Raiders Turn Poet - Deep Sable Rabbit

Creating the hat of a hero

Before hatmakers Herbert Johnson joined the Swaine Adeney Brigg group, it was situated at 13 Old Burlington Street in London.  In 1980 two American gentlemen came into the shop and introduced themselves as Mr Steven Spielberg and Mr Harrison Ford. 

Mr. Spielberg announced that he was on the brink of making an adventure film with Harrison Ford as the central figure (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and revealed that the main character Indiana Jones would be wearing a hat which would be pivotal to the character and the plot. Herbert Johnson was delighted at having been chosen to help design what was to become the famous iconic Indy hat.

It was our tall stovepipe classic poet style that was chosen as the foundation for what was to become the iconic raiders hat.  The Poet is a wide brim fur felt hat with a tall straight sided crown, made by Herbert Johnson since the 1890’s and has always been deemed ageless.  A shade of brown rabbit fur felt called ‘sable’ was chosen and some modifications were made to the poet hat to create its character & to facilitate filming.

The Indy hat was made distinctive by reducing the brim width only on the sides creating a dimensional brim.  By shaping the brim into an ovoid, it gave protection to the eyes & neck whilst reducing the sides helped with camera angles. The explorer look was enhanced by snapping the front brim down and we altered the original ribbon from 50mm to 39mm to make the tall crown appear even taller. 

The re-worked and subtly modified Herbert Johnson Poet hat gave Mr Spielberg the look he had envisioned for Harrison Ford's character of Indiana Jones and the 'Indy' hat was born. 

Apart from the original Indiana Jones hat for Harrison Ford, we made a further 45 'Indy' hats of assorted sizes, some for Mr. Ford and the remainder for the film stunt actors on the set of Raiders of The Lost Ark.  We were also commissioned to provide all the hats for the following 2 sequels.

The tremendous success of the Indiana Jones films have secured their place in popular culture forever and just like our original poet, the hero Indy Poet is ageless and enjoys an enduring popularity to this day.

This product will be handcrafted to order by our specialist hatting team at Herbert Johnson.  Please email enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk to check our current lead time for this product.

Measuring:

Place the string or tape around your head above your ear and across the mid forehead, completely circling your head. Hold the tape firmly, but not too tightly. Measure your head exactly where you want the hat to sit. Measure in centimetres. If your measurement falls between sizes, round up to the nearest centimetre. It may help to either do this in the mirror or have someone to help for accuracy.

Bespoke Options:

NB – If the Customer wishes to order something which varies from the standard options provided in the product listing (such as this model in a different colour or with the addition of some custom ribbon-work etc.), their order will need to be placed as a ‘Bespoke’ order. Please follow the link for more information about our Bespoke Range.  Please contact us for more information and enquiries via workshop@herbert-johnson.co.uk.

Embossing:

NB – If the Customer wishes to add custom embossing to their order, please select this option on the product listing and add your text as you would wish it to appear.  Please note that we offer embossing currently in silver as standard and with a choice of position on the sweatband.  Please choose a maximum of 4 upper case letters at £10 per letter.  You can also include up to 3 dots and 1 dash in addition at no extra charge.  Should you wish to enquire about any other format of embossing including a preference for gold embossing or blind embossing instead, please contact enquiries-hj@herbert-johnson.co.uk.  Please note that any custom changes made to our products that differ from our standard listing, including custom embossing, will mean that this item will not be eligible for return or refund under normal circumstances.  Please refer to our Returns Policy for more details.

Our Materials:

All our hats are completely bespoke & handcrafted to order from only the finest sustainably sourced materials here at Herbert Johnson. We work closely with our fur felt hood suppliers in Portugal, choosing only the highest quality fur felt which is ordered to our exacting specifications.

All our felts are pre-shrunk during the blocking stage to avoid later shrinking as much as possible. Our rabbit is pounced to a smooth finish and a coating of protector is applied to prolong its resistance to the elements. Whilst not as dense as our beaver fur felts, our rabbit makes a very fine quality fur felt hat.

Our true grosgrain Indy ribbon is screen accurate to the original film hats, still produced to the same specifications for us by the same company using the very same machines.

A note on Lead Times for our Handcrafted Hats

• Lead times are variable depending on our current volume of new orders being received.
• Please note that our handcrafters fulfil orders on a first come first served basis.
• When new orders are received at our Hatting Workshop, they are entered into our making schedule in the next available position in the queue.
• Once your order reaches the front of the queue, it will take approximately 10 days to be handcrafted to order by our specialist hatting team at Herbert Johnson.
• The wait time for our handcrafted hats is normally between 2-8 weeks but please be aware that this can be subject to change.
• The wait time for our handcrafted custom bespoke orders may be longer depending on what materials & supplies may need to be especially ordered in to fulfil the order.
• If you would like to enquire about the current expected lead time for your order, please contact the hatting workshop directly via workshop@herbert-johnson.co.uk
• If you are hoping to order your hat for a particular event, please ensure you make your order in plenty of time prior to your deadline.  Please inform our hatting workshop directly if your order is time sensitive and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Postage & Packaging:

• Once ordered you will be notified of the lead time.
• Our hats are carefully packaged in cardboard postal boxes for dispatch internationally.
• We ship worldwide.
• We calculate delivery costs based on the weight of each product and country to which the item is to be posted.
• Postage costs may be included in the purchase price for some items.

Hat Care:

Store your hat somewhere dry placed brim down or preferably in a hat box. We recommend using a soft bristled hat or clothes brush to care for your hat. Brush your hat counter clockwise to free any particles from the felt. Whilst we preshrink all our hats, under extreme moisture conditions the felt may still be vulnerable to shrinkage or losing its shape if not properly cared for. We advise against force drying your hat and it is best to allow it to dry naturally brim side down.