"Take your hats off, you are indoors".

[Ed13]

If no hat check in a restaurant I will either place my hat on another chair if available or place it under my own chair if need be.

I will leave my hat on at an outdoor patio bar/restaurant. I think this is the only time it is accepatable to wear a hat while eating.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

there's always putting your hat under your chair at a table. There's enough room and unless you are constantly moving your chair for comfort, it won't be crushed.

 

[moustache]

I usually wear my hat indoors at shopping stores and in public places.But NOT restaurants or while eating.And always in private homes,etc.
Even occasionally at work as it compliments my manner of dress and also encourages some of my customers toward dressing nicer! But most of the aforementioned manners are straight on.
As for where to put my hat: If i cannot find a "secure"(i will not leave my Borsalinos with just anyone!)then i use my knee under the table with a clean hankerchief between the crown and table bottom.This keeps the hat clean from who knows what underneath and keeps the hat in my possession.
If a chair next to me is open,that works well too.

JD

PS--Even if one doesn't believe or want to take part in the National Anthem/flag salute,at least ALWAYS remove your hat to show respect.

 

[redavis001]

I was given to understand that in hallways or “common areas” according to Post a gentleman could retain his hat because carrying it may be crushed in a crowd. When entering a more private space like an office ect. Then it could be removed.

Davis

 

[fedoralover]

When it comes to eating out,

And you are in Rome, do as the Romans do. A lot of these types of things depends on where you are and what is common for that area. Where I live, it's so liberal nobody gives anyone a second glance or a rodents behind if you keep your hat on in an eating establishment.
What type of hat checking do they do at restaurants these days anyway? Here all they do is put it on a hat rack which is always located right next to the door. No way will I put my fedora in a spot where some goof ball is going to grab it as he walks out the door.
If there is a spot in a nearby chair that's not being used, I'll set it there. If not, it's staying on my head where it's safe from thieves, gravy stains, and falling bits of pepperoni off of my pizza.
Besides, I've seen plenty of vintage pictures of people eating in restaurants in "the day" where a lot the men still had their fedora's on. And you can find alot of pics where they had them off. Again, I think that it all depends on the circumstances when it comes to eating out.

fedoralover

 

[thetankw/ahat]

i believe the rule was if you were in a diner sort of place you kept your hat on as you would only be there a short while. if you were in a fine dining restaraunt you would remove it and check it at the coat room (along with your wife's fur coat.)

me? i just put it on the seat next to me on top of whatever coat i happen to be wearing. its usually me my mom and my dad anyway.

 

[Sefton]

I think leaving it your hat on while eating or drinking at a lunch counter or bar is probably O.K.(as was mentioned already,plenty of evidence of this in the past),but don't wear it while seated in a booth or at a table. Of course if it's a place where everyone else is wearing ball caps they obviously are casual enough to not have a dress code and I wouldn't worry too much about leaving the lid on.

 

[TaxMan1]

I tested these theory's last night as we went to Bern's in Tampa, FL, a fine and well-known(at least here) dining establishment. As I entered and removed my hat, I greated my parents. As we were being escorted to our table, we passed out waiter, who introduced himself. I asked if they had "hat check" and he said, "I'll take care of that for you, sir!". Took my hat, somewhere, and came back with a "claim cheque". I was going to put it on the chair next to me, as we were 5 at a table of 6, but this was fine. In retrospect, maybe I should have been more vigilant as to what he did with it, but it was a respectable restaurant..........?!

 

[scotrace]

Hat checking contributed to the hatless trend, in its way.
Hat check concessions were often sold to independant contractors. If you owned Chez Louis, and wanted a hat check in your restaurant, you would offer it to one of the companies that sprang up (or an individual) at a rather steep annual fee. The hat check concession, once it reached the break-even point, had the potential for fantastic profits. Good hat check girls could make a LOT of money.
The result was that such concessions popped up everywhere. Stop for a haircut, check your hat, pay the nickel. Get breakfast at a diner, pay the nickel. Lunch, pay the nickel. Out for dinner, pay again. Evening at the theatre? Again. Stop for a nightcap, another nickel. A fellow could get touched for 25c a day easily, and men began to feel somewhat fleeced, as the hat checks were quite aggressive and heaped shame on any fellow who either didn't check his hat or who failed to tip. $1.50 a week may sound like chump change to us now, but it was real money in 1930.
What we consider a sorely lacking convenience (the availability of a hat check in better restaurants) came to add to the feeling that wearing a hat everywhere was just a nuisance.

