Club Obi Wan

Indiana Croft wrote:Is it me. Where are you guys seeing the price point.

The Aviator wrote:Further details on spec are due tomorrow, I don’t think I can justify a show piece unless they could guarantee something remarkable. I’m talking felt from original supplier or original block.

Best

Gerry

It was only available late in the year and it was expected it would only last a season before you would replace it with a brand new Poet the following winter. The hats were disposable and you would expect shrinkage of the felt and rotting of the leather with heavy wear. Richard described the retiring of an old hat as 'Putting it out to grass'.

IJJTM wrote:I thought they outsourced the hats during the mid 80s, while they still made them in-house for Raiders?

The Poet is a name the Herbert Johnson brand coined to describe it’s popular classic styles harking back to the early 20th century. It described a strong crown shape, usually rather straight sided and tall, often twinned with a medium to wide brim. Although it became a signature model for Herbert Johnson it was never actually patented and was certainly not exclusive. The crown shape is actually widely used by hatters and is a common classic shape known and used throughout the industry. Herbert Johnson merely gave it a unique style name as the brand used the shape so frequently. After all a classic never goes out of fashion and the Poet styles have been a popular staple in the Herbert Johnson ranges over the decades.

Secondly the hats made for the film Raiders Of The Lost Ark were indeed the Poet model but with some additional adjustments made such as changing out the ribbon band and altering the brim dimensions. Spielberg wanted a classic early century style for the character of Indiana Jones so it was not merely happenstance that brought him and Harrison Ford into the London Herbert Johnson shop in search of this classic style. At the time of Raiders, Herbert Johnson were buying in batches of styles seasonally from their trusted manufacturers. Herbert Johnson was not alone in that the brand outsourced the manufacturing of their hats to a variety of large hat manufacturers in tandem with hats made or trimmed in-house. The Raiders hat’s origin was a Poet model which was on our shop shelves directly from one such manufacturer. This model was then adjusted by our sales manager Richard Swales before sending the entire season’s stock of them to the film studio for Raiders. Five hats were for Harrison Ford and the remainder for the stunt team.

It being common practice to outsource manufacture and the Poet block being a widely used block shape then, it was straight forward to order in hats to our specific design from larger manufacturers each season. As a buyer we will choose the open crown shape itself, the felt quality and colour, the trimming levels, everything! A sample would be approved and a shipment agreed on. Popular models would get reordered or adjustments made or new suppliers brought in to improve on quality or cost. These manufacturers all have their own sets of blocks. The buyer at Herbert Johnson would design the ranges with the manufacturer and in this instance they would choose the matching classic shape we called the Poet. All the manufacturers we used had their own sets of blocks just as Herbert Johnson had our own block sets for in house. No blocks exchanged hands because they had no need to due to the Poet actually being a universal classic shape. Herbert Johnson’s in-house Poet blocks have never been lost, just in storage whilst the brand changed ownership and went through periods of time where there was no in-house hat making. The blocks that formed our hats for us over the years were not owned by us ever. So as you see the ‘lost block’ myth is a romantic notion and not based in reality.

IJJTM wrote:That’s what I assumed, thanks Nate.

Hedji wrote:I don't own a HJ yet. (just a FedIV that is too big)

IJJTM wrote:Thanks jlee. Wish the box had better pictures, and just me or does it not really look like an SOC hat?

Herbert Johnson was delighted at having been chosen to help design what was to become the famous iconic Indy hat.

The now iconic-explorer look was enhanced by snapping the front brim down and altering the original ribbon from 50mm to 38mm, resulting in the appearance of an even taller crown.

we altered the original ribbon from 50mm to 39mm

tubasthebest wrote:

The now iconic-explorer look was enhanced by snapping the front brim down and altering the original ribbon from 50mm to 38mm, resulting in the appearance of an even taller crown.

HJ's previous listings said this:

we altered the original ribbon from 50mm to 39mm

I will have to do some digging, but do any of you experts out their know what the actual ribbon size was?

(Ribbon still produced on the same looms that made the original screen hats ribbon).

NoBadDates wrote:Welcome C.A.K! Happy hatting to you!


In regards to getting the original Indy ribbon in small lengths without having to order large quantities from T.W.Brachers there is another way...

Happy to let you all know that Guy Morse Brown Blockmakers in the UK buy bulk ribbon from Brachers and sell off in lengths of 5 meters. Here is the link for the shop.
Scroll down to Galloon ribbon and choose the dark brown in 38mm.

https://www.hatblocks.co.uk/online-shop/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Happy hatting to you all!

Michelle and Team HJ

IJJTM wrote:Does that place also sell the generic Raiders block?

thecoolmiester wrote:I also bought the hat cuz YOLO


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Kungaloosh wrote:Does anyone know if Streets of Cairo is available in Deep Sable Beaver?

tubasthebest wrote:I received an email last night from Herbert Johnson that due to an error I wasn’t charged shipping when it paying for my order, so I will receive an additional invoice for that. Just something to be aware of.

I wonder if she would allow a change to beaver felt… not sure if I would change anyway.