Paint out the Hat

Image: Screen capture from a production note of The Days of Harmony LDS church videoScreen Caps of the editing of The Days of Harmony

In a 2015 LDS church production, titled The Days of Harmony, the editors were instructed to ‘paint out the hat’ from the scenes depicting the translation. The video, currently showing in temple visitor centers and LDS historical sites, entirely omits the white hat from the depiction. Curious, because as David Whitmer recalls: (An Address to All Believers in Christ, pg. 12 – David Whitmer)

“I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine.

Joseph Smith used a seer stone placed in a white hat as the primary method for the translation. Something the church seems hesitant to depict in its art and media.

Crash Course:
An Address to All Believers in Christ, pg. 12 – David Whitmer
Book of Mormon Translation – LDS Gospel Topic Essay
Source Post – Reddit
Translation of the Book of Mormon – Mormon Think
Days of Harmony trailer – LDS.org