Indiana Jones hat dimensions

Nothing against Dr. Jones, Henry, Junior ... but at the time Raiders hit the screen, I owned two wide-brimmed brown fedoras.
One was a Knox 40 with a 2 1/2 inch brim and probably a 5 inch crown. Not to brag, but it was, and is, twice the hat that Henry wore.
The other was a heavy fur felt that actually looked a lot like the one he wore, because it was in "casual" shape by that time. Lots of people, after the movie was a hit, wanted to know where I got my Indiana Jones hat.
Rather than deal with the frustration, I just told them to go to Jack Henry's on the plaza in Kansas City .... very expensive shops, usually it stopped all discussion.
People want cool hats, but they never want to pay for them.
Living through Raiders, Urban Cowboy etc., long-time hat collectors soon learn that there are lots of ups and downs connected with hats becoming popular due to movies.
Urban Cowboy really hurt the western hat market as the hat makers made lots and lots of lower quality hats to fill the market.
There's been a lot of good come out of the Indy craze, for sure.
Also, the Internet has been important for many collectors, and -- not to score brownie points here -- but the Lounge has also been good for collecting.

Sam

Ronald said:

But the Indy fedora from Raiders and from Crusade are my favourite styles.

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Good man... I notice you didn't include Temple of Doom's awful looking hats.

This was taken as Ford looked into the mirror at the tapered mess on his head for the first time....



Randy

Nice one Randy.

theinterchange said:

Good man... I notice you didn't include Temple of Doom's awful looking hats.

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And with reason yes. It is indeed an awfull looking hat! But there are people out there who do dig it.

Indy was definately my first taste of the fedora look. I live in Dallas, and personally (sit down for this) can't stand the look of a cowboy hat. So seeing an outdoors guy like Indy where a "style" hat was definately an inspiration. However, I am one that enjoys dressing to the 9's so I think seeing other movies from the era that involved more business men wearing hats with their suits really turned me on to the look. I also grew up playing baseball, so most of the time I had a ball cap on until I realized that ball caps didn't fit with suits very well. But movies such as, The Untouchables, The Aviator, and Public Enemies as well as some older movies (which I can't recall names). The hat just seemed so natural I fell in love with the idea.

However, I must say....although Indy was my first inspiration and even though I own an Akubra Squatter patterned after the Indy hat, I can't stand when someone notices me wearing a hat and says "you look like Indiana Jones with that hat." It irks me that people don't see the fashion or the throw-back to the good ole days....they just see Indy!!

Mobile Vulgus said:

You know, when I first saw Raiders I never once gave a second's thought to his fedora. The era was the 1930s, after all, so it didn't seem to me so terribly unusual or out-of-the-ordinary "cool." Me, I have absolutely no interest in getting a "real Indy hat." But I have to say I am glad that so many people really got excited about fedoras because of the Indy hat. For a long time I thought it goofy that so many people wanted to buy an "official Indy hat" -- mostly because few of the ones being sold really look anything LIKE the real hat -- but heck if during all these years since the movies first came out it is spurring people to get into hats again, then it is worth all the annoyance on ebay (everything sold as an Indy hat whether it is one or not, for instance).

So, here is the question: How many Loungers here first got interested in fedoras because of Indiana Jones?

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Not me.

theinterchange said:

Good man... I notice you didn't include Temple of Doom's awful looking hats.

This was taken as Ford looked into the mirror at the tapered mess on his head for the first time....

Randy

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Isn't it interesting that the Indy-hounds insist he has the same hat from the point where the guy puts one on his head as a kid through the old-guy on TV?
To quote Dr. Jones -- "Come on!"
The hat in Temple of Doom is certainly NOT of the caliber of either Raiders or Crystal Skull.
BTW ... Did he have three or five different hats in Temple ... They don't even look like they are all the same color.

Sam

He wears a lot of hats, in different creases and dimensions (which Indy gearheads have analyzed to death, not that some controversies do not happen) , through the movies, with those at TOD being the most inconsistent with the style prevalent in the other movies. In fact, the hat in some of the scenes in TOD is fairly good. If you include the TV series, add a lot more. BTW, I find they took much less care with the hat in the series; for me those are pretty bland.

Indy hard-line gearheads do come up with bizarre conjectures and theories regarding the hat.

I liked Fedoras way before the Indy movies, BUT the movies made me want to get one. As I stated elsewhere on this forum "the HAT was my favorite part of the films!" I do not think I would have enjoyed them without it!

The films that I like from the 40's and 50's are what made me want to start wearing hats. I don't think I've seen an Indiana Jones movie in its entirety, and hadn't even seen part of one until recently. I like Harrison Ford, I just wasn't really interested in the premise of the IJ movies.

I'm more of a Crosby, Stewart, Astaire, and Bogart movie fan.

It kind of makes sense that there'd be multiple hats in the same film. Getting that perfect silhouette is key for a film like Indiana Jones.

It's turned into the "where were you when Indiana Jones came out?" thread!!

Well, since I started this whole ball rolling... As I mentioned, I was also not turned onto fedoras from the Indy flicks. I thought fedoras were cool and wanted one back in the 1970s long before the Indy movies came about. I had been into all sorts of hats over the years. I really got the bug to get one when I was in a high school play. I played Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys N Dolls and wore one in the play. It was borrowed from one of my father's friends.

