"I really like that hat!"

In-depth discussion of the Fedora of Indiana Jones and all other hats appearing in the Indiana Jones movies

Moderators: Indiana Jeff, Dalexs

Post Reply
User avatar
Doh
Field Surveyor
Field Surveyor
Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:09 am
Location: Tinsel Town

"I really like that hat!"

Post by Doh »

I was in the St. Louis airport last week, about to venture into 20-degree (F) weather so I suited up with my A-2 bomber jacket (too cold for the lamb Wested) and my Jaxon Iconoclast and stroll up to the rent-a-car counter. The guy looks up and immediately complimented me on my hat -- without using one "Indiana Jones" reference.

Let me tell you, as soon as I stepped out into that cold wind, I was glad to be wearing it. Fedoras, of course, offer no ear protection but they sure keep the rest of your head nice and toasty! Back in the 80s, I used a thicker felt one as my winter hat and will continue to do so whenever faced with cold weather.

Not that it happens much here in LA, but you get the point: fedoras not only look sharp, they're quite functional!
Antone
Laboratory Technician
Laboratory Technician
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:48 pm
Location: Northern California

Post by Antone »

I completely agree; where I live it rains frequently, so there's added incentive to don the hat.

I often wonder why something so practical as hats with full brims went out of fashion...
FloatinJoe
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 621
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 7:07 pm
Location: Manassas, VA

Post by FloatinJoe »

We can blame it all on John Kennedy. He refused to wear one and he was ridiculously popular that everyone wanted to be like him. After he was elected, clothing store mannequins were actually given heads that were similar to his.
User avatar
Prof. Ed
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 464
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:08 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: "I really like that hat!"

Post by Prof. Ed »

Doh wrote:I was in the St. Louis airport last week, about to venture into 20-degree (F) weather so I suited up with my A-2 bomber jacket (too cold for the lamb Wested) and my Jaxon Iconoclast and stroll up to the rent-a-car counter. The guy looks up and immediately complimented me on my hat -- without using one "Indiana Jones" reference.

Let me tell you, as soon as I stepped out into that cold wind, I was glad to be wearing it. Fedoras, of course, offer no ear protection but they sure keep the rest of your head nice and toasty! Back in the 80s, I used a thicker felt one as my winter hat and will continue to do so whenever faced with cold weather.

Not that it happens much here in LA, but you get the point: fedoras not only look sharp, they're quite functional!
Hi,

I live 10 minutes from the said airport. Our rental car people are nice. I'm not sure about the rest of the bunch :wink:
User avatar
Snakewhip_Sable
Scoundrel
Posts: 2256
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:23 am
Location: Palliser City, south of Midian, Alberta, DBSSWDD
Contact:

Post by Snakewhip_Sable »

floatinjoe wrote:After he was elected, clothing store mannequins were actually given heads that were similar to his.
You mean with big missing bits that remain hidden in a big pickle jar next to the crate the Ark of the Covenant is in?

Whup! See ya in Hades.
User avatar
Kaleponi Craig
Archaeologist
Archaeologist
Posts: 252
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:56 pm
Location: Lucas Valley, Marin County, CA
Contact:

Re: "I really like that hat!"

Post by Kaleponi Craig »

Doh wrote:Not that it happens much here in LA, but you get the point: fedoras not only look sharp, they're quite functional!
No kidding, Doh! I love the look and so do a lot of other people, even though they might never wear a fedora...KC
Antone
Laboratory Technician
Laboratory Technician
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:48 pm
Location: Northern California

Post by Antone »

[/quote]
Snakewhip_Sable wrote: You mean with big missing bits that remain hidden in a big pickle jar next to the crate the Ark of the Covenant is in?

Whup! See ya in Hades.
Ha! Funny you should mention that; once had a conversation with friends speculating what else would be in that warehouse now, and Kennedy's missing parts came up.

Sick minds think alike.

floatinjoe-

That's interesting; Kennedy was a big factor in the decline of hat popularity? I hadn't heard that before. I don't suppose anyone has links to any good articles on the dissappearance of the hat from modern attire? I've been curious about this from an anthropological perspective, since it seems to be a relatively recent and abrupt change in dress, considering hats were pretty universally worn from the renaissance until the 60s...
User avatar
Snakewhip_Sable
Scoundrel
Posts: 2256
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:23 am
Location: Palliser City, south of Midian, Alberta, DBSSWDD
Contact:

Post by Snakewhip_Sable »

There was some article - I believe Renderking Fisk has it on the Fedora Chronicles - about Kennedy being the first not to wear a hat for his Presidental Inaugeration, and that was the beginning of the end. Perhaps the guy on the grassy knoll worked at Borsilano. All the villains (not patsies) in that story wore fedoras, didn't they? Jack Ruby and the like? I'm only a Canadian speculating on foreign history though.
User avatar
Strider
Legendary Adventurer
Legendary Adventurer
Posts: 3215
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 4:16 am
Location: Oklahoma

Post by Strider »

Jack Ruby didn't have anything to do with shooting Kennedy. Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the government's patsy for the assassination.
User avatar
Snakewhip_Sable
Scoundrel
Posts: 2256
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:23 am
Location: Palliser City, south of Midian, Alberta, DBSSWDD
Contact:

Post by Snakewhip_Sable »

That's what they want you to believe. ;)

Now... back to the hats.
User avatar
prairiejones
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 651
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 2:01 pm
Location: In the damp jungles of Peru, drinking Dewar's with Pagey.

