
by Rose-Mary Rumbley
You know you're old when you remember the days when men wore hats. My father always wore a hat when he went to work at the office. All of the men who wore suits to work also wore a hat. Those who wore work cloths wore work hats.
I was discussing this "hat" situation with my native Fort Worth friend, Pat Austin, who remembered so well that the men who worked in downtown Ft. Worth often belonged to the Rotary Club that met at the Texas Hotel. There on a shelf in the foyer of the hotel ballroom the men left their hats while they enjoyed lunch and the meeting. The hats, which all looked alike, were lined up on this shelf. At the end of the session, each man reached for his hat, Pat remembered. There was no problem, even though the hats all looked alike. Each man "knew" his hat even though most were Western Stetson hats.
This brings me to the story of Mr. Joseph Stetson! He was born in 1830 in Philadelphia where his father was a "hatter." Following in his father's footsteps, Joe too became a maker of hats. Check out paintings of those days and you'll discover each man had a hat especially made for whatever outfit he was wearing. The hats were of all different shapes, sizes and colors. But then came Joe's Stetson hat with a crown and a brim. Most were made of felt or some other stiff material. They were called "Stetsons." What else?
When Joe made a trip out west he witnessed the cowboys rounding up their herds. These wild westerners were wearing coon skin caps. Joe thought, "What is wrong with this picture?" THE HATS! Coon skin caps didn't seem right! Thus, Joe Stetson went home to Philadelphia and designed a hat for the cowboys! These hats had wider brims and larger crowns than the first ones he made. The boys could fill up the hat with water and give the cows and the horses a drink! They were great looking and practical! Thus, the cowboy hat was born and appropriately called, "Boss of the plains." And then later, they were called Stetsons!
By the way, the girls wore Stetsons--Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley, to name a couple. I'll tell their story later!
Another well known hatter was Mr. Bowler! He created a hat that was known as "The Bowler." What else? (Again!) However, Mr. Bowler lived in London. The Bowler which had a round crown was very, very popular. So popular, it was in no time, American men were wearing Bowlers.
By this time Mr. Bowler introduced another styled hat--one with a rounder crown--the Derby--named for an area of England--Derbyville! The grounds keepers (yard men) loved the Derby. Their top hats were often knocked off when they were trimming lawns and hedges.
American men were soon wearing Derbys. When they attended one particular race in their Derbies, they named the race after the hat--the Kentucky Derby!
Remember Robert Burns, the poet? He wrote an often recited poem, TAM O'SHANTER. Well, TAM wore a tam, close fitting cap. Tam spent many an hour at the pub, which was haunted... of course. But, mainly we remember, Tam was wearing a tam! The first tams were all made of Scottish plaid. They are still popular in Scotland!
But, now we must consider the most popular hat of all--the baseball cap!
The game of baseball was created in New York and the first team to gain any fame was The New York Knickerbockers, 1845. The players wore round hats, but when one had to catch a ball, often the sun blinded that catcher. Thus the Knickerbockers added sun shields to their caps! What a great invention.
George Spalding later took over the team and began to manufacture baseball caps with a sun shield. By 1934, the business was huge.
Extra money could be made if there was advertisement on the front of the cap just above the shield!
Now, caps are worn backwards.... reversed! Who started this?
Ken Griffey, Sr. was playing for Cincinatti--the BIG Red Machine! He was their mighty catcher. His son, Ken Griffey, at 19 years of age was playing for Seattle. In 1990, Ken Jr. wanted to honor his father, catcher who always had to wear his hat on backwards because of the catcher's mask. Junior wore his hat on backwards to honor his father. Now, it's popular and acceptable to wear the baseball hat on backwards.
Well, there's the story--so now--PLAY BALL!
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