Anyone recognise this hatmaker? Bollman 'Lost Ark' fedora.

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Mon May 15, 2006 4:32 am

This is from a fedora at least 20 years old, possibly even vintage?

Does anyone recognise the makers label inside -Designer Collection?

Thanks

Al

Merrick · Post by **Merrick** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:52 am

Not much of a help, but it sounds very Department Store-ish.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:16 am

Yup. It's the Bollman Designer Collection, from the Bollman Hat company. I bought two in 1984. They seemed to appear just as Temple of Doom came out. I still have mine and they are in pretty good shape. One is a light brown and says "Lost Ark" in gold on the sweatband, which makes it pretty obvious that they are related to the films. The other is a chocolate brown, but has no gold title or text. They have a surprisingly high crown when pushed out, about 5.5", except this is lost a bit since they have a tear drop top, which makes them about 4.5" high. I wanted to get some more but I can't find them anywhere and believe me I have scowered the net. The wool felt is pretty stiff and like I said, mine look pretty good for their age. I found them at "Chess King", (Yikes!), Remember that store anyone? Anyone born before the 80's anyways...

Michael B

Pitfall Harry · Post by **Pitfall Harry** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:32 am

Ah, Chess King! Yes, my friends always shopped there but I was never "hip" enough because I bought my clothes elsewhere!

If you wanted to look like Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice that was the place to go.

Oklahoma Jones · Post by **Oklahoma Jones** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:53 am

I too had one of those hats......I recall that the one I had did not have a lot of stiffener in the crown, and was easily popped out from a C-crown to a nice center dent......sure wish I hadn't let the dog eat it..........

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Thu May 18, 2006 5:03 am

michaelb wrote:Yup. It's the Bollman Designer Collection, from the Bollman Hat company. I bought two in 1984. They seemed to appear just as Temple of Doom came out. I still have mine and they are in pretty good shape. One is a light brown and says "Lost Ark" in gold on the sweatband, which makes it pretty obvious that they are related to the films. The other is a chocolate brown, but has no gold title or text. They have a surprisingly high crown when pushed out, about 5.5", except this is lost a bit since they have a tear drop top, which makes them about 4.5" high. I wanted to get some more but I can't find them anywhere and believe me I have scowered the net. The wool felt is pretty stiff and like I said, mine look pretty good for their age. I found them at "Chess King", (Yikes!), Remember that store anyone? Anyone born before the 80's anyways...

Michael B

That's very interesting information! It's the first I've heard of these hats, particularly the Indy connection with 'Lost Ark' in the sweatband! The 5.5" open crown hight sounds about right - the pics I've seen look to have a fairly deep centre dent.

Michael, as we chatted about via PM it would be great to see some pics of your hats and please, a shot inside of the sweatband and lining too would be great. I will be interested to see if bound brim versions were available too.

Does anyone else here own one of these lids?

Regards

Al

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Thu May 18, 2006 9:52 am

Yes the Indy connection was very interesting, but not surprising since, like I said the movie was just released, or about to be, and my friend and I spotted them right away. We made the connection, but the "Lost Ark" was pretty much a dead give-away.

No center dent on mine, tear drop, or C crown, on both.

I have the hats at work and a girl who works here brought in her digital camera so pics should be available before the end of the day. But BEWARE... After a few months sitting next to my Herbert Johnson, I think they have tapered even more, just in shame... Once I get my Adventurebilt I think they will just crumble into dust.

Also, I have never seen a bound brim on any of these... As far as I can remember...

Michael B

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:00 am

Here's a pic I found online of a fedora by the same maker - Bollman.

The straight-sided crown has a definate Indy look to it IMO - however, the edge of the brim is bound, as you can see.

I wonder if Bollman tweaked the design to offer an unbound (sic?) edge as they jumped on the Indy bandwagon with their 'Lost Ark' version?:-k

Post by **Michaelson** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:06 am

Boll was making this hat just prior to the release of Temple of Doom. I owned one, and it was a decent hat for just running around in...but not anything to write home about. The edge is not really bound as we know it. It does/did have a sewn edge with the felt turned over on itself to give it that impression.

Regards! Michaelson

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:40 pm

Thanks for the info Michaelson.

These are wool-felt, I take it? Did your hat have 'Lost Ark' on the sweatband like michaelb's?

Snakewhip_Sable · Post by **Snakewhip_Sable** » Thu May 18, 2006 2:38 pm

Michaelson wrote:The edge is not really bound as we know it. It does/did have a sewn edge with the felt turned over on itself to give it that impression.

I thought that was the definition of a 'bound edge'. If it's not, what is a bound edge really? I have a Robert Hall fedora that had a fabric rim (since removed) that matched the hat band sewn over the edge of the brim. Is that a 'true' bound edge?

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Thu May 18, 2006 2:59 pm

Snakewhip_Sable wrote: I thought that was the definition of a 'bound edge'. If it's not, what is a bound edge really? I have a Robert Hall fedora that had a fabric rim (since removed) that matched the hat band sewn over the edge of the brim. Is that a 'true' bound edge?

Yes, that's a true bound edge.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:13 pm

Hello!

Here are the pics of the 2 hats. The lighter brown (top 4) "Lost Ark" fedora origonally came with a similar colored ribbon, but I replaced that with an "Official" Indiana Jones Fedora ribbon because I thought that looked more accurate, and I never liked the "Official" hat. Not a bad ribbon job, considering I was 17 in 1984 and long before IndyGear! The last 4 images are the darker brown Bollman version. Anyways, these were my first Indy hats. Still holding up after 22 years, although nothing like my HJ or Akubra. I am thinking about putting them on eBay, but don't know if I should part with them considering their condition and mostly for nostalgia's sake...

Enjoy!

Michael B

Indiana · Post by **Indiana** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:51 pm

I think one of my friends has that Lost Ark hat. Is a "Dorfmanesque" hat?

ob1al · Post by **ob1al** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:01 pm

I think its wool felt, so probably. I kinda like it, though.

RNomura · Post by **RNomura** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:05 am

Indiana,

I also had one of these "Lost Ark" hats over 20 years ago. I worked in a costume store in Hollywood and had it ordered for me. We used to deal with the Golden Gate Hat Company a lot.

I got rid of this hat when I bought my first HJ in '87.

~Ron