More Hats than you could shake a stick at

Dr. Woolley · Post by **Dr. Woolley** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:44 pm

Hi all. It's been a while since I posted but I had an IJ fedora moment over the weekend. I'm from a small town in southern Ohio and every fall we have a harvest festival. It's like Christmas and all of us who left come back. Anyway, my wife and I were walking around and this kid, probably 15 or 16, walks buy with the nicest Indy fedora I have seen in a while. I couldn't tell what it was, but it was high crowned, fur felt, and had a nice Venice curl to it. It had to be a custom job. Then, I started to notice that many of the young kids all had on fedoras (real ones not the stingy brim) and many of the old guys had on cowboy hats. Sadly, it was my generation (40-ish) who were lidless.

All of my fedoras are in the closet and I just gave my first PB to my son. I've been spending a great deal of time in New Mexico and Arizona so I have invested in a slew of western hats (including a sweet Open Road--the Navajo love a Stetson!). But, I don't wear any of them unless I am out west.

I guess my question is...has anybody else noticed the age bookend in hat wearers? I don't know. It made me wonder why I put my fedoras away or why my Stetson Dune isn't with me right now.

Just a musing.

ChrisMD · Post by **ChrisMD** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:47 pm

Don't worry about what other people are doing, wear whatever makes you feel like you, and enjoy it!

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:56 pm

Dr. Woolley wrote: I'm from a small town in southern Ohio and every fall we have a harvest festival.

May I ask, what small town is that?

Regard! Michaelson

Dr. Woolley · Post by **Dr. Woolley** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:00 pm

Sure. It was the Circleville Pumpkin Show. I actually feel a let down when it is over.

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:02 pm

I'm originally from Portsmouth. Wear your hats.

Regard! M

Dr. Woolley · Post by **Dr. Woolley** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:27 pm

No way! I was born in Ross County (Chillicothe). When my Dad sold the farm and took a factory job in Circleville, we moved up Rt. 23 like so many others. Anyway, I digress.

I'm not sure why I quit wearing my hats. When I received my Ph.d, my Mom and Dad gave me a Stetson Temple as a graduation present. I wore that thing into the ground. After I took this job in Pennsylvania, I have gotten out of the habit (except for my adventures in Navajoland).

Thanks. I am pulling my Dune out of the box and taking a brush to my Open Road. You gotta trust a guy from Portsmouth!

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:33 pm

You do? Man, you HAVE been out of the State for a while.

Yep, born and raised in Scioto county, worked at Goodyear Atomic for years, then went south when GCEP went belly up.

I've worn fedoras for over 40+ years now, 6 panel caps before that, and all done up there in Portsmouth.

I moved away in 86, so I've been living in the South for a LONG time, and have worn a fedora every day in every location I've lived and worked.....even in Tombstone when our eldest daughter graduated from ASU a few years ago.

Enjoy them. We're at the age who CARES what anyone else thinks. We're old enough to get away with it now and not really give a hoot.

Regard! M

Ridgerunner58 · Post by **Ridgerunner58** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:41 pm

Dr. Woolley wrote:I guess my question is...has anybody else noticed the age bookend in hat wearers?

I am at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in California (think Onion Field, Grapes of Wrath, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens).

We have always had a big cowboy hat thing, being a Country & Western music town, however, over the past 2-3 years I have noticed a marked increase in people wearing wider brimmed fedoras and safari type headgear. I have people stop me frequently to ask where I got whatever one I'm wearing.

I even see the same thing over the hill in Los Angeles.

And more specific to your question, the age seems to be dropping.

Dr. Woolley · Post by **Dr. Woolley** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:52 pm

One last thing about Portsmouth, my step-grandpa worked at Goodyear Atomic Plant in the early 80s. Wow. All these years on this board and you are one of my people.

