The BWANA arrives! - First pics.

[Craig Robertson]

pugaree

Thanks, bellytank! your omnivoric knowledge on pugaree bands (I stand corrected on the spelling) is enlightening.

 

[BellyTank]

It's all in a good cause...

Out of context, it could appear rather strange...

B
T

 

[johnnycanuck]

Nice hat. Very well done Art. I was just wondering what the comparison between the BWANA and the Akubra "Military" is. Did you include "Pin" holes in the crown for ventilation? Side clip for brim? Curious about the different features between the two.

Anyone interested in this style of hat check out
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/slouch_hat.htm

 

[macawber]

Re Double Terai

G'day Bellytank

I've been to India many times as my wife is a Bhotia (Tibetan) from Sikkim. I came to be interested in the Raj, because all of the beautiful relics of that time throughout India. I love Kiplings stories from that time and the hunting stories by Corbett and Anderson. Visiting the Tea estates, quaint hotels and another area I look forward to visiting again Rajastan is purely magical. I suppose that is how I came to be attracted to this forum, the raj is addictive also.

Hers another reference to the double terai.

On the top of your head you must have a sun helmet. Get it of cork, not of pith. The latter has a habit of melting unobtrusively about your ears when it rains. A helmet in brush is the next noisiest thing to a circus band, so it is always well to have, also, a double terai. This is not something to eat. It is a wide felt hat, and then another wide felt hat on top of that. The vertical-rays-of-the-tropical-sun (pronounced as one word to save time after you have heard and said it a thousand times) are supposed to get tangled and lost somewhere between the two hats. It is not, however, a good contraption to go in all day when the sun is strong.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

So, was it actually two hats, one on top of the other?!

I think some of us actually posted in an earlier thread that it could be two hats stacked. I certainly thought it if I didn't post it, and if I did post it, it would have been jokingly....

karol

 

[MDFrench]

I assumed it was two hats stacked as well, but in keeping with a certain functionality, Art and the rest of us opted for a double brim only due to the extreme weight of the hat with the double-stack.

The result is a hat with a double-stacked brim and sweatband area, but no double-crown - which is really a boon because the hat is heavy as it is - and besides, I wanted a better chance of being able to wear it in warmer weather in the outdoors without suffering heat stroke.

 

[fedoralover]

In case you need one

I've got a vintage Banana Republic safari jacket that doesn't fit me. It's a small but would fit a medium without being baggy.

fedoralover

 

[BellyTank]

G'day Bellytank...

Gidday yerself Blue!

My Wife is Indian too- a Sikh(Danish born). We had a proper Sikh wedding (me with full beard, Achkhan and Pug) in Stockholm- of all places.

I love India too and was planning another trip last Christmas but couldn't pull it off. It's great having in-laws in India, huh?

Yes Rajasthan is fantastic- all those Palaces and the Amer Fort- great.

Did you ever stay at the Lake Palace Hotel..?

I'd like to get up to Shimla and see some of the old Raj summer retreats.
I've been to Amritsar (Golden Temple/great Parathas) but missed Shimla.
We are planning a trip with my Mother in Law to Hemkuntsahib(there's a high and remote Gurudwara there), before she gets too old- it's a fair trek up to the Temple.

I saw that double Terai quote last night, whilst surfing, after reading your great post.

...ahhhh, India.

B
T

 

[Russ]

Double hat in Out of Africa

This may belong in the original thread about the Allan Quatermain hat, but in the movie Out of Africa, Berkely Cole wears a double hat in some scenes, and I believe they are even different colors making it all the more noticeable. I had always wondered about this eccentric style until I read all the posts here.

Regarding the orientation of Pugaree (or Pagri or whatever) on Stewart Granger's hat, it has been pointed out that he wore two similar hats in different shots in the movie which were supposed to be the same hat, and only one had the indentation in front (the one in the photos with the pipe). This hat was also severely tapered while the other was not. Art apparently chose the better looking of the two hats for his model.

