Club Obi Wan

came across this HJ, wondering if anyone can tell what kind of fabric or felt (if it even is felt) this hat is made with.





also emailed HJ and awaiting an answer, figured id try my hand ont he forums.

thx all

That's the Snuggle Poet!

Man, I want one of those, that looks awesome!

Looks like they killed a muppet to make that

Any markings inside? Is there a liner?

Looks like the shaggy Poet I shaved, pounced and made an Indy hat out of. The bodies came from France and according to Swales they were Poets.
Late 60's early 70's, maybe later.

Dakota Ellison wrote:Looks like the shaggy Poet I shaved, pounced and made an Indy hat out of. The bodies came from France and according to Swales they were Poets.
Late 60's early 70's, maybe later.

were you really able to shave it and make it more indy?

I've seen a similar Poet on ebay in the past couple of months...it may be the same. I do know that HJ made such hats in the 70's and im almost sure one with that type of material made it into a dr.who special

I wonder could it be pounced down if it is felt?

Cheers

Looks like they killed a muppet to make that

Thanks, that made me laugh

mufflowne wrote:That's the Snuggle Poet!

I bet it's snuggly soft! And has an annoyingly cute giggle when you put it on your head.

Looks like they killed a muppet to make that

I think this may be the deceased Muppet in question...

lol or the victom who got HIS hat stolen

I'm pretty sure Huggy Bear wore something like that on Starsky & Hutch.

Dave

Indy Pimp.

Actually, that was my first thought too...

Shorty, have you seen my razor?

looks like one Tom Baker wore in doctor who. you can see it here:

http://www.doctorwhoprops.com/costumes.php






more pics on the site above

here is a brief description that may help you out on the type of felt:

"... Herbert Johnson were commissioned to make a similar style hat from plush fur felt in a dark bottle green colour (the one pictured above-Terrasolo) again at least three of these would have been made this hat was then used in conjunction with the brown hat" (not pictured -Terrasolo again ....

Ah, the Tales that Hat could tell...

Suspect it's quite a rarity in the history of HJ Poet production.

"...We made a hat out of the dog, er, uh, we named the dog Indiana!"

terrasolo, thanks for that information , i actually got kinda hooked into reading further, interesting stuff

i pm/d dakota to see if he may still have some left over pictures of after it was shaved, but if he doesnt anyone else possibly have them?

This should link to the before photo:
http://hotimg20.fotki.com/p/a/24_98/76_ ... at1-vi.jpg
And this to the after photo:
http://hotimg19.fotki.com/p/a/24_98/76_ ... der117.jpg

lol

okayletsrock wrote:came across this HJ, wondering if anyone can tell what kind of fabric or felt (if it even is felt) this hat is made with.

Furry felt?

Zombie Jones wrote:

okayletsrock wrote:came across this HJ, wondering if anyone can tell what kind of fabric or felt (if it even is felt) this hat is made with.

Furry felt?

lol

i was thinking of a teddy bear when I saw that hat...looks cool though...it has that "oddity" factor which is good

I think it looks like something George Luas would think up, an Indy hat made out of an old Wookie costume

Dakota Ellison wrote:This should link to the before photo:
http://hotimg20.fotki.com/p/a/24_98/76_ ... at1-vi.jpg
And this to the after photo:
http://hotimg19.fotki.com/p/a/24_98/76_ ... der117.jpg

That is nothing short of a miracle!

I second that! That is like night and day. You transformed that sideshow of a hat into something more than presentable. Nice job!

Dave

i was blown away as well, he said that afterwards the hat was unbelieavably thin , so im still contemplating if i want to try this or not

We had a lot of these Poets in various felt plush colours in Herbert Johnson ,
one was used in The Batman film for the Joker as well .

We had a lot of these Poets in various felt plush colours in Herbert Johnson ,
one was used in The Batman film for the Joker as well .

Welcome to Club Obi Wan. I take it you worked at Herbert Johnson?

Hi , thx for the welcome . I worked at HJ nearly 20yrs ago . I joined when they were still at Old Burlington St then moved with them to Bond St ..
I worked with Richard Swales , the raider hat had already been designed but we did hats for the later films ..

Wow I have to say thats pretty cool!!

