CENTER DENT & C-CROWNS IN FILMS

[RBH]

After watching White Heat [1949] this morning,I noticed that none of the hats were a center dent. At least if there were any I missed them, which I could have. All seemed to have different types of the c-crown.
My point is, has anyone else noticed the way hat styles came and went in the films from the 30's to the 50's.
One instance is the films of the early 30's you will see alot of the Optimo style panamas, but into the late 30's you see very few.
We talk here often of the high crown and wide brim but till I noticed the bash styles in this film I had not thought much about crown types.

 

[deanglen]

I was watching "Angels Wash Their Faces" 1939, with Ronald Reagan in an early role, and he had a dark fedora bashed c-crown, or teardrop, exactly the Fedora Lounge Logo guy, very low in the back and high angle to the front. Couldn't find a still of it, though I looked.

dean

 

[J.T.Marcus]

You're right! The center crease is likely the rarest in old movies. One reason may have been that it was just too easy. Remember, hats were repeatedly cleaned and then reshaped by hand. A really nice bash was a badge of honor, and something of a conversation piece, since you probably did it yourself.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Centre creases create a more conservative look, I think, so the hero of most pictures isn't prone to sport one. But you can find it on the typical police superior, like a commissioner (unless in uniform, of course), or very nicely and typically on Algy Longworth of the Bulldog Drummond movies, enhanced by the complete lack of side dents. (Cpt Drummond's hat has a diamond shaped crown, not a C or drop, but certainly not a plain centre crease.)