Ask a question, get an answer

[deadlyhandsome]

It's "different," and we've unfortunately lost some of our knowledge base, but in general, yes, the quality of hat discussion has deteriorated a bit. I have always viewed WHAYWT as the most "social" of the hat threads - the place where we converse a bit and bust chops occasionally. But the other, specialty, threads, such as say, Adam Alley, should be about hat information.

There has always been light-hearted discussion in the thread, just go back and read the posts.

I think it's cyclical. When I came on board (2014/14?), a new crop of posters had also come on board. This included moon and Bob and a few others. I truly believe some of the older members bailed on us because they didn't like OUR style. More loosey-goosey, more modern references and less pure reverence for the Golden Age.

Some have checked out for other reasons.

But, as we go forward, some of the newer Members will become old hands and develop more historical knowledge to impart. There are some on here now who unfortunately say some incorrect things about hat manufacturing, history, and the like, but some of those guys are going to learn, get better, and be the "experts" in the future. When moon first started on here, his historical knowledge wasn't near what it is now, but he became a go-to guy for many an academic discussion. Hell, I knew less than nothing, but (though I wouldn't call myself an expert, I'm comfortable making statements and answering many questions with some authority. But I learned at the feet of Steve, Alan, Anthony, Daniele, and several others.

However, losing moon, having Alan post less, losing the Hatted Professor - those were big blows to the knowledge base in recent history. That's noticeable to some of us who have been here a bit longer.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

Because my hat size makes the acquisition of vintage hats difficult, I’ll never have the vintage hat knowledge base. I’m also not all that interested in the nuances of the old hats. I only really appreciate them as quality items I can still wear. Even if I was a size 6 7/8 I don’t see becoming the oracle with all the answers; I’m just not wired that way. I’m glad that the knowledge isn’t lost and that others know it, but for me it’s often just trivia. Sort of like how I view archeology; I know it’s a real science but for me it’s just curious bits of information.

I think the Lounge should be a big tent forum where the experts with their museum quality hats can rub shoulder with a new-to-hats member with his Akubra. Both can coexist. Surely diversity here is a good thing? Maybe both can get something from the other?

I think I’m understanding the over posting comments. I’ve had to scroll through a couple of pages to find a new post rather than a reply, but it just doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is not seeing the outstanding hats some of the longtime contributors used to post. I leep looking for them, but they’re just not there anymore. That really does make me sad.

 

[nvilletele]

Responding to every single post when the "Like" button would suffice: "I like that ribbon", "I like that color", "that looks good", etc. I would also add posting above your head.

I'm going to be pulling back now.

I agree with the first point re using like button, but can you explain what posting above your head refers to? Is this referring to a directional matter, or is it talking/pontificating about things you don’t really know much about? (Serious question)

I did once compliment a hat band but it was a really pretty one. (True, but mentioned somewhat flippantly here.)

 

[Bamaboots]

or is it talking/pontificating about things you don’t really know much about? (Serious question)

You just answered your own question.

 

[Frunobulax]

Because my hat size makes the acquisition of vintage hats difficult, I’ll never have the vintage hat knowledge base. I’m also not all that interested in the nuances of the old hats. I only really appreciate them as quality items I can still wear. Even if I was a size 6 7/8 I don’t see becoming the oracle with all the answers; I’m just not wired that way. I’m glad that the knowledge isn’t lost and that others know it, but for me it’s often just trivia. Sort of like how I view archeology; I know it’s a real science but for me it’s just curious bits of information.

I think the Lounge should be a big tent forum where the experts with their museum quality hats can rub shoulder with a new-to-hats member with his Akubra. Both can coexist. Surely diversity here is a good thing? Maybe both can get something from the other?

I think I’m understanding the over posting comments. I’ve had to scroll through a couple of pages to find a new post rather than a reply, but it just doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is not seeing the outstanding hats some of the longtime contributors used to post. I leep looking for them, but they’re just not there anymore. That really does make me sad.

Oh, you're right, and I think it's great to get new folks with new perspectives, never said different. However, the folks with "passion" have become more scarce. And so far, they haven't been replaced.

You also have to realize that this is truly a different type of place than it was. More folks were seriously committed to the GA, had more passion for the knowledge of the history, etc. The discourse was different, as well.