Cheers

Can you enlighten the forum on a few things? Like where the felt came from in those days? Did you do the blocking there at the shop? What year did you move from Old Burlington to Bond St.? What was Swales like to work for? What did you think of the fan attention to Herbert Johnson once the fans found out, though that may have been after you left?

Richard Swales was never manager , that post was taken by a guy called david Bradburn , Richard was senior sales , he was as camp as a row of tents & prone to quite a few almost theatrical tantrums , he was however the nicest guy to work with & a lot of fun . I couldnt tell you where the felt came from , we never blocked at the shop but did put the shapes in & quite often change ribbons etc . It was usually done downstairs by the girls but Richard would often change ribbons etc .. I joined HJ when they were still at Old Burlington St , the shop moved back to Bond St in 86/87 if my memory serves me well .
The new shop was opened by Prince Michael of Kent & ownership went from Robin Benson to a guy called Anthony Marangos .. With the new shop we had new stock , shirts , ties & lots of accessories ( wallets etc ) to add to the hats ..
I hope this helps ..

Hi John, I'm glad you're on this forum, your information will be highly appreciated around here.

Hi John,welcome to COW!- don't be suprised if you're swamped with questions,we're a nosy bunch here(in the nicest possible way )can I ask,do you(or did you) own one of 'THE hats'(a Burlington St Poet)?,all good wishes,Mark.

>....ducks, runs<

Looks like the hat Indy would wear if he was a Pimp!

Panama Tom Jr. wrote:

Indy Pimp.

Actually, that was my first thought too...

There is a reason we found a home at the Chronicles..... We are all mildly demented.

Did a cane or pimp-stick come with the hat?

Indiana Greg wrote:





>....ducks, runs<

Now, that is a, "Wilde," picture!!!

Piker, you should take the "Oscar" for the best line in this thread.

Dave

Hi ,
Yes i do own a hat made for The Temple of Doom i believe .. im just in the process of selling it to a gent in the states , Im sure he'll post pics as soon as he has it .

Hello John! I have a plush black HJ "Meteor" . 2 questions, sir. - Were Poets ever shaped with a telescope crown? I believe I see such markings on the Raiders hat. ...... Did you stock a Poet-like hat that could have been taken for an Australian military slouch? ( It's rumored that the Raiders costume designer made such a mention.) Thanks! Brilliant! Cheers!

webhead73 wrote:Indy Pimp.

In the interest of full disclosure my purple fedora is a costume store pimp hat. (With the flower clip added.) =P

But I mean... it's purple! I couldn't say no...

Hi , Im not sure what you mean by a 'telescope' crown ? The earlier Poets as i remembered were taller for sure . I joined in the last year that HJ was at Old Burlington St , we had more & more trouble getting the right shape in what was becoming a less & less popular hat .
I never heard of an Australian model , they were always Poets .
We did quite a few plush ones originally but again colours got harder to come by & eventually the range was only Brown , Black & Navy ..
Hope this helps

John Isaac wrote:Hi , Im not sure what you mean by a 'telescope' crown ?

Something like this? or this? Here's why I ask- http://www.raidershat.com/pagethree.html

Perhaps, but undoubtedly a Playwright of Genius. And Martyr. I'd say "Patron Saint of Poets and Playwrights".

We always called that a pork pie crown as opposed to the 'puddled crown' which was a less severe version .

Oscar Wilde could be the "Poet" the hat was named after. If you google images of him, there are several shots of him wearing and holding a tall crowned, wide brim hat.

John Isaac wrote:We always called that a pork pie crown as opposed to the 'puddled crown' which was a less severe version .

So Poets were sometimes shaped with pork pie crowns in the shop?

Hi , Im not sure what you mean by a 'telescope' crown ? The earlier Poets as i remembered were taller for sure . I joined in the last year that HJ was at Old Burlington St , we had more & more trouble getting the right shape in what was becoming a less & less popular hat .
I never heard of an Australian model , they were always Poets .
We did quite a few plush ones originally but again colours got harder to come by & eventually the range was only Brown , Black & Navy ..
Hope this helps

Sounds as though if not for the Indy movies, the Poet might have been discontinued. So, if the hats weren't blocked at the shop, who blocked them? The felt supplier? And if HJ changed felt suppliers say from Cury to Borsalino, you couldn't get the original straight sided block? How did that work?