"The Sting": Boaters and Federals

[Torpedo]

Hello,
This could be a dumb question.
Recently I watched (again) "The Sting". There was a thing that drew my attention: almost all the FBI agents in the film wear straw boaters, I think all of them except their boss. Nobody else in the film wear this kind of hat, nor other styles of straw hats; in fact, it is not evident in the film if the season is appropriate, there are overcoats in evidence, although this could be a continuity error.
It could be the intention was to make all the Feds look uniform and identifiable in the movie, but why in this particular way? In other films they wear more or less uniform dark suits, for instance (I seem to remember this is the case in "Mississippi Burning" and "Catch me if you Can", set in the 60's).
Is there any association between boaters and federals?
Any ideas?

 

[Fletch]

According to an unsourced statement at Wikipedia, boaters "were supposedly worn by FBI agents as a sort of unofficial uniform in the pre-war years."

Frame (undisplayable here) from an FBI firearms demonstration film, ca. 1937. source

This site mentions that John Dillinger wore a boater (and glasses, as a disguise) on the night of his fatal ambush in July, 1934. Special Agent Melvin Purvis, mastermind of the operation and the second most famous G-man of the day, was also known to wear skimmers.

 

[bolthead]

According to an unsourced statement at Wikipedia, boaters "were supposedly worn by FBI agents as a sort of unofficial uniform in the pre-war years."

Frame (undisplayable here) from an FBI firearms demonstration film, ca. 1937. source

This site mentions that John Dillinger wore a boater (and glasses, as a disguise) on the night of his fatal ambush in July, 1934. Special Agent Melvin Purvis, mastermind of the operation and the second most famous G-man of the day, was also known to wear skimmers.

Great stuff Fletch.....:eusa_clap

 

[Fletch]

What can I say? Google-fu is part of my profession. [huh]

 

[bolthead]

What can I say? Google-fu is part of my profession. [huh]

Did you try their new Browser "Chrome" yet?
I have it installed on the wife's laptop.

 

[Woodfluter]

I've been using Google Chrome for a couple of weeks and really like it. See their little "graphic novelette" or comic book presentation about the advantages, etc. Seems faster and user interface is very good.

But back to hats...I recall seeing quite a few pictures from the 1920's and early 1930's at least of FBI types in boaters. Melvin Purvis was especially identified with that during his hunt for Dillenger. After the mid-'30s there seems to have been a trend toward very light-colored fedoras with the same warmer-weather dress. Not authoritative by any means, just my recollection for what it's worth.

- Bill