"Bash." Not a hatter's term?

[The Wingnut]

I find "bash" more evocative of the way many of us believe a fedora should come by its shape. Think Humphrey Bogart here - did he carefully crease his hat or did he give it a quick bash and move along to more important things?

This was my line of thinking, as well. A blocked hat will look blocked, as a hat formed by hand will look a little, well, 'bashed' in, especially after being worn for a while. I doubt any self-respecting hatter, after putting in the effort to block a hat, is going to call it a 'bash', either.

I like a nicely blocked hat, but they can look a bit too pristine...getting those uneven dimples / creases around the top of a 'bash' makes it look more like an item that's used often instead of pulled out of the box for an occasional statement. You get that only with wear or by shaping it without a block.

 

[ideaguy]

I think I side with Fatwoul. the term is "dent". as in "Sir, that is a peculiar
dent in your hat". kinda sounds like we've taken the hat off it's gleaming
marble plinth-and plunked it on our heads, collectively, dent and all...

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

So, if I get into a physical disagreement on the street, I might have to see two kinds of dentist afterwards?

 

[Undertow]

So, if I get into a physical disagreement on the street, I might have to see two kinds of dentist afterwards?

lol

 

[dr greg]

bashed up

as a token aussie here I should mention that I had never heard the term 'bash' used in relation to a hat until I joined this august assembly. In this country you can:
bash someone, as in hit them with your fists or whatever else is lying around, such as fence palings,
bash their ear, talk too much,
have a bash, attempt something that is odds on going to be pointless,
or go to a bash, which covers pretty much any social gathering where large amounts of alcohol are available,
My old dictionary of Australian Colloquialism has no mention of the term, and as a writer who sets his books in the period relating to the attire we discuss here, have a pretty solid knowledge of aussie slang of the last 80 years or so, however maybe it's regional, but I never heard it as a child, the term used was "block" and that was the military term as well, as my father was ex-army.

 

[luvthatlulu]

So what's COW? OED?

T.

--NTL

 

[jimmy the lid]

I have a 1940 Stetson Playboy ad that shows the Playboy "bashed" in six different styles. The lingo in the ad: "can be creased and worn as you like it"...

Lulu -- COW is Club Obi Wan, home of all things Indy. OED is the Oxford English Dictionary.

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Atomic Glee]

To be honest, I have never liked or used the term "bash." It has always been "crease" or "style" for me. Growing up in Texas, you're around hats a lot, and I have never heard "bash" - always "crease." All the hatters I've been around have always used "crease," and found "bash" to be amusing.

 

[tonyb]

Put me in the camp with mingoslim and Wesne and Baron Kurtz and The Wingnut (am I forgetting anyone?), for essentially the same reasons. "Bash" seems a more fitting term than "crease" to describe my preferred method of shaping the crown of a felt hat. (I prefer them just a touch on the sloppy side.) And what about "pinch," which, like "bash," is used as both a noun and a verb, in this case to describe the dents near the top front of a typical fedora's crown and the act of creating them?
And who cares if it isn't a traditional hatter's term, or that it allegedly amuses some of them? How many of them are there, anyway? And who was it that made them the final authority? It's all kind of reminiscent of Mark Twain's observations on the King's English.
I find it telling that my favorite hat maker, who has never impressed me as the sort to cop a "superior" attitude, apparently finds the use of the term acceptable.

 

[jimmy the lid]

I hear ya, Tony. I am pretty well satisfied that, were we to walk into a hat shop back in the day, the term we would be hearing would be "crease." That being said, the people I spend the bulk of my time hanging out with talking hats are right here on the Lounge -- and, if we all have a term that we commonly use as part of our discussions, then that's A-OK with me.

Yours in bashing,
JtL

 

[thefedorastore]

I can't believe I clicked into this thread, and then went as far as reading the whole thing! ;-)

 

[fedoralover]

For those of you that missed it:

This is what Ron Lilburne from hatsdirect told me about the term "Bash" in relation to Austrailia.

"The term bashing a hat is very common in country areas in Australia, it was used in the Army pre WW2 when the hats were supplied Open Crown, different units had there take on the approved style - whether it is a specific Australia term I cannot say, but certainly it is still a widely used term."

He also said "A Hatter would typically use the more correct term creasing or shaping. The term blocking should only be applied when using actual hat blocks to achieve a shape."


So there ya go, thats about as definitive an answer as we'll ever get.

fedoralover

 

[J.T.Marcus]

I can't believe we've spent four pages crease-bashing and bash-bashing. (Try saying that three times, real fast!)

 

[deelovely]

lol HAHAHAHAHA!!!!lol

 

[Art Fawcett]

Hey JT, why not? We have 138 responses to "waiting for my camptown to arrive"
No chance whatsoever of saying that 3 times without getting slapped..

 

[J.T.Marcus]

Good one , Art. lol

 

[oswulf]

as a token aussie here I should mention that I had never heard the term 'bash' used in relation to a hat until I joined this august assembly. In this country you can:
bash someone, as in hit them with your fists or whatever else is lying around, such as fence palings,
bash their ear, talk too much,
have a bash, attempt something that is odds on going to be pointless,
or go to a bash, which covers pretty much any social gathering where large amounts of alcohol are available,
My old dictionary of Australian Colloquialism has no mention of the term, and as a writer who sets his books in the period relating to the attire we discuss here, have a pretty solid knowledge of aussie slang of the last 80 years or so, however maybe it's regional, but I never heard it as a child, the term used was "block" and that was the military term as well, as my father was ex-army.

Not an Aussie myself, but I lived in far north Queensland for awhile and that's where I first heard the term Bash. I wore an American made custom hat and you could almost bet that any time I wore it to a pub some Queenslander would offer to do a "Queensland Bash" on it for me, that is if they didn't just snatch it off my head and proceed to do so without my consent. Nearly ended up bloody a few times, you just don't grab a man's hat and commence to beating on it unless you don't like your teeth.

Still, I miss Australia..... people were real there. Real A**holes sometimes, but then so am I.

 

[scotrace]

Old Hat Life issues say "Crease." "Bash" is a Floungism.

 

[RBH]

Old Hat Life issues say "Crease." "Bash" is a Floungism.

Floungism.... I like it. :eusa_clap
Kinda has a nice ring to it.

 

[indycop]

If you use Floungism too much does that make you a floungerist? Or just leave you floundering?