Restaurant Hat Issues

[bendingoak]

It's a continual problem...

I am not at all comfortable keeping my hat on when seated in a restaurant, or in a lot of other circumstances, My lap is probably out of the question for a relaxed meal, I have trouble enough keeping my napkin there.

The restaurant we frequent almost weekly has two sections, in the old section there is a (clearly visible) wall with coat hooks, but they aren't deep enough for hats. Fortunately there is an elbow-height partition with a platform top beside the booths where I can usually park mine. During the holiday season I've been known to scootch a poinsettia or whatever. The new section actually has posts with coat hooks between the booths. In general I've had a lot more luck with booths than tables, and we often request a booth when dining in other restaurants, they're used to the request and there's usually room on the seat if nowhere else.

We think of there being hat-checks everywhere back in the day, I'm old enough to remember them, but I was watching an old black-and-white movie with Jimmy Stewart years ago and he and another gent (whom I should remember) sat down at a booth in a nightclub and promptly put their hats up on a padded platform behind the seats. Apparently the hat-check thing wasn't universal.

John Penman of Penman hats had a small, wooden portable hat hook at one point that used bungee cord to attach to a chair back or whatever. By the time I saw it (and wanted one) he was no longer carrying it, but the Youtube video is still up, and it doesn't look like it would be impossible to make something of the sort. Every few years I'll think to do web searches to see if anyone has come up with anything better.

I'm re-working the design to make it even smaller and less expensive.

 

[Gromulus]

I'm re-working the design to make it even smaller and less expensive.

Great news John!
Please keep us informed.

 

[Bob Roberts]

When making reservations add one more to the party... for the hat.

 

[bendingoak]

You can sign up to my e mailer on my site. You can find it on my Welcomeage near the bottom.

 

[Brother cavefish]

My hats never touch the floor nor will i put them between my legs food could fall, if i have a booth i will put it in the corner, or on another chair

 

[Kuki]

How about a portable hat holder that you could hook to the table and keep the hat tucked under it? These patents are a source of inspiration!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MothPrey]

I'm re-working the design to make it even smaller and less expensive.

Good news.

I've done a few back-of-the-envelope drawings for one that would be based around a lanyard retractor rather than bungee cord... seated in a compartment so that the retractor itself is a replaceable component. This would be more compact and less hassle to store, they just reel themselves in... of course, you'd have to source some that are sturdy, long enough and strong enough, but there are a lot of them out there.

 

[MothPrey]

How about a portable hat holder that you could hook to the table and keep the hat tucked under it? These patents are a source of inspiration!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Police departments that wear "campaign" hats often use rigs like this in the cars.

Works fine for them with the very flat brims, or for cowboy hats that only curl up on the sides.. don't think it's going to be good for snap-brim fedoras or Aussie-style brims, which are getting more common even on cowboy hats.

 

[DesertDan]

If it is a typical fast food place where there is no place to set it I will usually just keep it on. However, if my grandson is with me I will leave it in the truck. The reason being is that he is six years old and I have raised him since he was born so he knows that wearing a hat at the table is "something that is just not done" so if I keep it on it absolutely drives him to distraction. Leaving it in the truck is easier on both of us.

 

[RJR]

I do the same,DD.

 

[H Weinstein]

If there's no safe, clean spot to rest a hat, I'd rather keep it on my head or go put it back in the car.
I don't think I'd want it on my lap to catch crumbs and spills. And I wouldn't want it to get knocked off an insecure resting place and onto the floor.

Sometimes ( * sigh * ) we just have to accept that it's tough to find a place to hang your hat in restaurants these days.

 

[jlw]

I hang it over one knee. It usually works fine unless at a very crowded table.

 

[Yesteryear]

Any time I get a window seat I hang my hat on the blind pulls, this usually works pretty good.

 

[RJR]

Heck of an idea,Yesteryear!.

 

[jkingrph]

Not comfortable with all hat or coat "checks." Stuff happens... "Keep your Kids and Hats close!"

Yes! I know one gentlemen that hung his hat on some hooks at the foyer in church and when the service was over it was gone.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Yes! I know one gentlemen that hung his hat on some hooks at the foyer in church and when the service was over it was gone.

"Nothings sacred..."

 

[dnjan]

Nice restaurants have a managers office. Tip the manager and bet you can have it sit in that office nice and safe until you are ready to pay the check.....

If it is a "nice restaurant", the manager should not accept a tip.
However, the person at the hostess station should be able to find a place for your hat.
After all, it isn't as if they have to find a place for 20 or 30 hats at the same time.
Probably one or two at best ...

 

[Mr. Pickett]

I realise there have been threads on similar issues, but never one regarding this particular problem.

Allow me to create a hypothetical scenario.

You're out and about, you're having a nice time. You agree with another person, or several, to go for a bite to eat. You head into a restaurant but notice there are no coat or hat stands. Perhaps you don't notice this, either way, you head to the table. You take off your coat/jacket and hang it on the back of the chair.

But wait. Dilemma. What do you do about your hat? All the other chairs at the table are occupied, so you can't place it on one of those. What do you do?

Is it a scenario like with a handbag, it has to be relegated to the floor?

Just want to know what fellow loungers do. I think that in the golden age, hat racks were provided, but I think this has become a thing of the past.

 

[hatsRme]

Greetings, Pickett, old sport! Here is one of the many threads already on the subject...

 

[Mr. Pickett]

Oh. Many thanks, HatsRme, should've looked a little harder.