Stowing your Stetson at the Theater...Under Your Seat!

[jimmy the lid]

Just came across this 1950 Stetson ad and had to post it here:

I have never seen anything like this before. Does anyone know if, back in the day, it was common for theaters to have this kind of hat rack under the seat? Pretty darn fascinating!

Cheers,
JtL

 

[bolthead]

WoW......

That's Awesome.....:eusa_clap
What a fantastic idea, how the heck did you come across that ad Jimmy?

 

[jec]

The Troy Music Hall in Troy NY has wire shelves under the old seats that are clearly intended for hats. It was very cool to see, once I realized what they were.

 

[AlanC]

It's amazing what a large part of our culture we've lost.

Just check for chewing gum before stashing that hat!

 

[patrick1987]

I go to an old theatre that has a cloakroom so no wires under the seats for hats.
Were the wires vandalized in any way, jecoe, or intact?

 

[jec]

I only saw the few seats immediately around ours, but the wire hat holders under the seats in that section of the parquet at the Troy Music Hall seemed to be perfectly intact. I'll be more on the lookout next time I am in an older venue like the Music Hall. We have several others in the region.

Jim

 

[jimmy the lid]

The Troy Music Hall in Troy NY has wire shelves under the old seats that are clearly intended for hats. It was very cool to see, once I realized what they were.

Good to hear from someone who has witnessed these live and in person. I, too, will be on the lookout for these wires from here on out. Yet another measure of the degree to which hats were so ubiquitous back in the day. Very cool.

Bolt -- I just happened across that ad on the 'Bay... At first, I wasn't sure whether the wire rack was a contrivance dreamed up for the ad, or whether the ad reflected something that was actually in existence decades ago. Guess we have our answer!

Cheers,
JtL

 

[patrick1987]

I only saw the few seats immediately around ours, but the wire hat holders under the seats in that section of the parquet at the Troy Music Hall seemed to be perfectly intact. I'll be more on the lookout next time I am in an older venue like the Music Hall. We have several others in the region.

Jim

Thanks for the info. So it looks like a nice place like that didn't have a cloakroom would have hat-holders. Very interesting aspect of the past.

 

[jec]

When I have been in these older venues I have always just parked my hat on my lap, or on the adjacent seat, if vacant. Since attending that last concert at the Music Hall - when I noticed the wire holders under the seats - I will now check around first, to see if there is are dedicated hat holders with each seat.

I do not recall whether the Music Hall has a cloak room, but I think not - which would, indeed, explain why they needed the underseat hat holders.
The auditorium at Troy is upstairs a couple of flights from a bank. Apparently, this was a common way of financing a nice music venue in the old days. Nearby in the smaller Hudson River city of Cohoes there is a comparable auditorium/theater -- also upstairs on an old 19th century bank building. I suspect there might have been the same kind of hat racks there, too. I will look next time I am there.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Here's a link to a similar rack for your car.


Lee

 

[Boxerken]

My uncle was a Ky State Trooper and I remember he had something like that and it hooked over the back of the seat and it held his hat. I wonder if someone still makes those?

 

[jec]

I've got a similar kind of hat holder that mounts with suction cups to the back /side window of Subaru wagon .

http://www.sheplers.com/hats/hat_accessories_care/101480.html

It works well to keep my hat from getting crushed in the car, or from rolling around, since I try to keep it off its brim. The wire rack is designed for wide-brimmed hats. I have not tried it with a brim narrower than 2 3/4" but I assume it would work fine with most fedoras.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I've got a similar kind of hat holder that mounts with suction cups to the back /side window of Subaru wagon .

http://www.sheplers.com/hats/hat_accessories_care/101480.html

It works well to keep my hat from getting crushed in the car, or from rolling around, since I try to keep it off its brim. The wire rack is designed for wide-brimmed hats. I have not tried it with a brim narrower than 2 3/4" but I assume it would work fine with most fedoras.

That's the one I'd seen years ago!


Lee

 

[feltfan]

A few years back I almost bought a set of theater
seats like that for my home. They must have been fairly
common at one time. They would work better with stiff
hats (top hats and derbys) and let's hope no one put gum
under the seat.

 

[cookie]

http://www.horse.com/Riding-Apparel/Hats-Helmets/Cowboy-Hat-Holder-BRA60.html http://www.newmancreative.com.au/~mcdonsad/product_list.php?subcategory=73

 

[J.B.]

It's amazing what a large part of our culture we've lost.

Just check for chewing gum before stashing that hat!

Now you're thinking vintage! It looks like the old Cascade Theatre in 1935 Redding, California actually hired a kid to remove the gum.

"...All three of the children would later work in the theater, Barbara as a cashier, the boys in various capacities. Ray recalls one of his first assignments was to scrape gum from beneath the seats so that the hats placed by male patrons in the wire holders under the seats wouldn’t become soiled..."

These racks may have been pretty common?! There's a reference to them at a site remembering Newark's 3rd Ward Yiddish Theatre in The Depression...

" The orchestra patrons, he recalled came 'dressed to kill' -- the men in business suits, shirts and ties, and all wearing a hat. There were wire hat-holders under the fold-up seats."

 

[jimmy the lid]

Great stuff, J.B.!

Cheers,
JtL

 

[YARVTON]

Hats at the Theatre

Thank Heavens for the teeny-tiny lockers at Lincoln Center!

 

[Dinerman]

Not quite as cool, but check out the hat/purse/parcel racks underneath the counters at these two places in DC. (they were both probably once part of the same local chain, so they're very similar)

Ollie's Trolley- 12th St. NW

Waffle Shop- 10th St. NW

 

[C.K.Farnsworth]

2 examples in Southern California

1) the Pasadena library has a small recital hall that I have sung in. The seats were actually salvaged from an old theater in Pasadena though the recital hall as well as other buildings of the library complex date back to at least the year of the seats. http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/Library/brief-history.asp

2) Mckinley middle school. A school built in the 1920's with a theater that rivals some small colleges. It has a balcony and an elaborate stage and hat racks under the audience seats. Sorry no pics or links for it though.