John Wayne's Akubra?

[Sam Craig]

So I have been doing photo research of John Wayne's famous cavalry hat ... you know, the one he wore in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "Rio Grande," "Rio Bravo," and "Fort Apache."
I'm sure that he started out with several hats provided by the prop people, but according to an interview with his son, Michael, now deceased, he ended up with "his" hat, which the family has maintained.
It got incredibly worn towards the end.
But you can see in the photos through the movies, why most people who try to replicate this iconic hat fail. They use a modern western hat that is made of too heavy a felt.
I looked at the stills and all of the movies show Wayne wearing a relatively narrow brim hat that is a silverbelly color and that is made of really thin felt.
I'm wondering if an Akubra Campdraft, with the ribbon binding removed, would be enough hat to make up a perfect cavalry hat.
The Bushman would certainly work, but it would be the wrong color.
This may not be of any interest to anyone else, but considering the effort I have put in to trying to alter old Stetsons and Resistols with no luck, it came as a real eye opener, once I made the connection.
The problem with the replicas I cound on the Web? They all started with hats that were too heavy.
Any thoughts?

Sam

 

[danofarlington]

I wonder if a big movie star's movie hat would be off the shelf, or custom-made, in that era. It would be great to hear from someone who knows the movie business.

 

[Art Fawcett]

I wonder if a big movie star's movie hat would be off the shelf, or custom-made, in that era. It would be great to hear from someone who knows the movie business.

Most would be "off the shelf" Dan. What you should also know is that his costumer, Luster Bayliss, is also co-owner of American Costume & United costume. The other owner? John Wayne, or at least the Wayne family. I spent quite a bit of time in their shop ( they were clients) and virtually every hat in there was american, most Stetsons in various stages of decay.

 

[frussell]

Sam - I think you'd find the same difficulty with a Campdraft that you've encountered with the other modern hats. Not as stiff as modern westerns, but still thicker and tougher felt than many vintage westerns I've been around. My grandfather had some pretty old Stetsons in his collection, and though they were cowboy style, they felt like vintage dress hat felt. Thin, pliable, even floppy in the wind. Some of my older Stetsons have been the same after a rainstorm or two. I'm still not sure if it was the beaver content, better felting processes, or just time and wear. It seems a shame to "distress" a vintage hat on purpose, but that might be your only choice if you want to get it perfect. Or order an "Artlite" felt from Mr. Fawcett, and use that. Good luck, Frank

 

[gtdean48]

I have a vintage Stetson 25 Corral model that is basically a vintage OR without a bound edge & a 2 ply ribbon treatment. If it had a 3" brim instead of 2.75, it would be a dead ringer for that hat.

 

[HatsEnough]

 

[4spurs]

Sam, I think JW's hat had a 3 1/2" or 3 1/4" brim, was probably a clear beaver, and probably a Stetson. I have an older Stetson that has a 4" brim, it's a "No. 1 Quality" and it's soft enough to take any shape, and will flap in the wind because its brim is thin; so too is the brim on my 7X CB fedora.

Some of the older Stetsons were thinner. I have two other "No1 Quality" hats that are thick, with a 3.5" brim, the brims do not flop in the breeze, but the crowns are soft enough to take any shape. They just did not use as much stiffener on the older hats.

I have an old Resistol, red liner, no X marks, "Plains" model, very thin felt with a 3.25" brim. If it did not have as much stiffener in it it would make a perfect JW Calvary hat. Once again, I think the older higher quality western hats were made of a thinner felt.

I think the way to get the hat you want is to either find a very old one, cut the brim if necessary, and shape the crown, or get a custom hat made.

 

[1961MJS]

Durn all of ya's. I had talked myself out of one of those, now...

I just bought all three of the movies this Spring. They're great movies. My retired 5th grade teacher borrowed them when I was home (Illinois) last.

Later

 

[gtdean48]

This is the Stetson 25 Corral

Here are a couple of vintage western conversions that I did that are like what Frank was talking about, that thin western body of old...

 

[danofarlington]

Most would be "off the shelf" Dan. What you should also know is that his costumer, Luster Bayliss, is also co-owner of American Costume & United costume. The other owner? John Wayne, or at least the Wayne family. I spent quite a bit of time in their shop ( they were clients) and virtually every hat in there was american, most Stetsons in various stages of decay.

That is fascinating information. I didn't really expect to hear from someone who knows, so I am pleasantly surprised.

 

[Sam Craig]

One thing is certain ... and I've found enough stills from the fliks to be sure of this ... there are no off-the-shelf western hats today that are thin enough to do the job.

Dean's got the right idea. In fact if you shaped the extreme diamond and rolled the brim, you'd be there.

Sadly, with my huge melon, ending up with the right vintage is iffy ...

Sam

 

[Bob Beecher]

 

[johnnycanuck]

I have a cowboy hat I did up into a Cowboys, McLintock style and a 3 1/2" brim with a creased crown of just under 5" seems about right. if it was me trying to get that look I would seriously consider the Akubra Boss of the plains. the dimensions seems about right. The thickness of the felt seems to vary between the Akubras. My Squatter and Cattleman seem to have the thinnest and my Croc and coolabah seems to have the thickest. Down Under and Snowy River is sitting in the middle.
My two cents worth.
Johnny

 

[HatsEnough]

To me it would almost seem like blasphemy to use a foreign made hat to replicate the hat from The Duke, Mr. All American, John Wayne!
I guess that's just me.

 

[Tomasso]

I guess that's just me.

No there's me and of course the Duke, who is spinning in his grave at the very mention of such nonsense.....

 

[Rathdown]

Eat your hearts out!

Heritage Auctions is auctioning off half a dozen of John Wayne's hats on October 8th in Dallas, Texas. Estimates for his cowboy hats are all in the $25,000-$30,000 range. Good Luck and Happy Bidding! (google Heritage Auctions to see the on-line catalog)

 

[Sam Craig]

First of all, I doubt that Mr. Wayne cared where his hats came from ... but I could be wrong.

Second, Johnny, great idea ... The Boss would probably work great

Third, the Duke got along great with the folk down under. Didn't you see In Harms Way?

Sam

 

[HatsEnough]

Oh, I'd expect Wayne would have been unhappy to use foreign-made anything for his iconic image. He was one of the biggest flag wavers of his day.

 

[Tomasso]

Oh, I'd expect Wayne would have been unhappy to use foreign-made anything.......

With the exception of his women, which he preferred to be Latin born.

 

[frussell]

I helped his son Patrick get his parade gear on his horse and get mounted in the Rose Bowl Parade years ago, and if I remember, he was wearing all original John Wayne costume wardrobe, tailored to fit him. Can't remember if he was wearing the beat-up hat or another, but it was definitely his dad's. He had the reddish-rust colored shirt, tan jeans, and leather vest we used to see in all the later John Wayne westerns. We didn't get much of a chance to talk about the wardrobe after the parade, because he'd been in the saddle for over 7 hours, and as soon as I took his reins, he jumped off the horse and ran down the street looking for a bathroom. Nice guy though. I'll look through my photos. Frank