I'm guilty of some of that. I brought my irreverence and sarcasm, for better or worse. I might not have been the first, but my style includes posting funny memes and stupid GIFs to get my point across. Make silly pop culture references, that sort of thing. You never saw anybody drop an f-bomb until the last couple of years. Hell, the word "hippie" was a banned word when I joined.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hey, just to lighten the mood: I just got off the phone with Art Fawcett. I just sent VS a box of four hats for renovation work and I was touching base. He told me that in years past June was a slow month but this year he’s setting sales records! Good for him, and good for increase in interest in fine hats.

In his mild and gentlemanly manner, Art chided me for buying cheap hats. He doesn’t mind my renovation work, but he told me to stop buying quantity and focus on quality. He gave me the names of other hatters check out to so it wasn’t self serving. The problem is that I’m cheap but don’t have cheap tastes.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scottyrocks]

This topic could become a relatively large can of worms because of the various point of view of the members here.

What one person sees as fine and dandy could be an eye-roll moment for someone else.

People move in and out of threads based on general interest, as well as specific content.

I understand HJ/MtL's blowing kisses reference, but the reasons behind any individual's reasons for compliments can be many, and then based in different beliefs and ways of thinking.

Basically, people are going to do what makes them feel good. That's the purpose here. If I don't like something I generally leave it be, especially if no harm is being done.

And not liking something is not necessarily a bad thing. Not like is merely an absence of like, and not necessarily a negative.

 

[Walter Neff1940]

Excuse me if this is a dumb question but why do folks here call the ribbon/band on hats 'Pugs". Is that what they are?

 

[psklenar]

Walter, I asked the same question a few weeks ago. The answer I recieved is at

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...l-affiliate-thread.71408/page-55#post-2420620

pat----

 

[jlee562]

The Puggaree - derived from the Punjabi word for Turban - refers to a pleated cloth wrap that is most often found on straw hats and slouch hats. The origin is apparently a British adaption of what was going on in India during Colonial times.

https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/traditions/the-slouch-hat

 

[Hurricane Jack]

The FL often gets a newbie every time someone has an actinic keratosis frozen off their body, hears the "C" word warning & panics. They often find the FL while shopping for a hat & join before really knowing what the FL is/was all about. Over time some of them drift away while others stay.

I respect your views Jack...

Thanks Bowen. And I, yours. But I don't care what zoot suit someone is wearing with their hat, what spats, or what they had for breakfast; there are appropriate sections & threads for each. And as suggested by Handsome, I do skip over those sections & threads. But they commonly seem to spill over into others. And have taken over FL very Facebook like.

I'll be around & jump in when there is an interesting discussion to contribute to. Those just seem to be fewer & fewer of late.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Understand completely! I regret not feeling comfortable posting alot of my hats cause i just can’t keep up and respond to it all. I get lost in it all quickly and feel like i’m being rude or pretentious. I just like other’s to share my enjoyment cause my dog, she doesn’t care!!
Blah blah, think i’ll start throwing them in the dedicated threads instead of whaywt.
Look forward to your “jumps”.
Be well. Bowen

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Understand completely! I regret not feeling comfortable posting alot of my hats cause i just can’t keep up and respond to it all. I get lost in it all quickly and feel like i’m being rude or pretentious. I just like other’s to share my enjoyment cause my dog, she doesn’t care!!
Blah blah, think i’ll start throwing them in the dedicated threads instead of whaywt.
Look forward to your “jumps”.
Be well. Bowen

Bowen, I understand how a person raised to be a gentleman would feel compelled to respond to every reply. I don’t think that in these forums you should feel any guilt for not responding. It’s not rude to ignore posts on online forums (my rule). I feel no compunction to respond when there are many comments of a general nature. I promise I won’t think it rude if you chose to not respond to any post I write.

Brent


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Just A Hat Rack]

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Welcome to Facebook Lounge. Feel free to share, like, comment & subscribe to all banalities. .

 

[scottyrocks]

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

You put all of that very, very well. Thanks for taking the time to write and post it.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Hey Ryan:
Great post. Very well spoken.
Thanks for sharing and welcome to the lounge.
Bowen

 

[jlee562]

I have no hard data for these conclusions, these are just thoughts of an overthinker:

• I feel like since I arrived, the custom maker market has increased its presence in the lounge and in real life. IMHO, it might be worthwhile to delineate the hat forum into vintage and modern. Even if that means splitting time between two sub forums.
• While I do value the immense knowledge base here, the format of a forum is not the best way to archive said knowledge base. What would be awesome (but itself a huge undertaking) would be a hat Wikipedia.
• Reading old posts of my own, I've been guilty at times of talking over my head. So apologies if that's made anybody roll their eyes at me. I'm happy to keep learning new things all the time here.