 

[TomMason]

Wonderful hat! It would look great in Africa. Oddly enough I was at a sporting goods trade show in Germany last week. I was wearing my Borsolino Alessandria (mentioned in another thread) and had a long conversation with a South African friend of mine deeply involved with hunting. He loved the hat, complemented me, then observed that it was all baseball caps for hunting there now. He said had never seen anyone with a classic hat (like mine, etc) in the bush, but said it would add a bit a class if people started wearing real hats to hunt - consider that approval for a trip to Africa! Oh yes, about the 416 Rigby, I've got one - truly "enough gun," when it goes off you "know you'ver been kissed.."

 

[MDFrench]

Russ,

Yes, when Art and I were tackling this project last year, I showed him screenshots from various scenes to get angles of the double-stacked brim, but I centered on shots from Granger's initial return to his camp in the beginning of the film - Note my avatar, as this is the same scene - I wanted my hat to have that look and not the tapered, almost bonnet-like look of the hat throughout the rest of the movie.

Interesting to note, the version Art and I focused on was the version depicted in the original VHS cover painting on home video which also has a cream/khaki pugaree as compared with the rest of the film in which he wears a cheetah/leopard fur band on the hat.

The strange stuff of movies...

 

[macawber]

G'day cobber

Whilst traveling in India, some of the best people I met were Sikhs, I shared a compartment on a train from Bilaspur in central India wth 4 sikh men, I had been visiting my favourite national park to see Tiger's which I did. They were good company and I felt better being with them travelling through Bihar, one of the most lawless provinces in India. I haven't been to the Punjab and I will see the Golden temple one day. In rajastan I and my wife made a wonderful trip to Jaipur and stayed at the Samode haveli and then a stay at the Samode palace in the desert. It was amazing. On a trip by myself I went to Kota in southern rajastan and stayed at a maharajahs palace, he was a general in the Indian army. India so big and there is so much more to see.
My wedding was in Sikkim and it too was a cast of 100's, yes its nice to have relatives over there, my wifes family own a tourist hotel there and her brothers are now running it. There is a view of Kachenjunga I think its the 2nd highest mountain in the world. Sikkim is a very friendly place, and I have many friends there. I really enjoy Indian classical music. I guess I better end this after all its about The double terai! Oh yes I agree with your view on the pug, [I think it looks better and would be more authentic. Cheers

 

[captain johnny]

schweeeeet lid

 

[TheGreen]

Very Impressed!

Was doing a little Googling and came upon your posts. You see, I've been searching (for years) for a replica of the hat worn by Stewart Granger in King Solomon's Mines. And, every once in a while I'll fire up the browser and see if anything new has popped up. After clicking on this link I just about fell off my chair. Wow! Very nice job. Are you making any plans to manufacture them or is this just a one-off? If anyone knows where a similar hat can be had... please PM me. Many thanks in advance.

 

[MDFrench]

You should contact Art Fawcett - He made this hat for me as a request b/c I too am obsessed with the hat from KSM (1950). It was a true group effort. Everyone here pitched in and made it a reality. Special thanks to Art, SharpeToys and BellyTank. Where are all you guys now?

 

[TheGreen]

Thanks for the quick reply. How do I contact Art Fawcett? Is he a member? Was thinking of locating a custom hat maker and making the blocking tools to form the crown of the hat. An electronic solid model of the hat can be made in Solidworks from the photos. And, a fairly exact blocking tool can then be CNC'd to form the crown of the hat. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. You guys may have already done that. I'm not interested in manufacturing the hat. I just want to own one or two. Mr. Fawcett sounds like the right guy to talk to.

By the way guys... real nice job.

 

[AlanC]

Art is a member here. You can contact him through his website:

http://www.vintagesilhouettes.com/

Welcome to the Lounge.

 

[TheGreen]

Thank you Alan. You serve good stuff in this joint.

 

[BellyTank]

Special thanks to Art, SharpeToys and BellyTank. Where are all you guys now?

Hi MDFrench!

Where are YOU these days..?

I'm still here- although I'm in Sweden now, rather than Denmark.
Still building up my collection of vintage Khaki
Hat still looks good.


B
T

 

[animator]

A really great looking hat!