Why the Indiana Jones hat?

[Pat_H]

Oh, way too many options for a fictional character (or maybe not enough)?

Of course, I suppose the ultimate answer is Steven Spielburg gave it to him. Or us, I guess, given that he's just a movie character.

 

[Pat_H]

I suppose that, as he's supposed to be a college professor, he (or rather, a real person in his station in life) would likely have bought a relatively common Fedora of the era. Maybe a common Stetson, or one of the other common hats of the time.

He wasn't exactly your common college professor.

True, and my answer didn't make a lick of sense.

He is, after all, just a fictional character. What I was trying to get at would be what would an actual college professor buy at the time. But, as you note, it doesn't matter a bit, given as he's a fictional character who gets into extraordinary adventures in the films.

Which, I suppose, leads us with the answer. The movies are sort of well done cartoons, but cartoons none the less. So trying to relate them to the era, precisely, doesn't make any sense anyhow.

 

[citRon]

Secret of the Incas

I have also seen another (more legit' looking, frankly) source for this film recently, either here or on COW & I can't seem to find it just now... I will keep looking.

yammering magpie cinema

http://yammeringmagpie.com/catalog/

 

[Rick Blaine]

yammering magpie cinema

http://yammeringmagpie.com/catalog/

YES!!! THAT'S IT!
... how could I ever forget that name? Many thanks citRon!

 

[Spellflower]

The movies are sort of well done cartoons, but cartoons none the less. So trying to relate them to the era, precisely, doesn't make any sense anyhow.

Boy, you guys are no fun! I thought I was gong to be the spoiler on this thread, posting about how annoying the cultural association between any brown hat and a certain action hero is. But then AirforceIndy got me thinking, what would this character have worn? I think it's an interesting, if not exactly important question.

With all the hat lore around here, I expected somebody to come up with a few brands or models that might have appealed to the Dr. Imagine you were a salesman in a Haberdasher in 1933, and this guy comes into your store and tells you he wants a hat that can stand up to a lot of abuse while he's traveling. But it also has to be presentable, cause he may need to attend a formal function or two on his trip. No, he does not want to carry multiple hats- just not his style. Yes, it's got to be brown. He tries on every hat in your store, and finally settles on a ....

Try to use your imagination. What would it have been? I know it's impossible to say for sure, but it's just a game.

I for one think he would have found Resistol an appealing brand, given its promise to "resist all". Also, according to Brad Bowers' research, the Cavanagh edge became available on many brands in 1931, and I think Indy would have seen the value in this feature. I'm guessing he would have gone for a wider brim, but I don't know how wide they came at that time. He would likely have gone for the highest beaver content he could afford, and may have opted for a lightweight model, if there was one, considering the warm climates he visited. (The real stretch here, as Kalaponi Craig has pointed out in his thread on Tilleys is that it's insane to wear a fur hat in the jungle. Let's just ignore this fact for the sake of this mental exercise.)

Any one else care to chime in? Or is this silly waste of time just too silly? If so, my apologies. I'm home sick, and I'm bored. You all probably have more interesting things to do.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I have a feeling we are putting way more thought into this than the wardrobe person did for Raiders.

 

[Spellflower]

OF COURSE WE ARE PUTTING WAY MORE THOUGHT BEHIND THIS THAN THE WARDROBE DESIGNERS DID!!! That's why they came up with a hat that is not historically accurate, but looks cool on HF.

But come on, what's wrong with giving it more thought? Sheesh! If you don't want to play, then go get your own ball.

 

[Brad Bowers]

Well, Spellflower, as much as I like the thought of Indy running around with a Cavanagh Edge, I don't know whether or not he would necessarily have gone for it, since it was more of an upper end brim treatment, and Indy is more of a working-class kind of guy, albeit, a college professor.

That being said, Bogart has a Cavanagh Edge in Casablanca and the Maltese Falcon, so who am I to question this?lol

I don't know enough about the earlier Stetson models to give you names, but I think he probably would have bought a Stetson or Mallory, or perhaps a $6-grade Knapp-Felt (my favorite choice!).

Brad

 

[Spellflower]

I see your point, Brad, but I also think that he was a guy who was more likely to spend what money he had on quality, rugged equipment than save it. After all, he had no kids, and doesn't seem likely to settle down and raise a family.

I guess the Cav edge seems like such a great idea to me as a way of making sure a hat will last that I forget that it was also expensive, and therefore more prone to ending up on hats that were treated more gently. Thanks for playing along!

 

[J. M. Stovall]

But come on, what's wrong with giving it more thought? Sheesh! If you don't want to play, then go get your own ball.

It's more fun to kick your ball into the street.

