Club Obi Wan

My friend gets the local paper, Today, here in Columbus. He spotted this article about Steve and knew I'd like to read it, so he saved it for me. I've scanned it for the rest of you.

Thanks for that article. I really enjoyed it. Its nice to see that the writter interviewed Steve's mother as well.

Dave

Great article

Bravo!! THAT was a well written aritcle!!!

Thanks for sharing it with us!!

HIGH regard! Michaelson

"I was the only one making an authentic portrayal of the Indiana Jones hat"?
This article gives the impression that Steve made all the hats for CS himself..no mention of Marc?

Atta boy, Steve!

Too bad they still don't have those old TV shows "What's My Line" or "I've Got A Secret". You'd be the perfect guest.

Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed it.

I am proud to say that I was there when the picture of the hat in the lower right hand corner was taken. I helped "frame the shot." Let me also say, that when Steve bashed that hat, it looked like Harrison had just taken it off. Crystal Skull all the way. I had a ball!

Edited.

Hey, ease up there, mark. We've covered this ground before, and this article was written for a local paper about a local resident.

Steve ALWAYS gives Marc full credit in ALL his interviews, but the inverviewer chose to leave out 'unknowns' and just report on the hometown boy.

Let's stop this before we go down that dead end path yet again.

Michaelson

That was a really great article. The accompanying photos were pretty excellent as well. And of course I love the quote, "I'm an armchair Indiana Jones.".

Great article!!! Thanks so much for sharing. The photos are really great too.

That was an enjoyable read and thanks for posting that. I was impressed by the fact he made around 800 last year. When you consider these go for around $400 a piece then its a very good living indeed. God bless you Steve and may you make many more of your wonderful hats! I cant wait to receive mine and look forward to wearing it on my adventures! MK

that's just awesome, with the world full of doom and gloom it's nice to see someone who's doing great and with something they love.

Great article.

800 last year. yikes. He must have been working every waking moments on hats.

18 hours a day, 7 days a week....

Yep, could be!

Regard! Michaelson

BendingOak wrote:800 last year. yikes. He must have been working every waking moments on hats.

that clinches it.....enjoy the hat business oak and LLS....that workload, on top of my full time job, would kill me outright (or my wife would)

great article....i'd love to visit steve one day. LLS, you lucky son of a ........

Good article. Every hero needs a good hat. ;-)

Cheers!

Dan

Michaelson wrote:18 hours a day, 7 days a week....

Yep, could be!

Regard! Michaelson

I know how hard I have to work to get my hats out. and thats nothing compared to him. I'm amazed on how much time that Steve puts into hat making.

I don't think most understand on how much energy that it takes to make hats.

BendingOak wrote:

Michaelson wrote:18 hours a day, 7 days a week....

Yep, could be!

Regard! Michaelson

I know how hard I have to work to get my hats out. and thats nothing compared to him. I'm amazed on how much time that Steve puts into hat making.

I don't think most understand on how much energy that it takes to make hats.

......or how to make a hat to your own personal standards. ;-) my latest hat that i made, i threw across the table in a fit of anger. the hat was followed by the thread and at the end of the thread was the needle.....i was also tempted to punch the open crown in on it. instead of destroying it, i took a step back....tore it down and threw it back on the block. if i can't make a hat as good, if not better, than what i just made....what's the point? my goal is to have all of my steps and skills executed to an automatic point where there is no more thinking....just doing.......you're no longer a hatter, but a machine; if you will.............that's when you know you can give steve a run for his money .......i've got a ways to go.....but that in mind, keeps the challenge interesting

Thanks guys! And as is normal, the article is not totally accurate. But, I have learned to live with this sort of thing. This was a very local paper, put out by our power company. And, yes, Marc was talked about, but they are only interested in me for some reason.

And Harrison NEVER called me! I had mentioned he had told Bernie that he liked the hat, and it got morphed into something else. So read with a grain of salt. Fedora

Fedora wrote:Thanks guys! And as is normal, the article is not totally accurate. But, I have learned to live with this sort of thing. This was a very local paper, put out by our power company. And, yes, Marc was talked about, but they are only interested in me for some reason.

And Harrison NEVER called me! I had mentioned he had told Bernie that he liked the hat, and it got morphed into something else. So read with a grain of salt. Fedora

Thats how news people work.

I have been on calls with the fire department and find out later on the news or the papers that things were very different then what I remember.

Its nice to see that the writter interviewed Steve's mother as well.

Yes it is. I've chatted with her on the phone a couple of times trying to get in touch with Steve. Sweetest lady you've ever talked to!!!

Nice article, Steve. It's always great to not only read this kind of "background info" but also the "personal touch" this kind of stories transport.

Very nice, Steve!

And, yes, Marc was talked about, but they are only interested in me for some reason.

Sounds familiar and it bothers me to death

When doing the interview with Germany's biggest newspaper I SPELLED OUT Steve's name for them and REPEATLY told them, that both of us made half of the hats. NOTHING! Steve wasn't even mentioned in the article.

