Were hats more disposable in earlier times?

[danofarlington]

I've been reading about Theodore Roosevelt a lot lately, and all of the biographies and documentaries feature images that suggest the man must have owned a lot of hats over his lifetime. Active as he was, I suspect he wore many of them out.

But it made me wonder whether fur felt hats were as disposable to earlier generations as ballcaps and supermarket straw hats are today.

Did gentlemen of earlier times tend to own one hat at a time, or a number of hats for different uses, as many of us do?

thanks, Z

You ask the kind of question I think about too. It's interesting to figure out what was on people's minds back then. Cultural history is a general field that addresses it. All the cross discussion probably gets at it somewhat. I look for the speculations that are most convincing.

 

[Topper]

In some of the hat factories, over a hundred year ago workers would use disposible hats made from paper, to prevent loose hair,absorb sweat, and keep hair clean from any grim.

Rather like modern Health and safety disposable hats.

 

[obie]

I just spoke to my father who purchased several

Stetson Fedora's from their store in the late 60's, early 70's. He stated that he would purchase a few to several per year, and that most gentlemen that still wore them seemed to own a few. Additionally, the prices even at their company store were anything but cheap, so I would assume that they weren't disposable. From what I could tell from his collection and from searching them out on eBay and the like, they seem that the better quality hats seemed to have been well taken care of.

 

[John in Covina]

A few to several hats per year is a lot.

What happened to the old ones?

Let's say you bought two per year- at the end of 5 years you'd have 10 hats, a fair collection.

Did he get the old ones cleaned and reblocked or just toss and repace them when they got dirty?

 

[danofarlington]

A few to several hats per year is a lot.

What happened to the old ones?

Let's say you bought two per year- at the end of 5 years you'd have 10 hats, a fair collection.

Did he get the old ones cleaned and reblocked or just toss and repace them when they got dirty?

I think hats went into and out of style more regularly back in the Hat Days. Wide brim, stingy brim, high crown, low crown. My guess is that you wouldn't want to be seen with too outdated of a hat, unless you were highly individualistic, poor, or old. So there were probably a lot of outdated hats the same as suits get outdated, only probably faster. I'm sure the manufacturers encouraged this too.

 

[obie]

A few to several hats per year is a lot.

What happened to the old ones?

Let's say you bought two per year- at the end of 5 years you'd have 10 hats, a fair collection.

Did he get the old ones cleaned and reblocked or just toss and repace them when they got dirty?

He kept them all. I actually inherited them all this week as he was cleaning out his garage. Most of them weren't worn that much, or at least they didn't become dirty because of wear. Several were in boxes, but most no longer had the boxes.

Here they are actually:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=51877

 

[BanjoMerlin]

I think we probably lost more great old dress hats in the 1960s and 1970s than before then. The non-hat-wearing next generation would not have seen the old hats in the attics and closets as something of value. And the bugs would have had decades to do their damage.

Men in their 70s and 80s today were young men in the 1960s and probably didn't wear hats. They wouldn't have been interested in their fathers' hats.