Somehow or another, though, the thought of a fedora got lost in the shuffle of my life and I just never got one of my own. So finally, after all these years, two months ago I decided to see if I could find one on ebay (I've used ebay for about 10 years for other stuff) Sure enough I did. Then I decided to look across the Internet tubuals for some more info on the history, construction, and companies that made/make them. That is how I found the Lounge.

Now I am the proud owner of just under 20 fedoras, none made after the 1980s and most before the 1960s.

I've enjoyed the fun so far, but I should probably lay off new ones for a while. I am getting to the nearly obsessed point! That's what happens when I start collecting something!

MJH said:

I'm sure this has been answered many times before, but what are the correct dimensions for an Indy hat?

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My first hats predated the Indiana Jones movies. The very first that was anything other than a ball cap was a bowler, (Alice's Restaurant anyone?) but my collection quickly grew to different styles of fedoras, pork pies, boonies, more bowlers and the odd bucket hat or two. Yet in light of that, I must grant that a great debt of gratitude is owed to Spielberg, Lucas and Ford for bringing back general interest in the wearing of hats. For me, I always loved them and for all good reasons ranging from style and looks to a fully functional device to keep weather off of my head.

jack

You know, I think my love of hats got me into Indiana Jones more than visa versa. I've always loved fedoras, and when I finally saw Raiders, embarrassingly within the last two years, I loved everything about his hat.
Someone mentioned it was too exaggerated, but the extreme worn look and large dimensions make it more authentic, if you ask me. Not to mention HJ had been making variations of the Poet since the late 1800s I think.

MJH said:

I'm sure this has been answered many times before, but what are the correct dimensions for an Indy hat?

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I have always loved expensive, hand-made hats. I have several and enjoy showing them off. That's why I signed up for FL, having been a lurker for several years.

I also love the iconic Raiders fedora. I have a couple of really nice copies. I put one of them on my head and immediately feel more dashing. And countless hat guys love the original, asymmetric, pulled down, high crown, centre bashed, sable, rabbit fur felt Fedora (purchased back in the day, off the shelf in Central London by Messrs Spielberg and Ford).

But ever since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the dysfunctional, chaotic Dr Jones has taken to wearing a gorgeous, expensive ($500 plus), handmade, Canadian beaver fur felt fedora. Someday, I shall probably get one of these, too (or at least join the Adventurebilt waiting list). I may even indulge in a Penman!

However, at another level, these stunning, re-invented Indi hats make no sense to me. Indiana Jones is not vain or fastidious, doesn't consider himself to be an icon, and only values his old Fedora as a talisman, given to him when he was 15 years old by Garth, the disreputable adventurer ("You lost today kid. But you that doesn't mean you have to like it"). Even if he ever lost his hat, I have a problem with the idea of Dr Jones going to a bespoke hatter and choosing such a fancy upgrade. Wouldn't he just wander into Sears, when he had enough cash in his pocket for a replacement?

In Last Crusade, when bad guy Donovan chose the fancy shiny Grail and died horribly, his big mistake was in not picking the more basic model of the Last Cup of Christ. So...

When it came to selecting the most authentic Indiana Jones hat, I decided to learn from his mistake and choose wisely!

Finally, for what it's worth, here are the dimensions of various Indi hats, that I own. I love them all. And as you will see, none of them matches the original Raiders hat! Not one...

Christys 2016 Adventurer (kinda tapered): 5.5 inch crown; 2.75 inch front/back brim; 2.63 inch side brim; 1.5 inch ribbon

Herbert Johnson 2016 Poet (very boxy!): 5.25 inch crown; 3 inch front/back brim; 2.5 inch side brim; 1.5 inch ribbon

Mayser 1992 Indiana Jones (tapered): 4.75 inch crown; 2.63 inch front brim/2.75 inch back brim; 2.5 inch side brim; 1.5 inch ribbon

Dorfman Pacific 2016 Indiana Jones (boxy): 5 inch crown; 2.63 inch front/back brim; 2.5 inch side brim; 1.375 inch ribbon

ORIGINAL 1981 RAIDERS (so boxy!): 5.5 inch crown; 2.75 inch front/back brim; 2.63 inch side brim; 1.5 inch ribbon

Oops, sorry guys. The dimensions were wrong for the Christys Adventurer. My punishment for using the iPhone. The correct dimensions are:

Christys 2016 Adventurer (kinda tapered): 4.5 inch crown; 2.88 inch front brim/2.63 back brim; 2.25 inch side brim; 1.5 inch ribbon

Having been dicking around with all my various Indi hats, I've realised that in order to achieve the shape I prefer as MY HAT, I have to depart from screen accuracy.
So it's a Herbert Johnson.
It includes the asymmetric turn.
It excludes the aggressive Raiders straight line pinch.
In profile, I try to get the front and the back lines to be parallel.
So I'm no Indihead but I guess it's a cross between Last Crusade and Raiders.

It'll be interesting o see if John Penman chimes in on this thread.

Wish John would...

TheManInTheHat said:

Having been dicking around with all my various Indi hats, I've realised that in order to achieve the shape I prefer as MY HAT, I have to depart from screen accuracy.
So it's a Herbert Johnson.
It includes the asymmetric turn.
It excludes the aggressive Raiders straight line pinch.
In profile, I try to get the front and the back lines to be parallel.
So I'm no Indihead but I guess it's a cross between Last Crusade and Raiders.

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Super respectable blend of hat styles. I'm sure I speak for many when I say show off all those bad boys!