The perfect Last Crusade fedora!
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:46 am
It's a rare thing to possess an item of Indy gear that is close to absolute perfection, but it does happen to the few and the fortunate. In my case it took nearly 15 years, but thanks to the combined work of Richard Swales and our own David Garrison, I am the proud owner of a fedora that's virtually 100% screen accurate to Last Crusade. In the late 1990's, when the pinnacle of gear info was the Indyfan.com 'X Marks the Spot' page, the Herbert Johnson Poet was the Holy Grail of Indy hats. There was simply no substitute for the real thing. Using the funds of my first two paychecks ever, I placed my order via mail-in form and endured an interminable 6-week wait for the coveted box from England.
It arrived in May 1999, the week before The Phantom Menace premiered, containing THREE Poet fedoras due to some unfathomable shipping error (http://indyfan.com/vault/forum/messages/16987.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). The open-crown hats were nested together like measuring cups, one within the other. All of them were crafted by Richard Swales, the legendary hatter of the Indiana Jones trilogy. But even The Master makes mistakes. On all three hats, the front part of the bow was tacked above the ribbon. Maybe Swales, irritated by us annoying, detail-obsessed Americans (the Indy fan contingent was a nuisance compared to his usual upper-class British clientele), stitched the bows on carelessly in an effort to get the hats out the door and be done with it. Regardless, the crooked bow was the only detail that marred the appearance of an otherwise beautiful Indy fedora. BTW, I sent the other hats to their rightful owners (http://indyfan.com/vault/forum/messages/17164.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), so everything worked out. I wasn't happy about the crooked bow, but I lived with it because I was thrilled to own the ultimate, authentic Indiana Jones hat.
Then, a little over a month ago, I was watching the Last Crusade Blu-ray on my new 40-in. widescreen TV (the scene where Indy's hat is on the table by the Grail tablet in Donovan's penthouse), and it just became too much. I couldn't stand it anymore. I paused the movie, went directly to my computer, and e-mailed Garrison about fixing the bow. I've seen his outstanding hat work, and I knew he was perfect for the job (we're also in the same state, and I wanted to keep the operation as local as possible). Thankfully, David said he would be happy to work on my hat, simply for the rare opportunity to examine a genuine Swales-made Indy fedora. So, for the first time in 15 years, I parted with my beloved HJ and hoped for the best. I needn't have worried, because my hat was in good hands.
Aside from the front bow, I also had David fix the middle bind, which was wrapped with a vertical split line fold, rather than the horizontal ribbon grain, per the movie hats, and also re-style the bash and brim to match the Venice pier scene in the movie. David used the opportunity to document the hat (measurements & photos) while he worked on it, and he made some interesting expert observations:
Words don't exist to express my gratitude for Garrison's professional expertise and attention to detail, suffice it to say that I am thrilled with my screen-accurate HJ Poet! It is exactly how I always wanted it to be, and how it should have looked new out of the box in 1999. The pictures speak for themselves:
Before:
After:
Hats off to Garrison Hatters for helping me realize the dream of my perfect Indiana Jones hat!
It arrived in May 1999, the week before The Phantom Menace premiered, containing THREE Poet fedoras due to some unfathomable shipping error (http://indyfan.com/vault/forum/messages/16987.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). The open-crown hats were nested together like measuring cups, one within the other. All of them were crafted by Richard Swales, the legendary hatter of the Indiana Jones trilogy. But even The Master makes mistakes. On all three hats, the front part of the bow was tacked above the ribbon. Maybe Swales, irritated by us annoying, detail-obsessed Americans (the Indy fan contingent was a nuisance compared to his usual upper-class British clientele), stitched the bows on carelessly in an effort to get the hats out the door and be done with it. Regardless, the crooked bow was the only detail that marred the appearance of an otherwise beautiful Indy fedora. BTW, I sent the other hats to their rightful owners (http://indyfan.com/vault/forum/messages/17164.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), so everything worked out. I wasn't happy about the crooked bow, but I lived with it because I was thrilled to own the ultimate, authentic Indiana Jones hat.
Then, a little over a month ago, I was watching the Last Crusade Blu-ray on my new 40-in. widescreen TV (the scene where Indy's hat is on the table by the Grail tablet in Donovan's penthouse), and it just became too much. I couldn't stand it anymore. I paused the movie, went directly to my computer, and e-mailed Garrison about fixing the bow. I've seen his outstanding hat work, and I knew he was perfect for the job (we're also in the same state, and I wanted to keep the operation as local as possible). Thankfully, David said he would be happy to work on my hat, simply for the rare opportunity to examine a genuine Swales-made Indy fedora. So, for the first time in 15 years, I parted with my beloved HJ and hoped for the best. I needn't have worried, because my hat was in good hands.
Aside from the front bow, I also had David fix the middle bind, which was wrapped with a vertical split line fold, rather than the horizontal ribbon grain, per the movie hats, and also re-style the bash and brim to match the Venice pier scene in the movie. David used the opportunity to document the hat (measurements & photos) while he worked on it, and he made some interesting expert observations:
I can definitely say that the Steve Delk HJ and this HJ have two completely different open crown shapes, which means the block that the hat was originally formed on are two different styles. I have always believed this to be true and this hat proves that. I will also say that your hat leans more to a TOD than the LC hat.
I have studied the sewing that was used to apply the ribbon and bow. Swales use the same ribbon tacking style that was used in the Raiders hat. I haven't been able to pick this out on the ToD film hat and have always thought that the ToD hat was tacked at the base near the brim flange like traditional hatting does.
Well, I received my hat Friday, and it looks spectacular! Now it IS the fedora sitting on the table in Donovan's apartment! It's like I reached into the screen and pulled it out!This hat is light years better compared to the German site that offered the Herbert Johnson around 8 years ago. I bought one that ended up being too small for me. I have kept it to use as a reference in just such a situation as this. Your HJ by Swales is top grade all around. The felt, the sweatband, the ribbon and liner, all the high quality that Indy fans lusted after and couldn't find 10 years ago. Quite frankly, until Steve Delk stepped up to reproduce the hat, the Indy hat would have been lost to the ages. You have a great treasure. I am happy that I got to have this hat in hand to scrutinize it. A rare pleasure indeed.
Words don't exist to express my gratitude for Garrison's professional expertise and attention to detail, suffice it to say that I am thrilled with my screen-accurate HJ Poet! It is exactly how I always wanted it to be, and how it should have looked new out of the box in 1999. The pictures speak for themselves:Before:
After:
Hats off to Garrison Hatters for helping me realize the dream of my perfect Indiana Jones hat!