“Allow me to furnish the interior of my head as I please, and I shall put up with a hat like everybody else’s.”–Henri Bergson, and featured in the Soicial Studies column of the March 6th, 2006 issue of The Globe and Mail.
My show tonight is a tribute to one of the world’s leading proponents of archeology–Indiana Jones. The latest installment in the franchise of films was a little late in coming, but it’s finally here. I would imagine it will be one of the most popular films this weekend in theatres.
All of this got me to thinking of his signature fedora. It reminds me of the fedoras my father favored. He was from a generation that made this a popular form of headdress. He looked very dashing and debonair when dressed in one of his suits and a hat and going out for the evening with my mother.
As it said in a very old edition of the Britannica: “‘Headdress’ is a term seldom used today, and the word, ‘hat’ really describes this article of wearing apparel. It comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word, ‘haet,’ meaning ‘to cover.’ From the same word came the words, ‘house’ and ‘hut.’
“The custom of tipping the hat comes from the fact that a warrior, when entering a house, removed his helmet and extended his hand. By removing the helmet he expressed confidence in his host. By extending his hand, he showed he was not concealing any weapons, such as a knife.
“The making of felt hats dates back to A.D. 1000. Legend says that the way to make felt was discovered accidentally. A Tibetan monk, returning to his monastery, picked up some rabbit fur to put in a hole in his sandal. When he got home and removed the fur, he found that the heat, moisture, and motion of walking had made it into a sort of fabric.”
“Felt is believed to have been first made in Asia for use as tents and carpets. It is the easiest of all fabrics to make, since it requires no weaving. It was unknown to the Western world until the time of the Crusades.”
My daughter is one of those people who look great no matter the style of hat she wears. I bought my wife an Italian sun hat in New Orleans some years back, and when my daughter tried it on I realized that I would have to take her to that great city to the same maker to have one fashioned just for her.
Indiana Jones has two trademarks: a bullwhip and his fedora. I’ve never had a hankering to carry a bullwhip on my belt but I do have a Panama hat that I bought some years back. It is rarely worn today, but it was the perfect head apparel to accompany a fine linen suit I bought at the time. The movie-going world is once again fascinated by Harrison Ford and his signature fedora. (I wonder if he gets to keep his.)
When my father passed away, my mother donated some of his suits and fedoras to a little theatre company. I would imagine that in some period plays my father’s fedoras have taken centre-stage. It doesn’t have the pedigree of the one worn by Indiana Jones, but I’m pleased to know that it might still be worn today.
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Don Jackson
Hi Don Jackson,
- WinnieYou are one of my favourite Dj. I listern to you show whenever I can. The email that you read during your show really touches me. I wonder if you could send me that email too. The email is about love, “love me now while i’m still here” I can’t remember the rest.
thanks,
Winnie