Post by prairiejones »

I just got a good, "Nicehat."
"Thanks."
"It looks good."
At the liquor store. No IJ reference. :D
User avatar
Doh
Field Surveyor
Field Surveyor
Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:09 am
Location: Tinsel Town

Post by Doh »

floatinjoe wrote:We can blame it all on John Kennedy. He refused to wear one and he was ridiculously popular that everyone wanted to be like him. After he was elected, clothing store mannequins were actually given heads that were similar to his.
Supposedly, when Clark Gable took off his shirt in "It Happened One Night" and he wasn't wearing an undershirt, sales of undershirts plummeted after that.

So let's look at the facts: Kennedy had an affair with Marilyn Monroe and soon after, died.
Gable's last movie was with Marilyn and soon after, died.

Fedoras and undershirts are no longer fashionable; ergo, the whole thing is Marilyn Monroe's fault.
User avatar
Doh
Field Surveyor
Field Surveyor
Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:09 am
Location: Tinsel Town

Re: "I really like that hat!"

Post by Doh »

Prof. Ed wrote:
Doh wrote:I was in the St. Louis airport last week, about to venture into 20-degree (F) weather so I suited up with my A-2 bomber jacket (too cold for the lamb Wested) and my Jaxon Iconoclast and stroll up to the rent-a-car counter. The guy looks up and immediately complimented me on my hat -- without using one "Indiana Jones" reference.

Let me tell you, as soon as I stepped out into that cold wind, I was glad to be wearing it. Fedoras, of course, offer no ear protection but they sure keep the rest of your head nice and toasty! Back in the 80s, I used a thicker felt one as my winter hat and will continue to do so whenever faced with cold weather.

Not that it happens much here in LA, but you get the point: fedoras not only look sharp, they're quite functional!
Hi,

I live 10 minutes from the said airport. Our rental car people are nice. I'm not sure about the rest of the bunch :wink:
Hey, Prof.

I grew up there, but got tired of the cold weather (the summers there ain't much fun, either) but I can take the humidity over the cold any day. I really don't miss the ritual of having to put on layers of clothing and then waiting for your car to warm up... just to turn the heat back down after driving for awhile.

But, yeah, the car rental people ARE always nice. Stay warm!
User avatar
Prof. Ed
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 464
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:08 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Post by Prof. Ed »

Thanks, my friend. It is COLD today! Rain tomorrow.
Ol' St. Lou...as you remember, has the distinction of being the third most dangerous city in the country and " if you don't like the weather today, it will change in a few minutes".

Someday you can tell me where you grew up, etc. Heck, I probably taught you :lol:

Take care,

Prof. Ed
User avatar
Doh
Field Surveyor
Field Surveyor
Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:09 am
Location: Tinsel Town

Post by Doh »

I just read that "3rd most dangerous" stat -- what's up with that? Is it based on murders, or overall crime? I certainly have no fear when I visit.

I do remember in the early '80s, St. Louis had the distinction of the Car Bomb Capital in the country; there was a gang war at the time involving the Leisure Family. In fact, my sister-in-law actually heard one of the guys get blown up in south STL!

Read all about it:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_o ... uis/9.html

(Anyway, I grew up in U. City and graduated from Webster in '86. No explosions.)
FloatinJoe
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 621
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 7:07 pm
Location: Manassas, VA

Post by FloatinJoe »

Doh wrote:Supposedly, when Clark Gable took off his shirt in "It Happened One Night" and he wasn't wearing an undershirt, sales of undershirts plummeted after that.
I think it was Brando who managed to bring the undershirt back. I'm not sure, but I know the industry worked at getting a famous actor to wear one to bring them back.
User avatar
Hemingway Jones
Expeditionary Hero
Expeditionary Hero
Posts: 2343
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:11 pm
Location: Home, Sweet Home: Boston, USA
Contact:

Post by Hemingway Jones »

floatinjoe wrote:
Doh wrote:Supposedly, when Clark Gable took off his shirt in "It Happened One Night" and he wasn't wearing an undershirt, sales of undershirts plummeted after that.
I think it was Brando who managed to bring the undershirt back. I'm not sure, but I know the industry worked at getting a famous actor to wear one to bring them back.
You're right. It was "A Streetcar Named Desire.
"
It's amazing that media can affect people so. Can you imagine seeing one character in a film, then molding your entire look around them? Nonsense! 8-[
Last edited by Hemingway Jones on Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
FloatinJoe
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 621
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 7:07 pm
Location: Manassas, VA

Post by FloatinJoe »

Hemingway,

I couldn't remember if it was Streetcar Named Desire or for some reason I was thinking it could have been On The Waterfront. I should have just said Streetcar.