 

[Spellflower]

In the immortal words of Eric Cartman,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0EppcO2L-8

 

[Colby Jack]

So much fun....I'm home sick also...Now didn't Indy's fondness for the fedora come from the "Fedora" character in LC?....and the series YIJ...he always had a fedora that provided shade when he needed it, protection from weather...the ability to show up to social functions...plus...every "proper" gentleman wore a hat back in those days. So if you accept IJ as a "real" person...the fedora a part of him from early childhood, and something he kept as a reminder of a person eventually emulated... ...There's my babel for the afternoon...Remember...I'm home sick too...[huh]

 

[Spellflower]

If we accept that the character was born in 1899, making him 36 in 1935, then he would have grown up right as proto-fedoras were turning into what we now think of as a fedora hat.

Thus, when he was a young child, there were felt hats with brims, but it wasn't until he was in his twenties that real fedoras came into use. I imagine he wore various hats as a child, and refined his choices over the years.

 

[Pat_H]

Boy, you guys are no fun! I thought I was gong to be the spoiler on this thread, posting about how annoying the cultural association between any brown hat and a certain action hero is. But then AirforceIndy got me thinking, what would this character have worn? I think it's an interesting, if not exactly important question.

With all the hat lore around here, I expected somebody to come up with a few brands or models that might have appealed to the Dr. Imagine you were a salesman in a Haberdasher in 1933, and this guy comes into your store and tells you he wants a hat that can stand up to a lot of abuse while he's traveling. But it also has to be presentable, cause he may need to attend a formal function or two on his trip. No, he does not want to carry multiple hats- just not his style. Yes, it's got to be brown. He tries on every hat in your store, and finally settles on a ....

Try to use your imagination. What would it have been? I know it's impossible to say for sure, but it's just a game.

I for one think he would have found Resistol an appealing brand, given its promise to "resist all". Also, according to Brad Bowers' research, the Cavanagh edge became available on many brands in 1931, and I think Indy would have seen the value in this feature. I'm guessing he would have gone for a wider brim, but I don't know how wide they came at that time. He would likely have gone for the highest beaver content he could afford, and may have opted for a lightweight model, if there was one, considering the warm climates he visited. (The real stretch here, as Kalaponi Craig has pointed out in his thread on Tilleys is that it's insane to wear a fur hat in the jungle. Let's just ignore this fact for the sake of this mental exercise.)

Any one else care to chime in? Or is this silly waste of time just too silly? If so, my apologies. I'm home sick, and I'm bored. You all probably have more interesting things to do.

It's not too silly. Indeed, it's kind of fun to ponder.

I think he wouldn't have given it much thought. The character is supposed to be attired in typical clothing for the day. Suit and tie when at the university (man, where did those days go?) and tough clothes when not. Aviator jacket, his old Fedora, etc. I'd guess that a character like that would have done what a lot of men in that era did, just wear their old halfway decent Fedora, nothing special.

 

[Pat_H]

Well, Spellflower, as much as I like the thought of Indy running around with a Cavanagh Edge, I don't know whether or not he would necessarily have gone for it, since it was more of an upper end brim treatment, and Indy is more of a working-class kind of guy, albeit, a college professor.

That being said, Bogart has a Cavanagh Edge in Casablanca and the Maltese Falcon, so who am I to question this?lol

I don't know enough about the earlier Stetson models to give you names, but I think he probably would have bought a Stetson or Mallory, or perhaps a $6-grade Knapp-Felt (my favorite choice!).

Brad

I wonder what Bogart's beater was in Treasure of the Sierra Madre?

 

[Pat_H]

If we accept that the character was born in 1899, making him 36 in 1935, then he would have grown up right as proto-fedoras were turning into what we now think of as a fedora hat.

Thus, when he was a young child, there were felt hats with brims, but it wasn't until he was in his twenties that real fedoras came into use. I imagine he wore various hats as a child, and refined his choices over the years.

Showing, perhaps, another artistic license in the series. In the Young Indiana Jones series he's already wearing a Fedora during WWI, while not actually fighting in the Great War, which of course he's shown to be doing from time to time.

I posted a query re that here once, but took a little flak for perhaps delving into this fictional topic when I shouldn't have. For that reason, I'm glad to see it back brought up by someone else!

 

[Spellflower]

I think there's nothing wrong with discussing fiction, as long as we don't confuse it with reality.

The problem arises when someone asserts that fedoras were worn during WWI, and backs up their statement by pointing to YIJ.

But looking at a fictional character of a certain period, and wondering what he would have actually worn, without taking artistic license seems to me to be an interesting way to consider hat history.

 

[bolthead]

Check this out.....

I found this to be of interest.....Indy Hat Why so much dough?

 

[AlanC]

Movie era HJs aren't that common plus it was reblocked by Steve Delk to movie accurate specs plus movie hype plus a bidding war...ta da!

 

[Spellflower]

I saw that too. Pretty unbelievable. I just hope the buyer realized he could have a much better quality hat for half the money, also blocked by Steve, if he was just a little bit more patient. I know what I would've done!