Here is why there are so many tiny and so few large vintage hats

[hatsRme]

I rarely click on a click-bait subject, But when the title was
"Americans' Heads Getting Bigger In Size, Changing Shape, Anthropologists Say"
I couldn't resist. How many times has the discussion been had about why so many small size vintage hats still seem to be available, while there is such a dearth of larger ones.

Odd, this was online today, yet note the date of the article; 3/19/2013.

 

[MondoFW]

I've observed this as well, and I always wondered why there wasn't more of an abundance of sizes over 7 than under 7. My size is a 7, the gray area in my view.


Interestingly, I've heard that American GI's during WW2 were of smaller stature at the time, partly because they were the generation that grew up during the Depression, ergo they weren't as properly nourished as they could have been. Whether this is true or not, I see a lot of military clothing of the era in smaller sizes

 

[viclip]

Great find, we now have ineluctable proof of the truth of the fact asserted

 

[GHT]

"Americans' Heads Getting Bigger In Size, Changing Shape, Anthropologists Say.
I couldn't resist. How many times has the discussion been had about why so many small size vintage hats still seem to be available, while there is such a dearth of larger ones.

Am I missing something? Heads are getting bigger yet there are many small size vintage hats. Well surely they wouldn't be small size if heads had not got bigger.
And as the larger head is a recent phenomenon, you are not likely to have as many vintage large hats.
So the reason that there are so many smaller vintage hats is because in vintage times there were less big heads, apart from egoists, film stars & politicians.

 

[moontheloon]

if heads were smaller back then why would there be more size 7 hats in wonderful condition ?

wouldn't there be less ?

did they really make that many more size 7 than 7 3/8 ? ... I don't think so

this theory is flawed to me

 

[DOGMAN]

if heads were smaller back then why would there be more size 7 hats in wonderful condition ?

wouldn't there be less ?

did they really make that many more size 7 than 7 3/8 ? ... I don't think so

this theory is flawed to me

I believe the theory is true because there were so many small heads.I have a 1932 Ford pick up.At 6' I almost don't fit because back then not only were there heads smaller men were smaller in size.My wife who is 5' 4" fits perfect.

 

[moontheloon]

I believe the theory is true because there were so many small heads.I have a 1932 Ford pick up.At 6' I almost don't fit because back then not only were there heads smaller men were smaller in size.My wife who is 5' 4" fits perfect.

I'd love to get my hands on some old order sheets from a few stores to see what they were ordering and stocking the most

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Greetings All: Less vintage big size hats now, more small size hats?? How about the simple explanation...larger size hats got....”worn out”, as in wore more thus less available now. The fossil record has shown that Homo Sapien Sapien (us) cranial circumference, thus volumn, has increased in Geologic Time up to the present. Just a thought.
Be well. Bowen

 

[Jedwbpm]

At least at HatCo a medium is made on a size 7 1/8 block and a large on a 7 3/8 block. Medium at one time was the average size of a Mans head. Now large is the average size.

Jeff

 

[moehawk]

Avoiding click-bait is the only thing I'm taking away from this.

 

[viclip]

I'd love to get my hands on some old order sheets from a few stores to see what they were ordering and stocking the most

A while ago in a similar thread someone provided actual hat order figures from the 1920s on an industry-wide basis breaking down hats by size. Those figures bore out what I consider to be historically accurate, namely that men's head sizes were generally smaller back then. I wish I'd saved that thread to disk but alas ...

 

[LuvMyMan]

All very interesting...but none the less, for those that seek out super nice larger sized vintage, the "pickings" are slimmer then smaller hats (which seem to be in abundance) and the search for the next "gem" continues....if only someone would really invent an atomic reverse transducer to zap some of these size 6 1/2 sized hats up a few sizes....if only....lol!

 

[LuvMyMan]

Avoiding click-bait is the only thing I'm taking away from this.

Well now....lol!

 

[redlinerobert]

It's literally impossible for me to find vintage hats in my size - 7 5/8.

 

[Zombie_61]

If smaller hat sizes were more in demand in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, it would make sense that those sizes were produced in larger quantities than the less-requested larger sizes. Fewer large-sized hats then means fewer vintage large-sized hats now. It's just an off-the-top-of-my-head theory, but it could explain why we larger-headed folks are having difficulty finding vintage hats that fit us.

 

[robrinay]

Improvements in diet as time goes on is the main answer not evolution of larger heads as evolution takes a lot longer. Adult size is determined largely by diet prior to puberty. It’s a sad but extreme case but it’s borne out by the current news story of children allegedly imprisoned abused and starved by their parents in California.

 

[hatsRme]

It's literally impossible for me to find vintage hats in my size - 7 5/8.

NOT SO, my friend. It only SEEMS impossible, but takes longer. I'm a 7-3/4 -- 7-7/8 XLO... try finding that size.
I see you recently joined the Lounge. Be patient, keep looking.

 

[scottyrocks]

Makes perfect sense.

In a few decades, our offspring will look like this:

 

[hatsRme]

Makes perfect sense.

In a few decades, our offspring will look like this:

I have an in-law...

 

[suitedcboy]

A while ago in a similar thread someone provided actual hat order figures from the 1920s on an industry-wide basis breaking down hats by size. Those figures bore out what I consider to be historically accurate, namely that men's head sizes were generally smaller back then. I wish I'd saved that thread to disk but alas ...

I remember that discussion of maybe 10 years back on here but can't
find it. There were photos (or scans) of some hat invoices and it was heavy on 6 7/8 and 7 hats. There was some evidence presented, I think an article citing someone at a hat company, that their current
production was heavy in 7 1/8 and 7 1/4.