Cool Hand Luke

[photobyalan]

This is about hats, really!

I'm watching Cool Hand Luke on AMC[bad] right now and I noticed something interesting about the way Strother Martin was wearing his Panama.

It's difficult to see in this shot, but let me try to describe it.

His Panama has an "optimo" block, except on his hat the crease is running ear-to-ear instead of front-to-back, and he has pinched the crown into a teardrop.

Do you figure the hat was blocked with the crease running side to side or do you think it was blocked with the crease running front to back and he was wearing it sideways?

It actually looked pretty decent.

 

[Dinerman]

I've seen this on a good number of panamas on the bay. I don't know if it was a holdover from the optimo crown style, or what, but iI'm pretty certain some were done that way, with both the teardrop bash and the "optimo line" together from the factory.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

If one watches closely, they will note that, Strothers hat has the Optimo line running down the back as well as side to side.