I remember the Raiders hat first auction. All the pictures indicated no brim flange. Most of those pics are on the Indygear fedora page. All the "Indy" fedoras I have owned have a gradual flange, an even curve from crown to edge. Except for a Stetson official Indy. The flange on that hat is all in the middle inch of the brim. When the brim is popped down, it looks like there's no flange like the first auction pics. There's just a slight bump in the middle. When it's flipped up in back it's an extreme flip. This appears in the side view in the latest auction. A bump in the middle in the front and the back really snapped up. I think this type of flange makes what they refer to as a snap brim fedora.
Is there a vendor that sells this style of flange in their brim? I believe it is correct for the Raiders hat, but probably needs a floppy felt to smooth out the strong flip. The side view of the Bantu Wind nighttime dock hat had a pronounced flip in back, but this was shot before they turned the hat, so maybe the turn tames the flip.
I have an unpounced "Dr. Who" HJ from the 70's, 3 inch brim. All the flange is near the base of the crown, so HJ used various flanges.
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No such thing as a hat with 'no brim flange.' Even flat brimmed hats are flanged. Therefore not entirely sure what you are asking.
Fundamentally I think it's a mistake to make any strong conclusions about the shape of the flange from the any of the pics from either auction. The brim break is basically gone from the hat for one. The brim is just turned down in the 'screenused' pics. The "extreme flip" is more likely a result from the stiffener having been worked out of the hat. My Penman has needed a reflange for a while now, thus I can put the same kind of "extreme flip" with no effort. That's a pretty typical way for felt to react when it gets put through that much use and/or weather. If there's not enough stiffener to keep the integrity of the flange's curvature profile, the felt will easily pop up like that. E.G.:
All that having been said, the closest thing I can think of to what you seem to be describing is what is sometimes called the Hawk bill profile.
Yeah!, "Hawk bill". I called it "chicken beak" in a long ago post here. The flip in back seems uncharacteristic for the Raiders hat, but the bump in front is the same flange curve that causes the flip in back. My Stetson Indy looks just like this. https://images.propstore.com/488705.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Since this back flip looks wrong, I guess Indy hat makers went with a more vanilla flange.
The actors are Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in "Laura" 1944.
Speaking from my strictly non-profressional experience, snap brims without modification don't make good Indy hats, regardless of flange. However, I have reshaped snap brims to the point that they no longer snap, and gotten nice results.
The Indy brim is a blend of an outback Aussie and a traditional fedora. Only by combining elements of both into a pre-shaped brim can you get the proper look. This is why, in the rare film shots where Indy's brim flips up in front, it's dramatically different than the back.
As for that bump, I've had that develop in older hats. Two hatters told me that it had something to do with stiffener and felt aging, but it wasn't intentional.
Of course, my word is far from authoritative on the subject. I've just owned a lot of hats.
I've always felt that for a good Raiders look the brim should be fairly flat. There's footage of the stuntguys prepping for the flying wing fight and the Hero hat can be seen sitting on the wing and the brim is as flat as a pancake. I remember when Marc first showed the prototype of the AB Henry - it had a really flat brim. I was very excited, but every single hat after that initial photo had the usual snap flanged brim.
Incidently, I once owned a vintage 70s HJ that Fedora sold me. It was extremely soft - almost no stiffener - and all of the shape of the brim, and pretty much for the crown - came from wearing it.
Went to ebay yesterday and found a brim flange with more flange in the front and back than the sides. Never got into brim flanges before. Seems there are all possible types. The bumps in my Stetson Indy are only in the front and back, when the brim is flipped down, no bumps in the sides. Go to the top of this page, click "IndyGear.com" then click "Gear" then "Fedora", and there are pics from the first auction. There seems to be no to minimal flange. I think that's because the only flange is in the middle of the brim with no flange in the outer 1 inch.- anyway, I want the Raiders front mid brim bird beak hump, so I'll make a partial flange and fire up my iron. ...might be a while, working to beat Elon's Tesla Bot to the finish line
