Hats and Heads, Part Dos
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 3rd, 2009
People hang on his every word….He can speak zoology,…in cryptozoology….He doesn’t always drink root beer, but when he does, he prefers Capt’n Eli….He is the most interesting cryptozoologist – – – in the world.
Stay curious, my friends.
Well, you get the idea. Life is a stage and we all are actors, in a way. Some just have different costumes than others.
Are you the most interesting person in your neighborhood? I imagine you are by the mere fact you read Cryptomundo! 🙂
If you recall, in the initial discussion, “Cryptozoologist Dress Code?,” it appeared some headway was made in putting the cap on premature conclusions and opening our eyes to the fashion statements about the evolving standards of dress in our business. (Some people even took my pondering seriously.)
Therefore, now, let us look further to seek a few simple truths, as we change points of view to discovery other crowning wonders.
Shall we start with an example of someone who appears to live in two worlds? Or so we are to believe?
This is newspaper columnist known as “That Guy” (above) ~ i.e. Leigh Hart, the New Zealand comedian who hoaxed the Ohio Bigfoot conference by presenting himself as a genuine documentary filmmaker. Instead, he appeared to be trying to be cryptozoology’s Borat or Bruno. Reviews are mixed as to whether he succeed.
He was dressing the part to go undercover (see below).
Leigh Hart is shown above, in disguise, to the extreme right.
It is apparent what programs Hart has been watching to come up with his undercover outfit. Here Extreme Expeditions’ Adam Davies is shown during his documentary film trip seeking Almas in Mongolia. The right clothing to wear is pretty obvious.
Staying in that half of the world, what can we learn from Australia?
Above is Chris Rehberg who conducted the search for the Thylacine on that new “MonsterQuest” episode “Isle of the Lost Tiger.” He’s wearing a hat and a bird.
How about coauthors? Have a gander at this archival snapshot of Patrick Huyghe, my writing partner on a couple cryptozoology field guides, and the editor-in-chief of Anomalist Books. This is Patrick in 1976, with a hat and another kind of bird.
There are all kinds of fedoras to wear. As Patrick demonstrates, not all of them are of the Indiana Jones variety.
The classic Brixton Castor fedora.
All kinds of hats are worn by budding cryptozoologists, including among the female, as demonstrated by Darkshines who has been seen to wear the above.
Sometimes it is about hiding in plain sight. Looking for the forest among the trees is New Hampshire cryptozoologist Craig Heinselman.
The Indiana Jones fedora.
Basically, there is an underlying theme here. Besides the utility of the hat for fieldwork in wild areas, the fedora versus the bare head speaks to an era when this kind of hat projected an investigative “detective” image.
Forget the pith helmet and the cigarette. The fedora is the hat of choice for cryptozoology.
Subtly, what we are talking about is how do cryptozoologists approach their investigations, as symbolically seen in their hats. Some shall know an existence by its frogs; others can best realize the world via its hats, or the lack thereof. Even Darren Naish, unconsciously, was giving visual life to this in 2007, especially as noted here regarding the hatless nature of the skeptic shown to the right, below.
Examine this picture, and view the messages being given:
Here is the text that Darren Naish wrote to go with this image: “I would say that a zoologist can indulge in cryptozoological work, a folklorist can indulge in cryptozoological work, but a dedicated cryptozoologist combines work on both zoology and folklore. The term ‘cryptozoologist’ is actually used, therefore, for three quite distinct types of researchers: this is something that hasn’t really been acknowledged and I feel that it explains why different areas of cryptozoology have different levels of credibility. The zoology-based cryptozoologist looks at the mystery animals being investigated by the folklore-based cryptozoologist, and thinks that they are highly unlikely to exist as real animals. The folklore-based cryptozoologist looks at the often rather mundane animals being investigated by the zoology-based cryptozoologist and thinks that the creatures concerned are so ordinary that they’re probably nothing to do with cryptozoology. A dedicated cryptozoologist – who combines investigation of both of these fields – is interested in both areas, and finds both real animals, and entities that exist only in folklore, of equal research interest.”
Of course, I want to make it clear. Not all men that go hatless and have alopecia are skeptics, debunkers or hoaxers.
Sometimes a few may be infamous for other things. 🙂
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Man, I wish I could get away with wearing a hat. Some of these cryptozoologists absolutely rock a hat. Mr Huyghe’s hat is absolutely awesome. No way in a million years could I pull that off. Even a baseball cap on backwards makes me look ridiculous. I am just not designed for headgear other than the odd knit cap in winter. I suppose I have diverged from the line of headgear worthy human beings. Leigh Hart is even pulling it off fer Pete’s sake!
By the way, I don’t know if this is an intentional, but I found the link at the end to bonobo monkeys under the last pic to be pretty funny. Uncanny resemblance to bonobos there to be sure. Is that a clever little hidden joke or a coincidence? Either way, good stuff.