Mike
User avatar
Hemingway Jones
Expeditionary Hero
Expeditionary Hero
Posts: 2343
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:11 pm
Location: Home, Sweet Home: Boston, USA
Contact:

Post by Hemingway Jones »

floatinjoe wrote:Hemingway,

I couldn't remember if it was Streetcar Named Desire or for some reason I was thinking it could have been On The Waterfront. I should have just said Streetcar.

Mike
When in doubt, say "Streetcar." :wink: :lol:
Clark Cable took undershirts away in "It Happened One Night" and Brando brings them back in "Streetcar."
JFK took hats away.... someone, someone, someone....

It's always good to get compliments on your hat and better yet to be an individual. :wink:
Indiana Jess
Scoundrel
Posts: 1264
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 3:35 pm
Location: Tracking down Farnham54

Post by Indiana Jess »

Recently one of the guys at my office left for Norway (where his girlfriend lives), his last comment to me was "Keep wearin' the hat." There are a number of people at work who think my AB is a great looking hat. They're right.
Feraud
Professor of Archaeology
Professor of Archaeology
Posts: 967
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:31 am

Post by Feraud »

Last friday I went to pick up my son at school. I was wearing a button down shirt and my Akubra deluxe. When I entered the schoolyard I saw two people I know. The guy comments in a sincere way, "nice hat, you remind me of a Texas lawyer." :shock: :roll: I have no idea what he meant!! :lol: :lol:
The lady redeemed the situation. She corrects him with, "no. He looks like Harrison Ford!". That was better.. :wink:

That Texas lawyer comment had my wife and I cracking up! I assumed he was thinking brimmed hat = cowboy? Could it be my piercing intellect that struck him as 'lawyer-like'? :lol: :roll: hahahaha..
User avatar
binkmeisterRick
Stealer of Wallets
Posts: 16926
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Chattering with these old bones

Post by binkmeisterRick »

I was in the elevator on my way to work the other day when a gentleman complimented me on my hat. He told me a friend of his was looking for one just like it. The door opened and I managed to tell him Fedora's web address before exiting the elevator. :wink:

bink
User avatar
ShanghaiJack
Professor of Archaeology
Professor of Archaeology
Posts: 833
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2004 9:39 am
Location: Bourbon Country

Post by ShanghaiJack »

Antone wrote:That's interesting; Kennedy was a big factor in the decline of hat popularity? I hadn't heard that before. I don't suppose anyone has links to any good articles on the dissappearance of the hat from modern attire? I've been curious about this from an anthropological perspective, since it seems to be a relatively recent and abrupt change in dress, considering hats were pretty universally worn from the renaissance until the 60s...
Snakewhip_Sable wrote:There was some article - I believe Renderking Fisk has it on the Fedora Chronicles - about Kennedy being the first not to wear a hat for his Presidental Inaugeration, and that was the beginning of the end. Perhaps the guy on the grassy knoll worked at Borsilano. All the villains (not patsies) in that story wore fedoras, didn't they? Jack Ruby and the like? I'm only a Canadian speculating on foreign history though.
Funnily enough, Kennedy did wear a top hat at his inauguration, although it is much more common for people to remember him not wearing a hat. This information comes from the book, Hatless Jack, which is about hats, Kennedy, and the popular, but incorrect assumption that Kennedy caused the decline in the popularity of wearing hats.

Antone, this book is just what you are looking for. It's chock full of anthropological info regarding the rise and decline of the hat.

Regards,
SJ
User avatar
IndianaGuybrush
Dig Leader
Dig Leader
Posts: 627
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 9:40 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Post by IndianaGuybrush »

There are pictures of him with the hat on at the inauguration, and quite a few pictures showing him holding the top hat or having it on his seat. So he did in fact wear one.
Antone
Laboratory Technician
Laboratory Technician
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:48 pm
Location: Northern California

Post by Antone »

ShanghaiJack wrote: Funnily enough, Kennedy did wear a top hat at his inauguration, although it is much more common for people to remember him not wearing a hat. This information comes from the book, Hatless Jack, which is about hats, Kennedy, and the popular, but incorrect assumption that Kennedy caused the decline in the popularity of wearing hats.

Antone, this book is just what you are looking for. It's chock full of anthropological info regarding the rise and decline of the hat.