When I went to the TV show "tell the truth" in November, they wanted me to sign the background story, that I made the hats for the movie and I got pretty furious and told them that I wouldn't sign it AS I "ONLY" MADE HALF OF THEM!!! After that you could see some guys running to change that story ;-)

So Steve, you're mentioned on "tell the truth" when it aires in March over here as you have been in other TV interviews as well (incl. the picture I have from you).

IMO, the best interview of all was the one of Angelika Franz in Der Spiegel. She was the ONLY journalist out of... somewhere round about 20 who interviewed the BOTH of us and it is to this date the article I refer to, when someone asks me for one (here's the link - only German though: http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/0,1518,545797,00.html).

Regards,

Marc

Regards,

Marc

Thanks for posting this - l love profile type articles. Very nice photos of Steve.
best,
Canada

Sounds familiar and it bothers me to death

I think it's partly because of the unusual set-up of your company - you're both part of the same company, yet you make different products on opposite sides of the atlantic. So on the one hand, it's like you're the same company, but on the other hand it's not. I think the journalists probably hear that and think "ok, Adventurebilt Hat Company made the hats. Steve Delk (or in Europe, Marc Kitter) is a hat maker for Adventurebilt hat company. Therefore, Steve Delk (or in Europe, Marc Kitter) made the hats for Indy IV."

It also probably doesn't help that most of the newspapers that interview you are fairly local, which means they want to get out the news about how a local boy was involved in the creation of Indy IV. -M

Many thanks for posting, Mark.

I do wish that stories wouldn't get changed when printed.

Best article yet. I was struck with the thought you resemble Nick Nolte in the brim flange pic. The hat you are wearing looks awesome.

The article told about me working for 4 Country Power Assn, in the summer preceding my senior year in H.S. And it mentioned how taken I was with one Foreman's Aussie hat, with the brim pinned up to one side. It was quite unusual to see this in these parts, and the foreman who wore it, was a very nice man and a very colorful character. He was quite old at this point in time, probably 65 years old. He wore this great hat and khaki pants and shirt, and in the winter, he wore an old A-2 Flight jacket. To me, he looked like he just stepped out of an adventure film, and I was quite taken by this gentleman. His name was Mr. J.B. Wright. I will never forget him. Here are a couple of pics of some of the guys I worked with. I knew most of them, and this was a really rough group of "real men" But as nice as the day was long, and all were great gentlemen, and could have been Sunday School teachers in their demeanor. A great bunch for an adolescent to be associated with, and most of the greatest generation, with many vets from WW2. I am posting these pics because of the hats, and this is what I saw growing up here in the South, on a farm. Man, brings a tear to the eye today, 40 years after the fact. And all but one has passed away. Fedora








J.B. is on the far right in this photo, and he is wearing his felt fedora in the summer time! I seem to recall he flew B-17s out of England attaching German infastructure in WW2. I also knew every man in this last pic, and worked with them. They were older than this pic shows because apparently these pics are from the late 50's. I worked with them in 1969 and 1970, and was drafted in the summer after H.S. while still with them. I once worked 3 days with no sleep after a storm came though our area, the first summer. I was a tired puppy! But what great memories. I am one lucky man is all I can say. These kind of men will never be seen again, IMO. The man on the far left was my foreman, as I was on his line crew, both summers. He liked me and grabbed me up when I came back after graduation. He once got into a fight on the lot at the shop, and bit the guy's ear completely off!(He was only 67 years old at the time, and the other guy was 30. The other guy lost the fight. As I was told, they might fight among themselves, but if someone else attacked one, he had the whole crew to contend with! I believe it! Needless to say, these two summers were the best summers of my life. I was surrounded by men of impecable character, and as tough as nails.

Thanks for sharing those photos, Steve. Its always nice to see memories from someone's past. J.B.'s hat definately has the adventurer feel that he told you about. I also really like the hat the gentleman in first pic is wearing, the one who is kneeling second from the right.

Dave

Notice the guy, first pic, 3rd from right, top row. Tight Raiders pinch in his straw hat. The first pic was the crew from either Oktibeha, or Clay County. The last pic was from Lowndes County, and the guys I worked with and for. By the time I knew them, J.B. had taken up the Aussie felt hat, and looked rather dashing to a teenager. And, there were many hats worn even in 1969. In fact, all had either hat or caps. The hat guys you see in these old pics still wore the hats, and the cap guys still wore caps. Back then, it would have been insanity to not wear a head cover in the hot Ms. sun. It was a recipe for sunstroke. Today, no one wears hats with this company! I wore a straw western hat the two summers I worked with them, but the smaller brimmed variety that I don't see anymore. I recall my foreman's son passing out, on the top of a pole, tied off, but totally unconscious. His dad and my foremen, Mr. Leon Ellis, sent Kelly Wallace up the pole to rescue him. Mr. Leon( a southern way of addessing your elder) chewed him out for not wearing a hat! He showed up the next day wearing a brand new hat, and wore it from there on out. Fedora

these shots are fantastic Steve. Thanks so much for sharing them with everyone.