FYI, the links given at the end of any Cryptomundo posting are randomly generated by software, based on keyword linkages, I understand.
The bonobo one is merely a coincidence, regarding them having evidence of male pattern baldness, although I understand bonobos are quite skeptical about whether or not chimpanzees actually exist.
Why no pictures of Josh Gates? I seem to remember he wore hats in his program. Plus, he speaks French in Russian.
Most ladies that I know will swoon at the sight of a man wearing a fedora. It’s important to not allow the fedora to wear YOU. Most have gotten it right, however in a few of the shots, it seems that “That Guy” has part of his brain pan missing. 🙂
People who say they look bad in a hat are just in denial. And I mean a HAT, not a cap. They probably have a hard time keeping up with things and one more item would overload their abilities. Just leave the hat upon your head instead of sucumbing to the silly 20th century “take off your hat” propaganda. I mean, people need to look good indoors, too, right?
There is a “right hat” for everyone. If you drive a compact car, the “right hat” is not a sombrero. I speak from experience, and my car is not even compact (couldn’t turn my head, or even sit comfortably).
Thank you, Loren, for daring to bring up such a controversial topic. And, you look good in the fedora.
I don’t have a Fedora… so I guess I’ll have to start drinking more beer 😛
Now, If you’ll excuse me, I have to go practice my sexy Latin accent 😉
Darkshines’s get-up is awesome, I must say.
Very “sexy.” 🙂
Mystery_Man:
I also was wondering about the Bonobo Monkey link at the end!!!
Glad to see I was not the only one.
Herman Reguster and Karl Shuker are brilliant “Crypto” people and they don’t apparently wear hats—
So the idea that the way a person dresses his/herself determines a person’s “legitimacy” in a particular field is not right, I must say.
Though it IS fun to speculate ANYWAY…
…More proof that science does have a sense of humor.
I have recently found another hat, though I’m not sure I don’t look like a complete idiot in it – it’s an all-black cold-weather wool cap with a baseball cap-like bill in front and material that folds up all around the hat, for use in the optional pulling-down of the hat about the ears.
No, no, scratch that – I do know that I look like an idiot in it. Now I just need to find the right occasion to look like an idiot…
cryptidsrus- Although I was wrong to say monkeys. I wouldn’t want to offend the bonobos by calling them monkeys, since they are apes. It just sounded funny at the time. 🙂 Speaking of bonobos, I wonder if they look good in hats too?
kentmcmanigal- I could be in denial about my inability to pull off a hat, but evidence suggests otherwise. For me, the best hat for any occasion is no hat at all. 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, I love the headgear, it just doesn’t suit me very well. That being said, I can rock a pair of sunglasses like nobodies business. 😉
Anyway, regarding the link generator, I think yours has become sentient in this case, Loren, and it does have a sense of humor. 😉
I hereby predict that the fashion trend for cryptozoologists in 2010 will be: Panama hats!
🙂
No, no, I have something quite like that (it’s light brown, and doesn’t have the band around it… ended up quite floppy as a result) and it’s not catching on at all. I think we’d have better luck with Beanies if we wanted to make a fashion statement.
Thanks for the comments guys! My boyfriend and I have spent a lot of time recently underground, exploring abandoned mine and cave systems, so good stout boots and a hard hat are essential! He lives in the Forest of Dean, which has stories of faeries, Alien Big Cats and most interestingly a “Bird Man” like creature which I can find very little information on. We are spending this Autumn (after my Masters dissertation on Victorian Mesmerism is handed in in September) looking for ABC’s around the Forest of Dean and Gloucester, so if we find anything, Cryptomundo will be the first to know 🙂
Now as a potentially budding cryptozoologist, any suggestions for the future direction of Crypto-hat styling.
Darkshines:
You’re majoring in “Victorian Mesmerism?”
Cool. Sounds very Dickensian. Almost Sherlockian. I can almost see gentlemen in smoking jackets sitting around a parlor trying to “mesmerize” someone. 🙂
What will “they” think of next?
And Loren DOES rock in that hat.
The guy in the commercial has nothing on you, my friend.
(And I AM being serious, BTW.) 🙂
Well the degree is called Gothic Studies, its a three prong Masters made up of equal parts science, literature and history, mainly from the Victorian era, but some is later and some is a little earlier. My main focus is the science part, and although I am writing about mesmerism (which is almost precisely how you envisaged it, haha), I am considering doing my PhD on the role of animals in Victorian gothic fiction (think of Poe’s works- The Raven, The Black Cat, Murders in Rue Morgue, and others, Hound of the Baskervilles, Island of Dr Moreau and so on). Cryptozoology has always been a passion of mine, I took my first USO photo at the tender age of 5 years old at Lake Windemere and never looked back 🙂