Pork pie hat the "man-about-town", but its resurgence in the United States in the 1920s is credited to the silent film actor Buster Keaton who wore them in many of his films. The hats from his films were ones the actor made himself by converting fedoras and other hats into pork pies, creating more than a thousand in his lifetime. This kind of pork pie had a very flat top and similar short flat brim. Arguably the heyday of the pork pie hat occurred during the Great Depression. In this incarnation, the pork pie regained its snap brim and increased slightly in height.
Frank Erlanger Frank Erlanger Frank Erlanger (March 25, 1882 – 1961), also credited as Frank A. Erlanger or Frank Charles Erlanger was a Hungarian-American silent film actor best known for his work with the Balboa Amusement Producing Company. The Erlangers were a well-established Hungarian family living in what was then Austria-Hungary. Frank's father, Ottmar, was a colonel in the 7th Regiment of the Imperial and Royal Hussars. His mother, Theresia de Retsky, was an actress. The family originally resided in Budapest but relocated to Vienna before or after Frank's birth. While Frank's family, including sister Elizabeth, remained there, he was sent to