JFK remembrance and hats

[suitedcboy]

I'm in DFW extended metro area. Yesterday, on one of the many specials for this 50th tribute, the JFK kills hats thing surfaced once again. The commentator made the statement about JFK's lack of wearing hats seemed to have set the tone for men to cease wearing hats. Then they showed his appearance in Ft Worth the day before where he was presented with a Ft Worth Shady Oaks/Open Road style (I assume SO, they didn't say the name) and the very awkward moments when he would not try it on and even handed it back to the person presenting and said you try it (and he did). He then said they could see him wear it on Monday when he was back in D.C.

So now we might think Oswald really killed hats. JFK may have worn the hat on that Monday and re-started hats as part of our normal attire.

 

[job]

I think beatniks, Hippies, and a general changing of styles are why hats fell out of fashion. With the coming of rock and roll it gave the youth their own music and voice. The counter culture stylings were not of their father and mothers generation. Just a thought.

 

[John Galt]

I read that JFK stopped & bought a Cavenagh in Dallas that day per his Chauffeur. He apparently had a friend who was well-placed in the company

"Faint hat never won fair lady."

 

[TheDane]

I think beatniks, Hippies, and a general changing of styles are why hats fell out of fashion. With the coming of rock and roll it gave the youth their own music and voice. The counter culture stylings were not of their father and mothers generation. Just a thought.

+1

Powdered wigs, wooden clogs and smoking jackets (not tuxedos) have all been more or less rejected by (one of) the following generation(s). The list is endless - and fedoras are neither first nor last on that list. Some day people on "The Ball Cap Lounge" will complain about lack of style, class and beanies. The wonderful thing is, that no generation so far has been left without something lost to complain about

 

[suitedcboy]

I wasn't intending to start yet another thread about JFK killing hats but really was commenting on the hat that was never worn. If he was in the White house on Monday he may have donned that hat.
My point is that Lee Harvey Oswald may have changed the course of hats with his actions.

 

[RBH]

According to this the hat was a Stetson.

http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_ne...the-texas-hat-john-f-kennedy-would-never-wear

 

[TheDane]

My point is that Lee Harvey Oswald may have changed the course of hats with his actions.

But I don't understand the point. We've seen lots of pictures of JFK wearing hats, so the course of hats probably wasn't changed by the murder. JFK would probably have kept on wearing hats - just as he already did. The "JFK killed hats" myth has long ago been shot down as unhistorical.

 

[barrowjh]

I'll throw in with the generational thing. The post-war baby boom, proud of our locks, a generation that had never gone more than a day without washing our hair, blew off the need for 'old hat.' Now, with receding hair line, thinning hair, big bald spots - we do well to bring back 'old hat' rather than boldly showing off comb-overs, chrome-dome, carcinomas. We are a generation badly in need of hats but we don't know them, can't find them, don't know how to wear them. A few of us are working on improving but most don't know where to start.

 

[TheDane]

I'll throw in with the generational thing.

- and when I was a kid, people often washed their hair once every two or three weeks. In the cities, houses were heated with coal, which resulted in a "black rain" of greasy dust all over. If you didn't have a servant to wash your car, you would buy a dark one. Men had lots of good reasons to wear a hat - and women a hat or a scarf. A lot of things changed in the late 50s and the 60s (probably with a delay here in Europe) - among them, the many of the reasons to wear a hat.

The TV-commentor was probably born long after 1963, so he/she only had the myths to support the lines, he/she was hired to come up with. "JFK killed hats" is and always was just a myth.

 

[Edward]

I wasn't intending to start yet another thread about JFK killing hats but really was commenting on the hat that was never worn. If he was in the White house on Monday he may have donned that hat.
My point is that Lee Harvey Oswald may have changed the course of hats with his actions.

Oswald was just a patsy.

 

[TheDane]

Oswald was just a patsy.

A really fine and relevant contribution to a completely different thread - in a completely different forum!

 

[John Galt]

- and when I was a kid, people often washed their hair once every two or three weeks. In the cities, houses were heated with coal, which resulted in a "black rain" of greasy dust all over. If you didn't have a servant to wash your car, you would buy a dark one. Men had lots of good reasons to wear a hat - and women a hat or a scarf. A lot of things changed in the late 50s and the 60s (probably with a delay here in Europe) - among them, the many of the reasons to wear a hat.

The TV-commentor was probably born long after 1963, so he/she only had the myths to support the lines, he/she was hired to come up with. "JFK killed hats" is and always was just a myth.

The curator of the Portland hat museum also attributes the decline to better hair products, and hat stats show the decline preceded Kennedy by about a decade, so I agree with your premise. I think Kennedy was a product of his generation, but plainly one of the most visible non-hat wearer (generally - see above) of that generation. Incidentally, Kennedy wore a top hat at his inauguration - photos are not hard to find...


"Faint hat never won fair lady."

 

[Raider]

According to this the hat was a Stetson.

http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_ne...the-texas-hat-john-f-kennedy-would-never-wear

According to Joe and the website, it was a Peters Brothers made by his grandfather.

http://www.pbhats.com/private/PRESIDENTS/Default.htm

 

[RBH]

The hat in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum* is clearly a Stetson.

Just like is stated in the article on the Peters Brothers website I wonder where is the hat given to JFK by Joe's grand dad.


*the article shows a Stetson and states JFK Library and Museum

 

[Raider]

Wouldn't it be fun to try to and locate it!

 

[TheDane]

I think Kennedy was a product of his generation, but plainly one of the most visible non-hat wearer (generally - see above) of that generation.

As far as I understand, the problems in the industry started as early as around WWI - growing to a desperate situation around WWII. Kennedy actually had several hats, and there are quite a few photos of him, wearing hats:

Interesting thread on his Cavanagh hat(s)

 

[Tomasso]

I think beatniks, Hippies, and a general changing of styles are why hats fell out of fashion.

I would vote for the proliferation of the automobile as main reason for the decline of the hat.

 

[Kirk H.]

I'll throw in with the generational thing. The post-war baby boom, proud of our locks, a generation that had never gone more than a day without washing our hair, blew off the need for 'old hat.' Now, with receding hair line, thinning hair, big bald spots - we do well to bring back 'old hat' rather than boldly showing off comb-overs, chrome-dome, carcinomas. We are a generation badly in need of hats but we don't know them, can't find them, don't know how to wear them. A few of us are working on improving but most don't know where to start.

Well put Sir.

 

[TheDane]

Hippies, beatniks and post-war baby boomers were "sci-fi", when the decline started. Some very interesting hat history in this thread

 

[Raider]

I would vote for the proliferation of the automobile as main reason for the decline of the hat.

Yes....and heated workplaces.