Ridgerunner58, it is interesting that the age is dropping. Not that it matters to us here, but maybe hats are making a come back. You know, I need to spend more time at COW. I forgot what a blast this is to talk with other folks like myself.

One more question for anyone, doesn't PB make an Open Road style hat?

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:59 pm

Dr. Woolley wrote:One last thing about Portsmouth, my step-grandpa worked at Goodyear Atomic Plant in the early 80s. Wow. All these years on this board and you are one of my people.

Regard! M

Chewbacca Jones · Post by **Chewbacca Jones** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:11 pm

Hats... that is real hats... are indeed making a come back. It's that whole "kids are wearing them" thing that tells me so, because trends start (or return) with the young. I used to be the local "guy in the hat," but I'm seeing more and more of them. I'm not alone anymore. More people are telling me that their son, grandson, students, or neighbor's kid just got a fedora.

In fact, there is a woman who works the deli counter at my local grocery store who has been telling me about her grandson's hat obsession. He started with a newsboy, and has quickly added a fedora and a number of other lids to his collection. (It also turns out that her son is a big Indiana Jones fan!)

As for my generation (the 40-somethings), I find they are the most resistant of the people I know and see to the whole hat wearing thing. They stick to bare heads and baseball caps - some even in the coldest and wettest weather. It's taken me nearly 10 years to convince any of my old friends to wear something with a bit more style, and they are still at the Target trilby and cheap cotton flat cap stage. So, maybe there is a sort of generational gap. All the more reason for those of with fedoras to get out and represent!

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:26 am

My take on the uptick in fedora wearing is a merging of the metrosexual aesthetic of 10 years ago with the more recent hipster/retro aesthetic resulting in guys who want to dress sharp with a retro vibe.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Post by **Michaelson** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 7:58 am

....that, and maybe the fact they're realizing their head is no longer cold in winter when wearing a hat? Hummm?

Regard! M

Dr. Woolley · Post by **Dr. Woolley** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:48 am

These are all good points. To start, I like the looks of a hat. But there is the practical aspect of warmth and keeping you dry. Or, the big one, for those of us with fair skin, it's sun protection for crying out loud. Why slather yourself with chemicals when you can pop on a lid?

This is a true story. When I first moved to Pittsburgh, I was waiting for a bus and it was raining like all get out. I was wearing my Akubra Fed and minding my own business. This guy beside me says "What are you supposed to be? A cowboy?" I look over and he is wearing a suit and a turned over, brown paper grocery bag (a "poke" for us Michaelson)on his head. I said "What are you supposed to be?" That was the start of my Pittsburgh adventure. Someone help me!

On another note, my son is into horses and for his horse show I wore my Open Road (for sun protection and it is a sweet hat). My son said later, "Why don't you were that hat everyday?" Good question, boy. But, then, we were in Ohio.

Thanks for the input everybody.

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:03 am

Had a very similar experience in grad school. I wear an 'Elmer Fudd' hat when the weather is really cold and I need ear protection. I was walking across campus 'flaps down' and from next to me I hear in a derisive tone, "Nice &%!@*($-ing hat." I look over to see a guy walking next to me, hatless, with his ears red as a fire engine. I said, "Um, my ears are warm." He looked confused for a second, then very sheepish and said, "Yeah, you're right about that."

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Post by **Michaelson** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:02 am

Sometimes it's the obvious that escapes people until you point it out to them. The old 'can't see the forest for the trees' syndrome.

My personal favorite response to anyone (and it's been YEARS since I've been able to use it) who says 'who do you think you are? Indiana Jones?" is to just give them a blank look, and say 'who?'.....then wait for a reply.

The reaction is priceless.

For the past few years I've just heard myself referred to as the 'old guy with the hat and handlebar moustache'....... as recently as last Sunday a little girl pointed at me, then yelled to her Mom, 'look at that guys moustache!!" They don't even notice I'm wearing a hat anymore.

