"Bash." Not a hatter's term?

[Stoney]

LOL indycop lol

I think I'll have to side with Wingnut. I like the term bash. It fits the attitude of a loosely applied shape better than crease which IMHO is more in the spirit of all of those fabulous film noir hats that look great even though they were loosely bashed into shape rather than carefully creased. As to when and where the term was first used, I've heard it before I stopped by the Fedora Lounge and COW, I'm sure it was when I was a kid although I can't put my finger on it. It matters not to me since I obviously like the term.

 

[Mike Hammered]

Fellow Loungers,

Hear me, friends. Is it not appropriate that the Lounge lead rather than follow in such matters? Floungerisms should be an important part of our mission here, no?

I absolutely love the term "bash." It is descriptive to a T, with a grand dose of the irreverent thrown in to let the world - and more importantly, ourselves - know that we are stylish rather than snobbish, kind rather than coercive in our cyber community of Lidsville. (Would anyone be open to "cleavage," perhaps?)

In the same vein, I kind of think "dent" feels more like what goes on on the side of a lovable lid just behind the pinch, believing that it looks more like what happends to hundreds of thousands of cars in parking lot fender-benders throughout the world.

Language is alive. Let's keep it that way by allowing it to grow and change.

 

[scotrace]

Several nicely creased hats in DC yesterday.

 

[dhermann1]

It was quite a big bash!

 

[gtdean48]

Several nicely creased hats in DC yesterday.

Thanks Scott, you got me to read this whole thread that I was blistfully ignorant of all this time! I have always heard & used "creased" since dealing with hat shaping since the late 1970's, all western until about late 1980's. Figured I'd use the native lingo observed & went with "bash". Kind of like it, now...

 

[Wolfwood]

Like "Fed" for fedora (shudder)

I only use Fed to refer to my Akubra Federation and I assumed everyone else did as well...

 

[GWD]

While walking in the woods with my fedora on, I happened upon a low hanging branch. Now my fedora is bashed and my head is creased.

 

[gtdean48]

:eusa_doh: lol :eusa_clap lol :eusa_clap

 

[randooch]

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

you and me both! now i'll get all stopped up trying to describe a b---, a d----, a cr----, or a st---- ... hmmm. too much information?

 

[Lefty]

While walking in the woods with my fedora on, I happened upon a low hanging branch. Now my fedora is bashed and my head is creased.

Blockhead.

 

[JohnnyB53]

I'd say "bash" in our context originated in the "down under" countries and got appropriated up here.

To wit:

David Morgan, US distributor for Akubra hats, uses the term here and here.

The Hattery uses the term. Look for the note at the bottom of this page.

Here's a web page about the history of the New Zealand military slouch hat.

Australia/New Zealand aside, what do you make of this, coincidence?

 

[Preacher Man]

I'm with scotrace

I'll agree with scot on this; crease or block are much more accurate words. Who would want to take their new hat and "bash" it to make it look good? lol I'll also be like RBH and try to "unlearn" the word when referring to blocking my hat. Good points.

Preacher Man
Philippians 4:13

 

[dschonn]

Judging by the consensus on its origin, I think the term "bash" is perfectly accurate when referring to the styling of a hat done by hand, even those nice smooth ones that are done with steam, although if it's done with a block, I feel like it should be called "blocked".

This business about accuracy is nonsense. If I, a person who grew up in the upper midwest United States, say "trousers" instead of "pants", am I being inaccurate? No, I'm just using a term more common in a different dialect, in this case many different dialects (pretty much anywhere outside North America, I believe). People around here (Minneapolis) will look at me funny, they might even laugh, but they won't say I'm using inaccurate terminology.

[Big Lebowski reference]

'Is "bash" wrong? Is "bash" wrong?'

'Walter, "bash" is not wrong. It's just Australian.'

[/Big Lebowski reference]

 

[carldelo]

Cromulent

To me, the various hat-shaping terms have distinct meanings: Block, meaning to shape the hat on an actual block; Crease, implies folding to me, which makes sense on a cattleman's crease, etc. I always imagined Bash refers to casual reshaping by hand to refine the shape, including especially the karate chop to make a center dent, the quick finger spread to put in the diamond, the three-finger pinch at the front of the crown, etc.

Since Bash usefully fills a void in the spectrum of hat lingo, it is therefore a perfectly cromulent word, regardless of who coined it or when. It's in use, and we'll never get the pee out of the pool, so we might as well get in the swim of things... wait a minute, that didn't come out right...

 

[Don Dahlberg]

If you look at the Young's Hat Shops avertisements in the New York Times in the late 30s and through 40s you will see it called "Finger Blocking". They pictured many styles including Front Dimple, Back Slope, Princeton Saucer, Lords Model, University Pinch, Tri-corner and others. Bragged that they would shape the crown appropriate to the shape of your head and face.

Don

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Young's Hat Shops advertisements

If you look at the Young's Hat Shops avertisements in the New York Times in the late 30s and through 40s ...

I'd love to, where can I see them?

 

[Don Dahlberg]

Two examples are New York Times Sept. 18, 1942 page 29 and Sept. 25, 1942 page 27.

If your local library as microfilm the Times or computer access to ProQuest Historical Newspapers, you can look them up there or perhaps someone can post pictures.

Don

 

[Charlie Noodles]

What a bunch of drongos. I'm going to keep saying "bash" because it's a fair dinkum, bonza word for it.

 

[irb]

so funny I forgot to laugh...

I at least prefer bash to tcsh.

*ahem* okay, okay, I'll be going now.

 

[carter]

Smash it, bash it, throw it on the floor.
If my hat won't take a crease,
Then I'll throw it out the door.

Tra la la, la la la, la la la!