Serial Hero
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 450
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
I could be wrong (and please correct me if I am), but from my observations hats back then were hand bashed, and didn’t come in some pre-made shape the way most do today. Also, there didn’t seem to be the “rules of hat care”, or at least they weren’t followed as closely.
In the movies;
Bogart almost always placed his hat brim down on a table or chair/couch.
When Clark Gable goes to sleep on the bus in “It Happened One Night” he just leaves his hat on and the brim gets smashed.
Fred MacMurray in “Double Indemnity” just flings his hat onto the couch brim down.
For every guy that holds, and puts on their hat by the brim, there are just as many who just grab the pinch and slam it down on their heads. Sometimes the same guy will alter between the two methods depending on the situation.
There’s a great hat scene in “Captain Midnight” were these four thugs parachute into this field. After they take off their chutes and role them up, all four men pull their hats out of their jackets, give them a quick reshaping and put them on, before going after the hero.
On the other hand, one of the characters in “The Thin Man” really handles his hat with care. Placing it on his head by holding the front and rear of the brim, then takes time to get it positioned just right before going out.
In the movies;
Bogart almost always placed his hat brim down on a table or chair/couch.
When Clark Gable goes to sleep on the bus in “It Happened One Night” he just leaves his hat on and the brim gets smashed.
Fred MacMurray in “Double Indemnity” just flings his hat onto the couch brim down.
For every guy that holds, and puts on their hat by the brim, there are just as many who just grab the pinch and slam it down on their heads. Sometimes the same guy will alter between the two methods depending on the situation.
There’s a great hat scene in “Captain Midnight” were these four thugs parachute into this field. After they take off their chutes and role them up, all four men pull their hats out of their jackets, give them a quick reshaping and put them on, before going after the hero.
On the other hand, one of the characters in “The Thin Man” really handles his hat with care. Placing it on his head by holding the front and rear of the brim, then takes time to get it positioned just right before going out.