The reasons behind the decline in hat wearing were many. Probably one of the the very smallest factors was Mr. Kennedy and his ever-chilly noggin.

 

[Haversack]

I've also learned that the practice was to keep your hat on if eating at the counter in a diner or cafe and to take it off if seated at a table or booth. Fancier places, whether "white table cloth" or businessmens lunch spot would either have a hat check or have copious amounts of hat & coat hooks near the seats and stools.

About headgear on the table: Back when I was in the Army, it was a "buy-a-round" offense to put one's cover on the bar in just about every Officers' Club I belonged to.

Haversack.

 

[beaucaillou]

Hi all,

I looked around the inter-web and found this list of hat superstitions, most of them, as some of you mentioned, no doubt came about to deter bad hat-manners.

* A hat left on a bed is bad luck. You should expect a quarrel in the household before the day is over.
* Leaving a hat on a table is bad luck.
* Wearing a hat indoors will give you a headache.
* Putting a hat on backwards will bring bad luck, unless you go out right away and buy a new hat to reverse the luck.
* A bridegroom who forgets his hat for the wedding will turn into an unreliable husband.
* A lady putting on a gentleman's hat is waiting to be kissed.
* Women wearing hats in a church will be visited by ill-fortune.
* Wearing a hat this is too tight will cause hair loss.


Now how many of you are going to put your hat on backwards so you can make an excuse to go buy a new lid?? Wait, most of you don't need an excuse, do you?

site: http://www.csicop.org/superstition/index.html

 

[WEEGEE]

No excuse

beaucaillou

Now how many of you are going to put your hat on backwards so you can make an excuse to go buy a new lid?? Wait, most of you don't need an excuse, do you?

Don't need an excuse but it sure helps the cause.lol lol lol


On the topic. I have used my pocket square at times while at a restaurant

with no hat check/rack/hook to place my hat on under my chair.

 

[Twitch]

OK most of my going out consists of taking my Packard to classic car events. Usually there is casual restaurant adjacent that the goers patronize. I'll pop off my fedora and sit it on the table while I eat. The guys mostly don't remove their ball caps. Some with Panamas or planters hats do while some do not. At a more refined establishment it should be hats off in my opinion.

At the doctors office I remove it. In a place like a retail store I do not.

 

[jamespowers]

* A lady putting on a gentleman's hat is waiting to be kissed.
* Women wearing hats in a church will be visited by ill-fortune. site: http://www.csicop.org/superstition/index.html

I'll have to go home and kiss my wife.
That superstition about hats in church is just nuts. Women were once required to wear them in church while men were required to remove them (well, still are because I will tell them to remove them as an usher).

Regards,

J

 

[thetankw/ahat]

About headgear on the table: Back when I was in the Army, it was a "buy-a-round" offense to put one's cover on the bar in just about every Officers' Club I belonged to.

as it should be everywhere. of course i refrain from putting my hat on the table for fear of getting something on it and the getting that in my hair. i hate having to wash my hair all the time. shampoo is expensive.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Hi all,

I looked around the inter-web and found this list of hat superstitions, most of them, as some of you mentioned, no doubt came about to deter bad hat-manners.


* A lady putting on a gentleman's hat is waiting to be kissed.




site: http://www.csicop.org/superstition/index.html

Interesting, I lived in Denver years ago and it was said that a lady that put on a cowboys hat was committing to more than a kiss.

 

[Lancealot]

* Wearing a hat indoors will give you a headache.

My grandfather swears by this one. He can't stand to wear a hat indoors or even in a car.

 

[beaucaillou]

Interesting, I lived in Denver years ago and it was said that a lady that put on a cowboys hat was committing to more than a kiss.

Oh my! I do think cowboy hats get special rules. I know it's that way in Texas.

 

[redavis001]

In parts of East Texas in diffrent locations (places like bars rather than hospitals) touching another mans hat (such as to move it away from yourself at a bar) was cause for a fight. In fact a sure way to start a fight was to doff another mans hat on the dancefloor.

 

[beaucaillou]

Gentleman of style: Lyle Lovett.

fftopic:
"My John B. Stetson,
Was my only friend.
And we've stuck together
Through many a woman.

So if it's her you want,
I don't care about that.
You can have my girl
But don't touch my hat.

My mama told me:
'Son to be polite
Take your hat off
When you walk inside'...

...I wear a seven,
And you're out of order,
'Cause I can tell from here
You're a seven and a quarter."