thunderw21
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 4,044
- Location
- Iowa
I'm sure most of us have seen it: a vintage hat that has seen plenty of life and is on its last leg. Some of us may own hats like this or have seen others around town with busted up old hats.
But have you ever seen someone just beat the crap out of a nice vintage hat and toss it in the trash once they're done with it?
I have, twice.
The first happened roughly a year ago. A mentally challenged customer, a regular, came into my place of work one day wearing a beautiful vintage silverbelly (with a hint of pink) Open Road-style fedora with cavalry cords and a metal crossed swords insignia mounted on the front. Some kind of campaign hat, no idea if it was the genuine article or not. But such a nice hat that I told him so.
Several months later I see him again wearing the hat, now beat to nothing. Felt was crumpled, fuzzy and gray with grime, no shape at all, brim wavy, edge binding yellowed from wear, sweat stains all along the crown.
No doubt he enjoyed the hat, so much that he destroyed the thing he loved. Eventually I stopped seeing him with that hat; a baseball cap replaces it now.
The second happened today.
A dishevelled customer standing in line at my place of work was wearing a definite vintage fedora (looked pretty old, too) in olive green with peach ribbon and edge binding. The brim was curled sharply all the way around but not enough to be a homburg.
It was in good condition except for the 'Peace' and other buttons and pins stuck into the felt; had to be at least a dozen scattered around the crown. Cigarettes (including a couple used ones), dollar bills and so many other larger pieces of 'flair' had been stuffed into the ribbon and bow that they were straining to stay attached.
A victim of being 'hip', redefining what shouldn't be redefined.
It's sad to see such old and unique pieces of history being treated like so much consumerist junk nowadays. It's one thing to take an already beaten to death hat and beat it a little more, it's another to take a nice vintage hat (or anything else, for that matter) and destroy it for a lack of caring. Vintage items aren't a renewable resource: once they're gone, they're gone.
Has anyone else encountered such uncaring/unknowing destruction?
But have you ever seen someone just beat the crap out of a nice vintage hat and toss it in the trash once they're done with it?
I have, twice.
The first happened roughly a year ago. A mentally challenged customer, a regular, came into my place of work one day wearing a beautiful vintage silverbelly (with a hint of pink) Open Road-style fedora with cavalry cords and a metal crossed swords insignia mounted on the front. Some kind of campaign hat, no idea if it was the genuine article or not. But such a nice hat that I told him so.
Several months later I see him again wearing the hat, now beat to nothing. Felt was crumpled, fuzzy and gray with grime, no shape at all, brim wavy, edge binding yellowed from wear, sweat stains all along the crown.
No doubt he enjoyed the hat, so much that he destroyed the thing he loved. Eventually I stopped seeing him with that hat; a baseball cap replaces it now.
The second happened today.
A dishevelled customer standing in line at my place of work was wearing a definite vintage fedora (looked pretty old, too) in olive green with peach ribbon and edge binding. The brim was curled sharply all the way around but not enough to be a homburg.
It was in good condition except for the 'Peace' and other buttons and pins stuck into the felt; had to be at least a dozen scattered around the crown. Cigarettes (including a couple used ones), dollar bills and so many other larger pieces of 'flair' had been stuffed into the ribbon and bow that they were straining to stay attached.
A victim of being 'hip', redefining what shouldn't be redefined.
It's sad to see such old and unique pieces of history being treated like so much consumerist junk nowadays. It's one thing to take an already beaten to death hat and beat it a little more, it's another to take a nice vintage hat (or anything else, for that matter) and destroy it for a lack of caring. Vintage items aren't a renewable resource: once they're gone, they're gone.
Has anyone else encountered such uncaring/unknowing destruction?
)...or the way some people leave hats "at rest";flattening the brim,with the crown or bash getting pinched or smashed...not to mention the surfaces I`ve seen people plop their hats.Guess this is`nt wanton destruction but more in the realm of ignorance and not taking pride in one`s wardrobe accessories (and ultimately appearance). When I started first wearing straw fedoras I did similar hat-atrocious acts out of sheer ignorance BUT...as TFL taught me how to treat a fedora I became a more-responsible hat afficianado. 
