Decline of the Hat

[alanfgag]

Wow... really nice piece and great commentary Brad. And of course I completely missed it when posting a new thread for audio and video material a few minutes ago. I will share this link there too.

 

[Rmccamey]

A most excellent summary of hat history, Brad. Thanks for sharing.

A couple of month back I was contacted by a video producer from the Daily Mail. He said he had an idea for a new web series and his pilot was going to be about the decline of men's hats. While doing research, he found my website and some of my other videos, and wanted to interview me for the video. I agreed, and we did the interview for the pilot. He showed me the pilot and said that the series had been greenlit by his bosses, so he interviewed me again, for about an hour, and this time with video. Anyway, the video turned out pretty well, though I misspoke at the beginning. I meant to say early 1800s but it came out early eighteenth century and I didn't catch it. Oh well. He left a lot of footage on the cutting room floor, but it's still a good video.

 

[Frunobulax]

A couple of month back I was contacted by a video producer from the Daily Mail. He said he had an idea for a new web series and his pilot was going to be about the decline of men's hats. While doing research, he found my website and some of my other videos, and wanted to interview me for the video. I agreed, and we did the interview for the pilot. He showed me the pilot and said that the series had been greenlit by his bosses, so he interviewed me again, for about an hour, and this time with video. Anyway, the video turned out pretty well, though I misspoke at the beginning. I meant to say early 1800s but it came out early eighteenth century and I didn't catch it. Oh well. He left a lot of footage on the cutting room floor, but it's still a good video.

Brad, I finally got a few minutes to watch this, and let me echo the others. Great job! Very interesting observations and you present well.

I do have a question: What hat were you wearing that day?

 

[The Hatted Professor]

Brad, I finally got a few minutes to watch this, and let me echo the others. Great job! Very interesting observations and you present well.

I do have a question: What hat were you wearing that day?

Thanks! It‘s my 1950s Cavanagh.

 

[srahimian24]

A couple of month back I was contacted by a video producer from the Daily Mail. He said he had an idea for a new web series and his pilot was going to be about the decline of men's hats. While doing research, he found my website and some of my other videos, and wanted to interview me for the video. I agreed, and we did the interview for the pilot. He showed me the pilot and said that the series had been greenlit by his bosses, so he interviewed me again, for about an hour, and this time with video. Anyway, the video turned out pretty well, though I misspoke at the beginning. I meant to say early 1800s but it came out early eighteenth century and I didn't catch it. Oh well. He left a lot of footage on the cutting room floor, but it's still a good video.

This is now one of my favorite hat videos on YouTube, awesome job!

 

[RickP]

The more people DONT wear hats, the more there are for the rest of us lol

 

[srahimian24]

So long as people don't throw them in the trash, I am always surprised at what people will leave in/next to a dumpster (personally I have found a near mint 1940s solid mahogany china cabinet)

 

[Lgrant]

Growing up in the '60s in Detroit, I remember that good restaurants always had a "hat check girl". It was customary to put one's business card in the inside of the hat, to identify it. My dad also had a fluorescent orange card that said "LIKE HELL IT'S YOURS! PUT IT BACK!"

When I started in business in 1970, the offices still had coat/hat racks, though I don't remember the hat part being occupied all that much. I used to wear a fedora for several years. I am not sure what happened to it. Several years before I retired in 2016, I started wearing a fedora to work. I had been complaining to my wife that I missed wearing a fedora, and when she was visiting Las Vegas, she stopped at Bailey's and got me a nice one.

Now I live in the tropics, where it is to hot for felt hats. But I visited Panama last week, and got a Panama hat. It's quite nice, but not as nice as a felt fedora. (But there are other advantages to living in the tropics.)

Two things I miss from the heyday of fedoras: vinyl hat covers to protect your fedora if you have to be out in the rain, and a strap with a hook on one end and a clip on the other, so you can hang your fedora from the back of your chair, if you are in a restaurant that does not have a hat/coat check room. (I did find some of the hat covers once, but they were new/old stock, and the 50-year-old vinyl did not hold up very well.)

P.S. A few years ago, there was a post from a guy who was trying to find out how to get grease out of a fedora. He drove a dump truck, and wore a fedora, and he accidentally stood up when the bed was up and rubbed some grease on the hat. I thought that wearing a fedora while driving a dump truck was the classiest thing ever.

 

[jeffgarf]

Growing up in the '60s in Detroit, I remember that good restaurants always had a "hat check girl". It was customary to put one's business card in the inside of the hat, to identify it. My dad also had a fluorescent orange card that said "LIKE HELL IT'S YOURS! PUT IT BACK!"

Love those and love them when I find them in the hats I buy.