Regards,
SJ
Thanks SJ, I'll have to find a copy. Know the author offhand?

On topic though, I was just walking back from downtown wearing my Raiders-ish Fed deluxe and got a "love your hat!" gasp from one of the local college girls. A few weeks ago I ran into one of my students at the theatre while I was wearing the same hat, and she exclaimed "You look so cool!" without a trace of irony. It's nice when people appreciate your sense of fashion.

Antone
User avatar
Strider
Legendary Adventurer
Legendary Adventurer
Posts: 3215
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 4:16 am
Location: Oklahoma

Post by Strider »

I saw a guy wearing a Dorfman Indy outside of work today, who had a really neat brim shape to his hat. I stopped him, and complimented him on his choice of hats. He seemed like he was really unwilling to talk to me! He had this look on his face, like: "Okay, what do you want? Can I go now?" His girlfriend talked to me for a bit, and I told her I was an Indy fan, so that's why I had asked, and she was nice.

The guy's reactions during the entire enounter were just staggering. It looked like he was completely disinterested, and was wondering why in the Sam Hill the conversation was even going on in the first place.

I ended up saying: "Ok, sheesh! Sorry to have bothered you. Just wanted to tell you that you had a nice hat."

His girlfriend tried to make up for it, and she said something, but I didn't hear it. I had started walking back into my store by then.

What is it with some people? Now I feel like some kind of dip stick.
User avatar
raindog
Archaeology Student
Archaeology Student
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 4:27 am
Location: UK

Post by raindog »

There's nowt so strange as folk Strider :?
He acted like a dipstick, not you. Who knows what he had on his mind though? I've alienated a few people in my time due to being focused on some terrible personal troubles, and I just couldn't be bothered with anything else at the time....Even so if someone complimented me on my hat I'd be happy :D
Don't let it put you off complimenting folk. Most of 'em like it.

Jeff.
User avatar
Renderking Fisk
Expeditionary Hero
Expeditionary Hero
Posts: 1896
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2002 2:29 pm
Location: The Fedora Chronicles
Contact:

Post by Renderking Fisk »

Snakewhip_Sable wrote:There was some article - I believe Renderking Fisk has it on the Fedora Chronicles - about Kennedy being the first not to wear a hat for his Presidental Inaugeration, and that was the beginning of the end.
Here's the artilce I hosted for the insightful and brilliant Robert T. West.

http://thefedorachronicles.com/Guest/west.html

Can't say how much I appreciate him letting me host that article.

But wait... there's more!

Senator Jack writes about how casual wear has ruined fine dining...

Timothy J. Steiner writes in about his observation about the current trends in Men's style and the off chance that maybe fedora's may be back in style: Or that maybe they never left.

I wrote about this earlier.

I’m at the promise Keepers Convention in Long Island, and I’m dressed wearing the same clothes as I’m seen wearing in one of my pix on The FC side, and these guys are talking about someone who’s dressed just like “That Guy…”

And I hear them getting closer and one of they guys said: “You look like that guy who runs that website with those “Traditionalists Rants.” Imagine his surprise when I turn around and it was me he was talking about.

No longer am I “That Guy who dresses like Indiana Jones,” I’m now the news/political junky who runs “that website” with fedoras.

I also wrote that with out a fedora, I feel nude from the neck up. Which sounds funny, but it’s true. I think there’s something magical about a fedora that embodies both the style of a by-gone era while at the same time embraces the adventure, hope and optimism of the future. If we’re not exploring the tunnels of an abandoned underground temple or hunting for biblical artifacts, then were taking a few steps each day into the future. It’s a future that can be and is becoming just as dangerous as a rope bridge that you’re sharing with a bunch of thuggies or an airstrip you currently occupy with a flying wing and a fight hungry mechanic.

I personally think that they’re essential. And since it took a “John Kennedy” or a “John Lennon” to make fedora’s and traditional syles pase`, then it’s going to take a a “John Kennedy” or a “John Lennon” to bring them back.
User avatar
Michaelson
Knower of Things
Posts: 44484
Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2002 12:55 pm
Location: Out here knowing stuff and things and wishing I were with the family at Universal Studios Orlando

Post by Michaelson »

The story I've read recently seems to point more at Robert Kennedy to be the blame than Jack in the 'society going hatless' theory. The two men planned on wearing homburgs to the inauguration in honor of their father, (who wore homburgs all the time), but as they were walking out to the car, Robert told Jack they looked like a couple of Irish thugs, and after laughing about it, decided to leave the hats. Jack picked up the top hat becuase of protocol, and that was the end of wearing hats for the Kennedy clan....all due to a casual statement made by Robert to Jack that morning.

Ok, we need to swing this BACK to Indy gear relationship. This is more suited for the Fedora Lounge than here. :lol:

Regards! Michaelson
Post Reply