Hat handling history

[backstagejack]

So not sure if this is a Fedora section or another section but figured this was a good start.

We all know the rules. Handle it by the brim, place it upside down on a table, etc. Growing up in Texas and having lived in various other Western states I know what to do and not do with a cowboy hat and those rules mostly apply to even a fedora.

I've noticed that in many many movies actors do not do this. Now, modern films I can expect this but I see it in many old films too. Bogart, Wayne, Mitchum, Rathbone, will handle hats by the crown, slap them down on the table right side up etc.

So I just wonder is this a symptom of Actors handling a prop and not caring? Or is this indicative of the era? Basically, because hats were so easy to replace back in the day were they handled harsher than we would today? When I see Bogart mishandle a hat, is that him not caring cause it's a movie or is that how Bogart handled his personal hats?

When did our hat rules come to play versus back then? I reckon this is a bit of Hollywood archaeology?

[IJJTM]

I’m assuming you’re right about handling by the crease, but I’ve heard that fedoras you should put them brimside down so you don’t affect the taper of the crown. But brimside up on cowboy hats is proper due to how stiff they are and you don’t want your preset brim to ruin.

[WConly]

Truthfully; from a movie perspective it makes more sense to grab by the pinch -- easier, faster, looks cooler and not as 'frumpy' or 'staged', if you will. Movies are there for entertainment -- mostly -- education or proper skills, tactical-issues, etc. don't really have or find a 'home in films'. Not quite so true regarding the handling of weapons, props, etc. -- but even there the movies can go quite off-grid too! W>

[Indiana Jeff]

Agreed, I think for movies, the ease of grabbing a hat by the crown and placing it brim down on a table looks more natural. Heck, Indy does the same.

I do find it interesting that if the stories I have heard are true, Bogart often used his personal hats for filming. Perhaps that was his usual way of handling hats because it was an era when a hat could be more readily serviced or replaced.

Personally I place my hats on their crowns if it is going to be short term (a meeting or dinner out). I have a hatstand in my office for "long term" storage during the day. I don't worry about the crown getting distorted with what I do and have not observed any adverse effects.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[backstagejack]

I do find it interesting that if the stories I have heard are true, Bogart often used his personal hats for filming. Perhaps that was his usual way of handling hats because it was an era when a hat could be more readily serviced or replaced........

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

This is part of the reason I was wondering. Knowing that Bogart used his own suits and hats because he felt the movie studios stuff was too cheap looking. It seems valid to me considering he consistently has the same style of hat in multiple movies. So watching him handle his hat along with several of his contemporaries made me think that back then maybe folks didn't care as much as we do about hat handling since they could just go down the block to get another versus what we today would have to do.

Living in Texas or Wyoming, I can get a cowboy hat tomorrow but a fedora is a much different story.

[jlee562]

Setting your hat crown down is really more of a western hat thing, so as not to distort the brim shaping. It's fine, even preferable, to put a soft felt hat like a fedora brim down to prevent distorting the crown. Realistically, you're probably ok to put a modern fedora crown down, there's more stiffener in the felt these days. Though I stopped putting my Stetson Fortune and Glory crown down after I thought I saw the beginnings of a flat spot (and had coincidentally seen Matt Deckard posting about it).

I think folks were generally a bit less precious about their hats than we are today. Nowadays, one might save up for a really nice beaver hat because they're widely considered the best quality available. But I think this gives us modern folks kind of a distorted sense of price. Not only was there far more variance in pricing, one didn't necessarily need to shell out for the top of the line hats, because good quality hats were available at a lower price point. Contrast the $400-$800+ that we might spend vs a 1950 $5 Stetson Playboy (a best selling hat) that would be about $60 in 2022 dollars. A $15 hat (higher quality 3x beaver or 'Fifteen' grade) comes out to $177 in 2022 dollars. It's not exactly a direct quality comparison to today, but there have been a handful of Australian Stetson Open Roads (made by Akubra) posted to the Fedora Lounge, and those were 3x hats. Of course when the license ran out, they just started calling it the Campdraft. But as a price/quality comparison, it's interesting that Akubra is still more or less situated the same today.

An all beaver hat at that time really would have been gilding the lily. The Stetson 100 (which came in its own luggage-like locking case) works out to a bit under $1200 in 2022 dollars. Not exactly an everyday hat! If the mid grade Stetsons were as good as they used to be, I wouldn't care so much about beaver content.

So when we consider that the hats most folks wore were relatively less expensive; that they were just a normal item of clothing; and, they could easily be refurbished, I can see why folks might have been a little more nonchalant about grabbing by the crown. And that's really more like a 'best practices' thing moreso than a hard and fast rule. It's not as if you'd be socially ostracized like wearing white after labor day, or get beaten in the street for wearing a straw hat past the 'appropriate' day.

[Mike]

Funny. I just started watching Longmire (great show that takes place in Wyoming!) and noticed when not using a hat rack, they place their hats crown down and use the brims to put them on.

[backstagejack]

Funny. I just started watching Longmire (great show that takes place in Wyoming!) and noticed when not using a hat rack, they place their hats crown down and use the brims to put them on.

The author makes pains to point this out in the novels and I know he was a consultant on the show. So this is probably why.

Many of the actors wear Rockmount shirts that I'm pretty certain were purchased through Craig Johnson's wife's shop in Buffalo, Wy and the author himself wears these shirts. I think he definitely influenced some of the costume choices in the show.... though Longmire's $4000 sheepskin coat is definitely in a class of it's own.

Great series, it's basically an alternate universe from the novels though. I recommend both!

[backstagejack]

Setting your hat crown down is really more of a western hat thing, so as not to distort the brim shaping. It's fine, even preferable, to put a soft felt hat like a fedora brim down to prevent distorting the crown. Realistically, you're probably ok to put a modern fedora crown down, there's more stiffener in the felt these days. Though I stopped putting my Stetson Fortune and Glory crown down after I thought I saw the beginnings of a flat spot (and had coincidentally seen Matt Deckard posting about it).

I think folks were generally a bit less precious about their hats than we are today. Nowadays, one might save up for a really nice beaver hat because they're widely considered the best quality available. But I think this gives us modern folks kind of a distorted sense of price. Not only was there far more variance in pricing, one didn't necessarily need to shell out for the top of the line hats, because good quality hats were available at a lower price point. Contrast the $400-$800+ that we might spend vs a 1950 $5 Stetson Playboy (a best selling hat) that would be about $60 in 2022 dollars. A $15 hat (higher quality 3x beaver or 'Fifteen' grade) comes out to $177 in 2022 dollars. It's not exactly a direct quality comparison to today, but there have been a handful of Australian Stetson Open Roads (made by Akubra) posted to the Fedora Lounge, and those were 3x hats. Of course when the license ran out, they just started calling it the Campdraft. But as a price/quality comparison, it's interesting that Akubra is still more or less situated the same today.

An all beaver hat at that time really would have been gilding the lily. The Stetson 100 (which came in its own luggage-like locking case) works out to a bit under $1200 in 2022 dollars. Not exactly an everyday hat! If the mid grade Stetsons were as good as they used to be, I wouldn't care so much about beaver content.

So when we consider that the hats most folks wore were relatively less expensive; that they were just a normal item of clothing; and, they could easily be refurbished, I can see why folks might have been a little more nonchalant about grabbing by the crown. And that's really more like a 'best practices' thing moreso than a hard and fast rule. It's not as if you'd be socially ostracized like wearing white after labor day, or get beaten in the street for wearing a straw hat past the 'appropriate' day.

This is exactly what I was looking for!!! Thanks Jlee. Some great insight there.