Club Obi Wan

I have known about his for a few weeks, but have been hesitant to even mention it, but I have to share with someone. It seems that my felter used to sell bodies to HJ, in the 60's and 70's, and lost the contract somtimes in the late 70's. They sold black, brown and gray bodies to HJ. HJ went with several different cheaper suppliers, to cut costs. Small world, but then the feltmakers are a small lot. Fedora

So it would make sense to say that your hats practically ARE the ones used for Raiders!

bink

Wow...

So I guess that means there's no chance that your felt-maker made the felt for the hats in the movies. Still, that's great! Very interesting indeed!

btw Fedora, what with how much I've been enjoying my new AB, I haven't gotten a chance to thank you. I REALLY love that hat! In fact, if you can do it, I think I may want to send in my PB custom to you for a reblock. Thanks again, :junior: -IJ

Wow, thats pretty cool!

I suppose HJ may have had some of those bodies lying around. So, who knows? It could be one of them in the film.

As an aside, I was stopped yesterday by a gentleman from Georgia who was in the Museum of Science in Boston. He asked me where I got my hat; if it was 100% beaver; and where he could get one, since it was so nice. I took out my pen and scribbled your contact information on a napkin.

sounds like that gentleman was one who knows his hats. :junior: -IJ

IndianaJones wrote:sounds like that gentleman was one who knows his hats. :junior: -IJ

He sure was. He said he wore out his previous Indy-style fedora. I didn't get the chance to ask him where he had gotten it.

Yeah, I think it's possible. The contracted was dropped in the late 70's. Could be 77 to 79 maybe. I doubt HJ sold out hats the minute they came in, especially that style. Not real big in that day. If you count pre-production time (who knows how far prior to 81 the ball got rolling?) I'd say it's entirely possible that some of that felt was still on HJ's shelves at the time.

I doubt, if HJ used any of the rabbit bodies from my felter as this was several years before Indy was made. Just thought it intersting that this reaffirms the notion that the hat business is a small world nowadays. But, with that said, it seems so odd that this Raiders gray that I got recently seems to be a dead ringer for the hat used in the film, the plane hat, and the hat the Nazi wore. (same gray hat). A gray hat with a brownish undertone is rare, as most are charcoal gray, or a blueish gray if a lighter color. I think it is possible that the gray hat used in the film, may have been from my supplier. And, then, maybe not. But it is a suspicious coincidence in my mind. If anyone is interested in seeing this color, email me and give me an address and I will send you a piece of brim cutting. Then, tell folks here your opinion on the matter of color match. Of course, I do not have any to sell, and who knows when they will run another big order on which I can tag in on. But, I am very intersted in the opinions, especially the long time fans here, who have pondered this question for years, and even argued about it. Fedora

Well, that would be me then. (grins) One of the few phone conversations I had with Swales concerned this grey hat, and what HE said. Regards! Michaelson

I think since you already have the felt, HJ oughta send you the liners, sweatbands, and ribbons and make you the official HJ-West man. You already have a better Poet block than they do.
It is possible they had some unmade hats from your guys in the back room when Raiders began production there in 1980.

And you know, whenever I think of Mr. Swales and his info, there are too many inconsistencies. The specs he gave originally as it appeared on Max's website was a 5 1/2 inch open crown, 2 3/4 x 2 1/2. Then there was the letter from him that you posted years ago Dakota, stating different specs. And then there are all of those variously blocked HJs that I have seen, with varying crown heights. I do not think you can trust a word that he says, about..............anything. I still say the guy liked to take a nip. regards, Fedora

Oh, I don't know. He's the one who told me he made grey fedoras for Raiders, and I posted at Indyfan years and years ago...a point that folks have debated about for years, and here you're proving him right, so maybe he got SOMETHING right in his reminisces. Regards. Michaelson

He's the one who told me he made grey fedoras for Raiders, and I posted at Indyfan years and years ago...a point that folks have debated about for years,

Yeah, I do not think we can argue that the Nazi was wearing a gray hat in the Cairo scenes. And if you zoom up, you can see the tight crease where it was creased Raiders style too. regards, Fedora

Come to think of it, wasn't there someone about a year ago that claimed a south american felt maker supplied the felt bodies that HJ used for the movie? I don't think we ever settled whether that person was telling the truth or not. That could be the same felt supplier Fedora's using right now. :junior: -IJ

It was Swales who told us (me) that, and that's what Fedora is referring to, as we're STILL not sure if it was a blind trail, correct, or just mis-remembered info. Regards! Michaelson

What if someone bought it, never wore it, kept it good as new in a hat box, and was allowed to return it a couple years later. What if it was a "blem" and was kept in the back room? A blem maybe because a customer picked it up and and put an off center front pinch in it, folded the sweat, or it had that thing in the brim I thought was a wire? Maybe it hung around the store because "it was a bit too tall with a very wide brim"?

Well, I guess anything is possible. We'll probably never know.

Say, what's the theory with the wire in the brim? I've read about it but I don't quite undersand it.

click the link at the bottom of my posts.

Hmm...I don't know, My AB is turned and I don't have an out of place dome.