A little bit on the history of the Akubra hat

[Clutters]

enjoy

http://www.theage.com.au/national/hats- ... -fnqo.html

Akubra - aboriginal for head covering. Never heard that before but often wondered about the meaning of the word.

[Ranger36]

Cool!

Thanks!

[darthbish]

enjoy

http://www.theage.com.au/national/hats- ... -fnqo.html

Akubra - aboriginal for head covering. Never heard that before but often wondered about the meaning of the word.

GREAT post "Clutters".

I sometimes think that folk from other countries have no appreciation of what it means to an Australian to own and wear an Akubra.
This might help them to.

[Snapbrim76]

Akubra - aboriginal for head covering. Never heard that before but often wondered about the meaning of the word.

I've heard this one before but I'm a bit cynical.

I don't mean to sound negative but there is no such language as Aboriginal. Notice the wording "BELIEVED to be the Aboriginal word for head covering".

After the myth about "Kangaroo" apparently being the Aboriginal for "i don't understand" in response to the question "whats that animal called?" it transpires there were literally hundreds if not thousands of languages spoken by the many different tribes of Aboriginal people covering the whole of Australia. No universal language of Australia ever existed until the Europeans arrived.

Its often a very attractive selling point to apparently quote indigenous dialects. Personally, from what I learned from Aboriginal people when I travelled the outback, its possible that this was A word from ONE of the languages. But so much of their culture was lost or deliberately destroyed by the European settlers no one COULD ever know for sure. In my opinion its a marketing ploy. I could be wrong but I know one thing; they didn't all speak the same language.

[darthbish]

Akubra - aboriginal for head covering. Never heard that before but often wondered about the meaning of the word.

After the myth about "Kangaroo" apparently being the Aboriginal for "i don't understand" in response to the question "whats that animal called?"

News to me mate, I was always taught that Captain Cook asked what that animal was, and the word 'Kangaroo' was his version of what he was told.
Later research apparently showed that it was from the Guugu-Yimidhirr (a language spoken near Cooktown, North
Queensland) word ga urru which is apparently a large black or grey species of kangaroo.

Can't say that I've heard of the "I don't understand" story.....but it sounds apocryphal at best......(A bit like the Brits having skintones like pommegranates, hence the nickname "Pomms")

I think it's quite plausible that a tribe had a word for a type of headwear that may've sounded like Akubra, and it was picked up and used.

[Snapbrim76]

Thanks Darth Bish for adding further clarity. You're spot on. I've always been a bit suspicious of these apparent Aboriginal words that were "believed to be" the meaning behind certain names. But there could be some truth behind it.

By the way was "Captain COOKED" a Freudian slip?

[darthbish]

By the way was "Captain COOKED" a Freudian slip?

[Snapbrim76]

Wow! Skin stones. I never heard that one either. I heard it was from sun burn turning them red as pomegranates. Its certainly nothing to do with Prisoner Of Mother England. That one is definately a myth.

[Clutters]

I read somewhere that pomegranates was rhyming slang for immigrants, then shortened to Pommie and restricted to English immigrants over time.
Anyway. I felt it was my patriotic duty to purchase one of Akubra's fine Fed IV Deluxe hats in Dark Brown after reading that article.

[Snapbrim76]

Yes you must. Its your patriotic duty! Whenever I'm in Aus I wear one of my Akubra bush hats in the sun. I'd feel so proud if I was Australian. I wish we had a British equivalent i.e. People look at you funny in UK if you wear a hat but in the bush its generally acceptable.

I stand by what i've said before. Despite the price the Akubra holds up as one of the toughest rabbit hats on the market. I love my dark crown Fed 4 Deluxe. It holds up even better than the Imperial Felt and thats really saying something!

[darthbish]

I stand by what i've said before. Despite the price the Akubra holds up as one of the toughest rabbit hats on the market. I love my dark crown Fed 4 Deluxe. It holds up even better than the Imperial Felt and thats really saying something!

and I'm standin' right beside you on that one .......(even besides the whole "Ashes" thing )

[Snapbrim76]

Nice one DB, England can win something occasionally ;)0The Queen will probably be giving out Knighthoods for our win at the Ashes.

[Fedora]

People look at you funny in UK if you wear a hat but in the bush its generally acceptable.

Why is that? The British have such a long hatmaking history, and one would think, they would be proud of that fact. I guess not! I have heard similiar accounts prior, to the attitude of the British towards hats, today. In the old days, the Brits wore hats, as most of the Western world did. In fact, hatmaking come to the States FROM England.

Here in the States, the western hat kept hats alive for many years, prior to dress hats making a little bit of a comeback. These days, I see more and more hats in my neck of the woods, with most of them being western hats, or the outback style of hat. And a few kids are wearing the Kid Rock looking hat too, which is one ugly hat in my book. But being a hatter, any hat is better than a baseball cap. Unless you are on the diamond. Fedora

[darthbish]

In Australia we have a type of footwear we call 'thongs'...(I believe you call them 'flip-flops')

To me caps are the thongs of the hat world.....They serve a purpose, but have no style at all

[Snapbrim76]

England is a very multicultural country and any traditional values have been very heavily diluted. I'm 33 and I'm not old enough to remember the days when people wore hats.

I live in south London and its so multi-national here that its very rare to hear an English accent. Most people under 30 look more like 50 Cent and Eminem than Tony Blair. The only hats people seem to wear now are New Era baseball caps (with the gold sticker on the peak) and all the other clothes you see in rap videos. Why would these people have any pride in hat making?

The hat makers in London tell me that most of their customers are tourists. Fedoras are just as out of date in England as anywhere else.

[Long John Tinfoil]

Uncommon, perhaps, but never "out of date".

LJ