Regards! M

youngjedi71 · Post by **youngjedi71** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:39 am

What i find sad is in our world today..people can have gauges in their ears making them the size of saucers..bones through their noses..studs all over their faces..earings covering their ears,tattoos from head to toe,hair every color of the rainbow..BUT yet, someone wears a freaking fedora and all of a sudden THEY are freaks..LOL..gotta love humans sometimes..ignorant bunch of dips..

rogera · Post by **rogera** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:42 pm

youngjedi71 wrote:What i find sad is in our world today..people can have gauges in their ears making them the size of saucers..bones through their noses..studs all over their faces..earings covering their ears,tattoos from head to toe,hair every color of the rainbow..BUT yet, someone wears a freaking fedora and all of a sudden THEY are freaks..LOL..gotta love humans sometimes..ignorant bunch of dips..

Jacques · Post by **Jacques** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 4:56 pm

I'm glad to see fedoras popping up all over the place here, especially in the midwest where there's ballcaps and trucker hats aplenty. A couple of guys in my part of the office wear the more hipster-style fedoras almost daily, but they appreciate it when I wear my Fed IV Deluxe from time to time. I'm not wearing it much lately because I'm saving it for the Halloween costume party next week (geez, I wonder what I'm dressing as?

). But after that, my hat will make more frequent appearances.

Chewbacca Jones · Post by **Chewbacca Jones** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:48 pm

What I need is an excuse to wear my bowler out and about! Maybe my top hat at the grocery store. I could be unique again.

Youngjedi, I think you are very right, there. Once I had a handle on that, I stopped worrying about what others thought of my hats.

s7eng · Post by **s7eng** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:43 pm

I'm now a little sad that my day to go to the pumpkin festival was a bust. I live in southern Ohio and I'm known as the guy that wears the hat.

Post by **Michaelson** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:00 am

Well, somebody had to pick up the torch after WE left the area.

Keep up the good work!

Regards! Michaelson

micsteam · Post by **micsteam** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 3:09 pm

I wear my Adventurebilt Raiders as often as I can, I wanted a real Raiders fedora since I was 8 when I saw the movie. I also wear the hat as an homage to the my Grandparents/WWII generation and their memory. Oh I think I'll be purchasing another 10-20 fedoras in the next decade thanks to this forum and everybody's input.

Dr. Woolley · Post by **Dr. Woolley** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:43 pm

s7eng, It is the Pumpkin SHOW, not Festival

. That mistake will get you labeled an "outlander" and not in the romantic, tv show way.

Glenville86 · Post by **Glenville86** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 2:54 pm

Where I am working for the government, we have older workers for the most part who wear a decent hat when Fall and Winter rolls around. Not everyone but more than in the past. I had an Indy fedora years ago and got joked with when I wore it. Went back to caps for the most part. When I hit 50 a couple years ago, I bought some fedora hats again and have noticed that nobody seems to really care what older guys wear. Was wearing a Stetson hat (sort of a crossover type) one day when it was raining and some guy said "howdy" to me but that it for any negative comments.

s7eng · Post by **s7eng** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 3:54 pm

Thanks Dr. Woolley! I'll make note of that for next year. And I will as always be sporting one of my lids.

ChrisMD · Post by **ChrisMD** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:07 am

Quite a few cowboy hats out here in the wild west but mostly those typical straw rodeo hats by Resistol. A few wool hats when it is cold. I'm up to 3 cowboy hats now but I definitely will wear my Garrison again this winter. We are now in the low 30s at night and warm during the day so I can't wait to wear it around again. Nobody really says anything to anybody out here because a guy in a fedora is just not that out of the ordinary because of the all the strange mountain men walking about town stocking up on whatever they stock up on before winter. Some strange characters in some stranger headwear!!!! My ONLY drawback to a hat larger than a baseball cap is where to put it indoors depending on where I an. I don't wear hats indoors really except for cowboy hats and with that you need to follow the rules specific to cowboy hats.