Posted on 05/13/2012 7:42:53 PM PDT by Eyes Unclouded
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So what happened? Why did guys stop wearing headgear in midcentury America?
The turning point, most people say, was John F. Kennedy's inauguration. Before Kennedy, all presidents wore top hats on their first day at work. Kennedy brought one, but hardly ever put it on. Fashionistas say Kennedy, one of our most charismatic presidents, made hats un-happen. And, chronologically speaking, after JFK, guys everywhere, even balding ones like astronaut John Glenn, went topless.
But I am the son of a hat designer. And my father, Allen S. Krulwich, had a different explanation. The president who de-hatted America, he thought, was Dwight Eisenhower.
Here's my dad's logic.
In the 1950s — and this was one of Ike's grand accomplishments — he built a vast highway system across America. Interstates went up everywhere. Cities extended roads, turnpikes, highways, and suburbs appeared around every major city. People, instead of taking a bus, a tram, a train to work, could hop into their new Chevy or Ford and drive.
Before Eisenhower, many more people used public transportation. After Eisenhower, they used a car. That, my father thinks, created the critical Head-To-Roof Difference.
A person of average height standing in a bus, tram or subway car has, roughly, three feet between the top of his head and the roof.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Truman, IIRC, ran a haberdashery before he got into politics. As such, he was very familiar with hats from both the seller and the customer’s viewpoint.
Nowadays, it seems like every guy I run into who walks around under a hat all the time is actually a self conscious bald guy who’s trying to hide it from everyone. So hats are for baldies. Or that’s the impression. Too bad people don’t seem to be expected to remove their hats anymore when going indoors. Agree with the person who said America quit wearing hats when Hollywood quit wearing them.
that is perhaps why the Army got rid of the saucer cap and went to the beret. A beret will fit under an epaulet.
The garrison cap was a sad ‘dress’ version of the WWI field cap, designed to go under a helmet and keep your ears warm. Rather sensible in northern Europe, less so in the deserts of the middle east.
I wear a fedora to work Monday through Friday. Sometimes on the weekends if I’m dressing up...
No, I don’t care if folks think it’s out of style. It’s MY style...
I often wear a cap when outside for sport events or doing yard work. But it sure bugs me to see men in restaurants wearing their caps or western hats while eating with others. I was taught that was impolite, and I agree.
I'm afraid you have the wrong impression then. People who spend time outside are the ones who where caps/hats.
I guess I was thinking of the real Harry; to wit,
"Mr. Hume:
"I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an 'eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay.'
"It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.
"Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!
"Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.
"H.S.T."
IMHO, more people spent less time outdoors, due to more indoor jobs and air conditioning. Hats were in part to protect the head and eyes from sunlight.
My head gets oily when I wear one, so I rarely do, unless I’m in the hot sun or in the rain. Yes, I use a hat when it rains because I don’t like to use umbrellas.
I bought a hat a couple years ago, but I haven’t worn it much.
Skateboarder type boys wear some nice hats. I forget what they are called but they have a smaller brim than a fedora but are nice looking on many heads. They look manly, not metrosexual, like some of the other looks for tweener and high school boys.
And, on the Subject of hats:
"A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat."--- P. J. O'Rourke
The fedora/homburg/bowler/boater type hat for men died out for many reasons, but I think Kennedy had little to do with it other than being around at the same time that the tide turned.
Dress in general is less formal. Most folks are less exposed to the weather. Cars are less roomy than public transport.
All these valid reasons have been posted. Another is that men got hit up for a tip every place they went and checked a hat. It got to be quite a racket. The hats themselves weren’t cheap, and you needed more than one.
I think when you combine all of the above with the dawning of the age of technology worship, where appearing old fashioned was the worst thing you could do, the hat was done for.
That said, I wear a fedora almost every day. Screw convention, I like ‘em, and when asked about it I say “If Obama is going to lead us into another Great Depression, I want to be dressed for it.”
That shuts up the libs and makes the conservatives like my hat.
I wear a “stingy brim”, black synthetic straw fedora daily and I make it look good. Nothing but compliments.
I wear a “stingy brim”, black synthetic straw fedora daily and I make it look good. Nothing but compliments.
You are correct, any thing with a bill and not a brim is not a hat. I have been wearing hats since I was just a kid and still do every day. I have a selection of very fine 5X and up beaver and fur felt hats; a selection is necessary for the type of activity or function you are participating in. Depending on the weather and what I was going to be doing for the day, I have been called every thing from Tex to Indiana Jones.
Pinch front Stetsons and snap brim fedoras remain my favorite styles.
Is that Salvador Dali? I didn’t realize they were friends.
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