restaurants in town, and show you where Cubans go to buy their cigars. You have been a good friend to me and you will be sorely missed around here. Take care, my friend.

Dave

[JC1972]

Dave/Fox, both of your comments nailed it on the head. Couldn't have been said any better. Well done guys!

[bigrex]

Dave/Fox, both of your comments nailed it on the head. Couldn't have been said any better. Well done guys!

Definitely, I agree JC1972! Steve, if you read this, funny that you dreamed of a Penman hat shop in a large mall. I rarely go to malls actually except to maybe see a movie on occasion, so that made the dream more unique to me. The mall also had a big parking garage which required a code to open the door to get in and out of it. I've never been in a parking garage or a mall like that before! Anyway, maybe part of the dream hearkened back to my childhood when we used to vacation in the Appalachians of North Carolina. In a town called Highlands, there was an old gem dealer. When I was very small he was in the shop up front, but when I was a bit older he was in a shop adjacent to the main one. This shop was interesting because it was filled with rough stones gathered during his lifetime. He always dressed in a vest and it was an interesting place to visit. We would sit there as kids and he would pull out a stone he had cut and tell us the Smithsonian didn't have one like this, and out he would pull a big star sapphire, maybe about 2 1/2 inches across and shine it in the lamp light. Anyway, of course the quality of the stone was not as good as what you would see in the Smithsonian, and we weren't going to buy it, but it was still impressive and he loved to show off the stones to little kids or whomever. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble a little off topic, I hope your health is reasonably good and that it might improve, I hope my message did not seem like I was complaining about the wait.

Rex

[Long John Tinfoil]

Does it occur to anyone else that there may be a book in Steve's collected postings? Mods, make darned sure you keep all his stuff for the archives!

LJ

[Digger4Glory]

Does it occur to anyone else that there may be a book in Steve's collected postings? Mods, make darned sure you keep all his stuff for the archives!

LJ

Excellent idea! Steve should write a book! What an interesting read that would be!! It's not just the stories but how he expresses himself and see's things.
I always enjoy his posts and his outlook on life. I would buy a book!!!