Club Obi Wan

I know you told me about your visit with Mr. Swales. Please give us a treatise on the questions you asked, and what info he volunteered on the Raiders fedora, as well as the other hats. Thanks! Fedora

And remember, around here, "treatise" can be read as "2,000-word narrative essay."

I've also always wanted to know if Swales was responsible for any of the other hats in Raiders such as Toht's and Belloq's?

Do you have any knowledge of this or did Swales perhaps mention it at all? I'm in for any stories that have to do with the Raiders fedora or Raiders in general. Please PM me or post in other sections if you have any non-fedora related Raiders stuff to tell. Always interested.

Hey, guys! I haven't had the chance to come out here that consistently. I REALLY have the blinders on with regard to my work lately. But Swales in 1986 said that he did not do the Toht hat to my recollection. He only said that he did gray and brown Indiana Jones hats. He said that the ribbon was replaced on both (each of them at the time usually the same color as the hat) and that the Raiders hat was sprayed with some diluted bleach. He didn't say whether he did the bleach or someone else did though.

Sorry I haven't photo'd my hats over here yet.

And Steve - any of those twisters get close to you?! Looks like everything was north of you but not by more than several miles! What a storm system. Wow.

And Steve - any of those twisters get close to you?! Looks like everything was north of you but not by more than several miles! What a storm system. Wow.

We lucked out. We got a bit of wind, rain, and extreme lightning storms, but the worst part of that storm went north of us. Tore up Tennessee real bad from what I hear.

What did you tell me about Mr. Swales saying they at one time used a 3 step process in the blocking of the hat? Or did I misunderstand you? Regards, Fedora

Fedora wrote: Tore up Tennessee real bad from what I hear.

You better believe it.

Regards! Michaelson

Hi. No, that wasn't me about that 3 step thing. I really think, having been to the shop, that they took a Poet, played with it in the store, trimmed the brim, and put that wacky pinch in the front. Beyond that, I think the Lucas costume people and H. Ford aged it.

Funny, in that other thread here about the hat from the beginning of Raiders, it looks VERY new to me. Looks like HJ's I've had just out of the box and bashed a little bit. Really. I think that one is relatively new. Thats why it looks different.

I personally believe that if I were to buy a Poet now I could get it to look exactly like any hat from Raiders. I think anyone here could do it but here's the problem - if you really pinch the #### out of it you are going to break the fibers and make that part of the hat very fragile - cuts WAY down on longevity. Its best to have something like that develop over time. #2, you will probably need to use some water to help coax it into shape. But I would never wet it again after that as it will shrink too much. #3 you will have to possibly bleach it a tiny bit.

When I get my AB I do plan to do a little "training" toward a certain shape.

I think that shrinking the hat a little helps get that Raiders "slouch" in the brim so that it doesn't stick exactly out to the sides. I think.

I hope this is coherent. I'm having a weird week again.

Hi. No, that wasn't me about that 3 step thing.

I tend to get my sources confused. Nothing new.

I personally believe that if I were to buy a Poet now I could get it to look exactly like any hat from Raiders.

Now, that I would love to see. Mine certainly would not pull the look off, and I work on hats 7 days a week. You can get it to look good from one view, but in order to get the look from other angles, you have to change what you already put in, crease wise to pull it off. Of course, that would be cheating. When I got mine last year(just to see the new felt), it arrived very tapered on bow side. No matter what you did, that taper totally blew any Raiders look. I reblocked it, and it looked good. Only thing, I wore it in a misty rain down the hill to the hat shop, worked for a few hours, and the thing tapered while it was on my head. I put it in storage, so as to have this new model, along with my other HJs. It has stayed there ever since. I would personally love to see a new HJ pull the look off, from all angles. So, I am all eyes on this one. Regards, Fedora

Fedora wrote:

I personally believe that if I were to buy a Poet now I could get it to look exactly like any hat from Raiders.

Now, that I would love to see. Mine certainly would not pull the look off, and I work on hats 7 days a week. You can get it to look good from one view, but in order to get the look from other angles, you have to change what you already put in, crease wise to pull it off.

Didn't you get the latest memo?
It was discovered that 5 hats were actually used in the movie. 1 for each camera angle. All bashed just right!

I have no doubt that's true. All you need to do now is tell Steve what "camera angle" you want... no longer just the scene.