A Little History of the 
Original Indiana Jones Hat
"One rather uneventful afternoon two gentlemen came in
(to the hat store) and introduced themselves
as Mr. Harrison Ford and Mr. Steven Spielberg.
Little did we envision at this point that the following conversation
involving hats was going to produce one of the most instantly recognizable
iconic pieces of headwear of the decade. Mr. Spielberg announced that he was
on the brink of making an adventure film with Mr. Ford as the central figure
and said that a hat was required as pivotal to the character and the plot.
The Salesperson courteously asked if there was a particular period involved,
they didn't want anything too specific, so he suggested employing the oldest
shape still being manufactured and carried in open stock. A tall crowned wide
brim fur felt called "The Poet", as it had been made continuously
since the 1890's and was ageless. As the character was to use it in different
terrains a shade of brown called Sable was chosen. To make the hat very
distinctive, we shaped the brim into an ovoid to give protection to the eyes
and neck, reducing the sides also helped with camera angles. The brim was
pulled down to give an explorer/safari look, the original ribbon being
changed from 50mm to 39mm to make the tall crown appear even taller.
This we set about (while) the future Indiana Jones patiently waited for the
hat's return from the workroom. When the hat reappeared it had been total
transformed and they appeared pleased. We carefully noted what we had been
done and made a template as the original hat was to have a test run.
It evidently worked as the following week we received an order for 45 hats of
assorted sizes, for Mr. Ford and the stunt extras."
This brings us to today with a new movie about to be released
and some new hat models along with the traditional Indiana Jones fedora that
was first worn on screen by Mr. Harrison Ford in 1981. |
