Virginia City's Famous Hat Maker
The Incomparable Pascal Baboulin
Once again I have been making my way across the fruited plains from Florida to Nevada, and upon arriving in the Silver State, I was able to visit my favorite place on the West side of the country: Virginia City.
One of my favorite places in Virginia City is the Bucket of Blood Saloon. The original bar and mirrors are still there, along with a phenomenal array of old photos, maps, antiques, live music, and a beautiful collection of victorian pickle jars with various colors of glass. Made of silver, naturally, since Virginia City was the site of the great silver boom when the Comstock Lode was discovered in 1859.
It was also the Bucket of Blood where I bought my hoodie that I ended up wearing while singing with Takashi Matsui and L.L.Zepp at the Beat In, Osaka Japan this year.
This small town is chock full of historical asides and interesting people, one of whom is a hat maker by the name of Pascal Baboulin. When I was still in the service and visiting Virginia City with friends and family years ago, we decided to invest in some proper hats made the old fashioned way on equipment that has been in use since the 1800’s. I asked Pascal what kind of hat Indiana Jones wore, to which he described a “custom design” not specifically aligning with traditional hatware. So I asked if he could make one for me, and he obliged.
I described how many people had loved this hat and commented as such when I wore it in Kyoto, and discovered that he was actually departing the following morning for his first trip to Japan, wherein Kyoto was on his itinerary!
This hat has been all over the world, and just recently I wore it to Spacecon San Antonio in TX, where I happened to have the opportunity to speak with Brent Spiner, who played John Adams in the Broadway Revival of 1776. Before I departed, Brent asked to take a closer look at my hat. After a brief inspection and some questions which I entertained, he concluded that it was a finely made hat, and I thanked him.
What I didn’t know at the time, was that Brent Spiner was a bit of a hat enthusiast. After learning this bit of trivia from a fellow Indiana Jones enthusiast named Lorn, I passed on the compliments to Pascal, who was very happy to hear his work was so appreciated.
Virginia City is full of history, I will probably need to return just to take more photos and write about how the Piper Opera House inspired the film Somewhere in Time, or how two silver barons’ only son ended up saving the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe for future generations through sheer obstinacity.
Looking forward to visiting again before I return to Florida, but I had another trip to make pre-Christmastime, and this one was to Phoenix, AZ for AMERICAFEST 2024! More to follow…