Wearing hats: Then vs. now

[BlueTrain]

My father always wore a hat, except when working, when he wore a baseball cap. I never thought much about it then and I don't spend anytime thinking about it now, either. It was just so natural that you wouldn't have given it a second thought. It wasn't high fashion or anything like that. It was just what some men did. They wore hats. Others rarely did.

One of my uncles probably spent his entire life in "work clothes," meaning the matching twill outfits in gray or khaki from the department stores. But I have a photo of him in dress clothes without a jacket and wearing what looks like a straw or Panama hat. The photo was taken in 1943, I think.

My wife says her grandfather always wore a suit everyday, even after he had retired. He worked at a boys boarding school in Virginia. He apparently used to wear a straw boater hat in the summer and we have the hat. Unfortunately, it's on the small size and not in good shape, probably from being store in an attic for the last 40 or 50 years.

 

[scottyrocks]

I knew my grandfather in the latter part of his life, from the mid-1960s through his death in 1984. For most of that time he dressed in what a mature man of those times would wear - polyester or blend slacks, and a short sleeve button down, or collared pullover, and casual shoes.

If he wore a hat, it was a cloth 'fedora' of some sort - inexpensive, as my gm and gf were of fairly modest means.

But when they were young, this was normal going-out attire:

This had to be late 1938 to early 1939, as my mom, in this picture, was born in July 1936, and she looks to be 2 or 3 here.

But the point is that this was normal outing and socializing clothing for the time, at least for people in my gp's circles. And he was no millionaire. He was a hairdresser.

 

[BlueTrain]

The uncle I referred to above work in a railroad shop. My father was a truck driver. Yet my father, a faithful church goer, would wear his suit all day on Sunday, at least in the 1950s. Saturday was a workday for him.

 

[Redfokker]

The uncle I referred to above work in a railroad shop. My father was a truck driver. Yet my father, a faithful church goer, would wear his suit all day on Sunday, at least in the 1950s. Saturday was a workday for him.

I'm a railroad historian and am interested in your Uncle, what railroad? Any pictures?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Pretty common for extras in the UK to provide their own clothes, especially on smaller budget shoots. Actually, a lot of them are sought out because they own particular wardrobe - reenactors, and such.

Same here in the US. And if you want to be more than the occasional extra you have to have a SAG card.

 

[BlueTrain]

Alas! I can't do pictures and anyway, I don't have any of them in a railroad setting.

Three of my uncles, my grandfather and at least one or two cousins worked for the railroad, which at the time was the Virginian Railroad. They had a large facility in my hometown of Princeton, West Virginia. Around 1,000 men (maybe a few women) worked there. Except for one uncle who worked in Mullens, West Virginia, in the next county, they all worked in Princeton. They even built rolling stock there. At one time there was also a roundhouse there, although I believe the Virginian was an electrified line, with the power plant located somewhere in Virginia. Then they merged with the Norfolk & Western. Sometime in the 1970s, the railroad operations were moved to Roanoke and my hometown went to pieces. It's still a major crossroads, though, and now it's something like Breezewood, Pennsylvania.

My father never worked for the railroad. He worked for the 2nd largest employer in town, which was a laundry. That tells you something about how different things were before 1960. He spent his working life going through all the coal camps in that part of the state. Coal may or may not been king but it's what drove the economy. Coal camps were little shanty towns clustered around a mine entrance, usually with a company store. There was never anything romantic about coal camps.

 

[Frunobulax]

I did have a great article on Stewart and his hat....but it is now lost to me.
But I did run across this.
[the best scan I could get]

Cool interesting tidbit. Wonder where that hat is now?


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

John, Eric the Finn here; Wearing a hat then and now: Wearing a hat then was all the time-everyday. My grandfather had a work hat and a special hat. Twice a year the special hat would become the work hat. Pics show him having just about the same crease over the years.

After immigrating from Finland he owned a lumber and iron ore transport company and then headed off to WWII. After WWII he grew his business. The pics before and after WWII had him wearing a gray hat with a contrasting ribbon all the time. Never have I discovered a pic with him wearing a homburg or "fancy colored felt." My Grandmother said after he died that Walther believed that his hats should be gray and have a brim that could be tugged down in front. My conversations were before I too was interested in wearing fedoras. I do know that my Grandfather had owned Stetsons before and owned Whippets and other models. My Grandmother's fav hat, she remarked as such, was the hat he had before heading to Europe in WWII which was a Stetson Avenue in a green. (I have been very fortunate to have stumbled upon this model hat in a size to fit my head. I agree - I love the hat, not withstanding that liking it must be in the family). She said he took off a whole day and traveled down to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/ St.Paul) and purchased the hat and a top coat at a haberdashery. A very special occasion for a new immigrant and business owner and as told in family stories.

As to the details of crease and how the distance above the ear - the hats he wore in pics show them level in casual or at work pics and slightly tipped back for portraits with family or at gatherings. Crease - no way to know at this point.

I hope I have contributed to the conversation. I will follow and listen to others comment.

Best, Eric -

A pic of my grandfather and myself.

Best, Eric -

 

[hatophile]

A pic of my grandfather and myself.

Best, Eric -

Great pic Eric. I can see the resemblance.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I've been lucky enough to work on a few sets during shoots for HBO's Deadwood back a few years ago. My personal experience is that a lot depends on the actor and what the director wanted to go with. I'm not going to drop names but several of the "primary" cast members I worked with used their own hats. They yanked my personal hat that I wore the first day I was on set and stuck me with a hat from wardrobe for my FSITB (fuzzy stuff in the background) shots. A good friend of mine who played a substantial role in both Deadwood and Tombstone used his own hats and most of his own clothing in both.

Now that's too cool. I enjoyed Deadwood, but LOVE Tombstone, one of my all-time favourite movies. Would love to hear more!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Clear to see where your style comes from Eric. Great photo and bit of family history. Thanks for sharing!

 

[RJR]

Now that's too cool. I enjoyed Deadwood, but LOVE Tombstone, one of my all-time favourite movies. Would love to hear more!

+1

 

[Benzadmiral]

. . .
5) these were not precious vintage lids that they paid $500 for on eBay ... these were hats that they picked up at the local mens store for $10 or $15 dollars for the most part ... sometimes less ... not that this was not a large sum of money then ... especially since the common weekly income was something like $42.00 ... but these hats were not the coveted pieces of history that they are today and they were worn the way a hat is supposed to be worn ... like a pair of shoes
... all but just a few of my hats get worn and worn hard ... that's not to say I'm going to grab the pinch with fingers full of Buffalo wing sauce ... but I'm also not putting on white gloves to handle them and I may toss it on the couch when I get home or plop it on my sons head as if he is a coat rack. . . .

Back then, too, if your hat got seriously out of shape, you took it to a hat shop and had it cleaned, or reblocked and steamed back to life. There were loads of places to have that done. Now, we either have to do it at home, if we can, or send it to one of the few shops in the country (or to a custom hatter) who can do it. Knowing you can recover easily from your hat being sat on by somebody's kid gives you a certain confidence and peace of mind.

 

[Edward]

Same here in the US. And if you want to be more than the occasional extra you have to have a SAG card.

I'm not sure if there are any such limits in the UK in temrs of background extras, though I think to be a featured extra you have to be unionised.