 

[drmaxtejeda]

Although I'm pretty new to this forum, I can see both sides of the discussion. I have a Facebook account that I was fairly active on, but eventually found it to be uninteresting and a general waste of time. I never get on it anymore unless my wife references something from it that I may find an interest in. This is just my personal opinion, but while it may be a good way to keep in touch with people I don't have a daily interaction with (old or distant friends and family), I find it absurd to waste away hours out of a day to keep up on what people had for dinner, what play their kids were in, or some political debate that goes in circles. And the younger the generations are that use it, the more it becomes a popularity status.

With the Lounge, I have seen this occur at times. Usually (but not always) there is context that is relevant to the Lounge or specific thread. I don't know a lot when it comes to hats other than I like to wear them. This forum has provided a lot of information for me. The only downside is that there is so much information and discussion that it can be extremely tiresome to seek out a specific answer without just asking directly. I thank those that have been patient and helped along the way.

I'm not someone who posts a lot. The 'like' button suffices just fine for most of what I see unless I'm involved in a discussion. There are times though where I feel prompted to comment on something somebody is wearing, just because I thoroughly enjoy the hat and thought the person garnered some appreciation. I hope to visit this forum for the long haul. I don't ever want to see it ever become a popularity contest, but I know it would bring a smile to my face if I received a 'like' or a friendly comment. Shoot, even constructive criticism would even be welcome. I see a huge amount of respect among loungers, and I don't ever want to see it go away. I mean, it is a lounge right? Even if it's in the virtual sense, if we were all gathered together, I can't imagine the conversations would be much different. Since I don't have a lot to offer for the time being in the way of hats, I generally just scroll through threads that interest me, mainly WHAYWT, but there are several others. I love seeing the different hats people wear. A lot of times I'll scroll past the comments if I just want to see the pics. I have no problem doing this, but I've also learned a lot from some of the comments as well. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought I'd add my two (or twenty five) cents since I can sort of see both sides.

Best wishes to all,
Ryan

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Very well put.

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

 

[Frunobulax]

I have no hard data for these conclusions, these are just thoughts of an overthinker:

• I feel like since I arrived, the custom maker market has increased its presence in the lounge and in real life. IMHO, it might be worthwhile to delineate the hat forum into vintage and modern. Even if that means splitting time between two sub forums.
• While I do value the immense knowledge base here, the format of a forum is not the best way to archive said knowledge base. What would be awesome (but itself a huge undertaking) would be a hat Wikipedia.
• Reading old posts of my own, I've been guilty at times of talking over my head. So apologies if that's made anybody roll their eyes at me. I'm happy to keep learning new things all the time here.

Item #2 - YES! When I win the lottery, I will fund the Fedorapedia.

I honestly don't think things have "changed" as much as they're in flux. A forum such as this must remain alive or it will wither on the vine. New folks, new perspectives, old members dropping off or taking a break. By it's very nature it will change over time. There has always been banter on this site; go back and read the posts back to 2008 or so. IMHO, there was more hat talk and less banter, but it's always been there. Members comment on other members' dress, dogs, kids, or what they've had for dinner. Commenting on the weather seems a natural extension ("It's raining today, so I wore my CD"). Some members may not like the side comments about sport coats, weather and the like, but if you make a side comment on something they're interested in, like baseball or whisky, they'll join right in.

I think you're right about #1, too. And it's good to see the customs getting some popularity. Additionally, the further we get from the vintage years, the more scarce vintage hats will be and hence, the discussion and presentation of them will wane. Unfortunately.

Or at least until Alan, moon, or rlk sell off their collections and flood the market.

Talking above your head? Unavoidable, but most members are amenable to gentle corrections. Plus, this ain't new here, either. Go back and read some of the posts in threads that go back to the founding of the Lounge. Some of those folks didn't know fur felting from Barbara Feldon. But they learned and the site got better. Since we're always going to have new people join, this will ebb and flow, too.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[humanshoes]

What I'd really hate to see here is a whole group of well-intentioned, inquisitive, hat people sit around and second guess themselves about their postings, or worse, not post at all, just because someone else doesn't care for the direction that a particular thread has taken. If a posting is not appropriate to the thread, I'll trust the bartenders to sort all that out. We talk about independence, style, and the courage to wear the hats we love regardless of what others may think. Shouldn't that philosophy apply to our postings as well?