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So when did the boater sink from popular wear?

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,081
Location
London, UK
Funnily enough, I've been considering one recently myself. I do have one that I picked up for costume purposes some years back (the Rocky Horror group I was performing with at the time did a couple of Cabaret numbers as an intro at some shows, and I took the Joel Gray part). It's probably the closest thing to the old school boaters - bought it in a fancy dress shop for GBP3.00. Perfectly serviceable as a hat, though I've never tried wearing it out as it's one of those 'one size fits all' affairs. From memory, that standard size is labelled as a 58, so it's just a *little* too big for me, possibly...
 

Brad Bowers

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,187
I've never seen a Boater on the street. I did see several out of towners at Levine's in StL buying them, but not wearing them. While I'm one of the few here in Wichita wearing a hat that isn't best described as a cowboy hat, I've still never seen a boater except in Barbershop quartet pictures. Living in NYC, you have the advantage in seeing more people quantity wise than I do, as well as seeing the more urbane (not sure that's the BEST word) of our population.

I usually wear one all summer. Next time I'm passing through Wichita and stop at a Dog-N-Shake, I'll give you a call so you can say you've seen at least one person wearing a Boater in Wichita.:)

Brad
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,370
Location
Norman Oklahoma
I usually wear one all summer. Next time I'm passing through Wichita and stop at a Dog-N-Shake, I'll give you a call so you can say you've seen at least one person wearing a Boater in Wichita.:)

Brad
Deal, I haven't been to Dog and Shake in a month or so. They put a Bionic Burger up by my house, so I'm on a once a month chili cheese fry diet.

Later
 

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
"Where the heck are you guys running into all these barbershop quartets? I'd love to see one in person."

I've performed in The Music Man a couple of times (in all modesty, I'm a great Mayor Schinn), and there's a quartet in that. Meredith Wilson gives them some nice music. Also, at Chautauqua there's an annual Barbershop Harmony concert, featuring members of what USED to be called the SPEBSQSA (the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America. It took me years to commit that to memory and I think it's a dirty trick of them to change the name to whatever it is now. :) ) as well as the Sweet Adelines (the female equivalent).
Seriously cornball, but more fun than a barrel of harmonizing monkeys.

Edit: The SBEBSQSA is now the Barbershop Harmony Society.
 
Last edited:

danofarlington

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,122
Location
Arlington, Virginia
This is a hat history question. Seeing that boaters were a common hot weather headgear item, when exactly did they end-up relegated to barber shop quartets? It seems comparable to when did the dinosaurs become extinct question. My guess is no one can exactly say, other than they simply did, sometime around 1931. '41? '51? Any thoughts? Special knowledge about this? Jump-in!

dean

They're still in style at Republican national conventions.
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,178
Location
Isle of Langerhan, NY
I've never seen a Boater on the street. I did see several out of towners at Levine's in StL buying them, but not wearing them. While I'm one of the few here in Wichita wearing a hat that isn't best described as a cowboy hat, I've still never seen a boater except in Barbershop quartet pictures. Living in NYC, you have the advantage in seeing more people quantity wise than I do, as well as seeing the more urbane (not sure that's the BEST word) of our population.

Despite the sheer quantity of people on the average NYC street, I can count the number of boaters Ive seen on regular plain ol' people, excluding the very random barbershop quartet street entertainers, on one (or no) finger(s).
 

The Wiser Hatter

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,765
Location
Louisville, Ky
As a Hat lover I plan on getting a Boater/Skimmer hat just to have one. Sort of like with the Derby hat as it was a very popular hat and everyone wore one during it heyday of popluarity. An hey would love to see the looks when I show up and O'Charleys with it on.
skimmer_hats.jpg



Here is a Barbershop clothing website that offers Boaters.:)
http://harmonyonstage.com/hats/strawhats.html
 

floatinjoe

Familiar Face
Messages
70
Location
Alexandria, VA
I've been wearing my boater on and off for years. My hat is a Brooks Brothers model that I picked up on ebay a few years back. It has an actual hat size (not like their current hats that are S, M, L...) and has a blue and red ribbon. From what I've been reading in this thread, it seems that a proper ribbon for it is black. I've often thought about switching out the ribbon, but never came up with a good color. I also have no idea as to where to get it done. Can people supply some guidance/insight to this?

Mike
 

Bernie Zack

One of the Regulars
Messages
214
Location
Sin City
As a Hat lover I plan on getting a Boater/Skimmer hat just to have one. Sort of like with the Derby hat as it was a very popular hat and everyone wore one during it heyday of popluarity. An hey would love to see the looks when I show up and O'Charleys with it on.
skimmer_hats.jpg



Here is a Barbershop clothing website that offers Boaters.:)
http://harmonyonstage.com/hats/strawhats.html

I'm with you on this one. Think I'll stroll on over to e-bay and pick one up. Since I started wearing hats, I've been seen on a regular basis with fedoras, a bowler, and flatcaps. I think folks around here might think I'm crazy if I DIDN'T show up this spring and summer with a boater!
 

Espee

Practically Family
Messages
548
Location
southern California
John Reynolds the guitar/banjo whiz wears one every so often. Being a slender guy, he looks good in light-colored clothes, so that might be a factor in his choice.
But I think he claimed his was a skimmer-- based on the width of the brim. Others disagree about that issue.
I remember ushers at Dodger Stadium wearing them, but I can't tell you whether my memory is stuck in 1968 or if they've been wearing them all along. Maybe it's a cyclical thing.
 

Warbaby

One Too Many
Messages
1,549
Location
The Wilds of Vancouver Island
While boaters aren't commonly seen on the streets (yet), there are a few of us eccentrics who regularly don them in the summer. Since they're pretty rigid, it can be a real challenge to find a vintage one that fits comfortably. I've had good luck getting one a tad larger than my normal size and putting a thin strip of closed-cell foam inside the band to better conform to my head. When they fit right they're actually pretty comfortable.

R_BoaterTrain.jpg

BTW, back in the day, the bands on boaters were usually striped and came in a wide variety of color combinations. College students often wore their school colors.
 

Bernie Zack

One of the Regulars
Messages
214
Location
Sin City
I'm with you on this one. Think I'll stroll on over to e-bay and pick one up. Since I started wearing hats, I've been seen on a regular basis with fedoras, a bowler, and flatcaps. I think folks around here might think I'm crazy if I DIDN'T show up this spring and summer with a boater!

Just bought a boater on e-bay, can't wait to get it! Hopefully this link works:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=320665213582

If not, I'll post pics when it comes in. At worst, how bad can it be for 25 bucks, right?
 

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