Why did men quit wearing hats ???

[akaBruno]

Fear of baldness?

Or did they lose the fear of melanoma?

Or better yet... did hats just get to expensive?

 

[Stoney]

There are quite a few opinions on that one. IMHO..I think is was due to longer hair in the 60s and 70s. With hair at just covering the ears length, most guys who wore hats ended up with a horrific case of hat head. Since their hair stuck out nearly horizontaly, with the hat on, they didn't look very cool with the hat on either.

 

[Feraud]

I believe the hat industry noted a decline in hat purchases in the 20s and 30s.
Read Hatless Jack by Steinberg for a good primer on the subject. Steinberg gives good evidence to dispel the notion that Kennedy went hatless to his inaguration and singlehandedly killed the hat.

 

[akaBruno]

My hair is long, and a hat helps eliminate a bad hair day. See Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider." Hippies wore hats.

I think that it was more of a rebellious thing. Not wanting to look like your father's Oldsmobile.

Maybe that's why Kennedy din't wear one. Did Nixon wear one?

BRUNO

 

[akaBruno]

Just thinkin...

If it was a hair thing... it was the Greaser Poof Top Elvis look in the '50's that did it.

 

[scotrace]

If you're really interested, get this book. It's cheap from several sources.

This has been covered heavily here. Hat wearing among men began to decline before World War One. By the thirties the hat industry was in a panic. Hat wearing by men was all but finished long before hair styles changed.

 

[scotrace]

Maybe that's why Kennedy din't wear one.

Yes, Kennedy did.

Did Nixon wear one?

Yes, Nixon wore one.

 

[Tomasso]

Hat wearing among men began to decline before World War One. By the thirties the hat industry was in a panic.

IMO, Henry Ford, by bringing the automobile to the people, killed the hat.

 

[Pat_H]

IMO, Henry Ford, by bringing the automobile to the people, killed the hat.

I'd guess there's a lot to that. People of prior eras, of all classes and occupations, spent quite a bit more time outdoors for one reason or another no matter what they did. Modern transportation means that a lot of people spend very little time outdoors, and they likely find a hat an encumbrance as a result.

 

[HDRnR]

For some reason its just not considered "cool" by the masses. But no one really thinks about it when an "old" person is wearing one. I had a bus driver in high school, big guy, he wore a cowboy hat and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My grandfather typically had on an OR either in felt or straw in the summer. I thought that was pretty cool also because not many people on the east coast wore them and it definitly set you apart. People would look at him like he just came out of a time machine. I have two of his OR's.

 

[DOUGLAS]

Let us see those ORs HDRnR. My Grand father also never left the house without a hat and I too thought it was very cool. I wish I had more of his.

 

[Feraud]

Technically speaking, many men still wear hats today. Baseball caps are very prevalent in society.
The common fedora of yesterday is the popular cap of today.

 

[Stoney]

Feraud

Ballcaps=Hats......Bite your tongue !lol

 

[Jerekson]

My hair is long, and a hat helps eliminate a bad hair day. See Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider." Hippies wore hats.

I think that it was more of a rebellious thing. Not wanting to look like your father's Oldsmobile.

Maybe that's why Kennedy din't wear one. Did Nixon wear one?

BRUNO

Yes, Nixon wore a very nice, Indy-looking hat ocassionaly.

 

[Martinis at 8]

Cary Grant.

However, I have noticed a resurgence in the wearing of Fedoras.

M8

 

[MattJH]

I have noticed a resurgence in the wearing of Fedoras.

Sometimes I think that I think that, but then I wonder if it's all in my head and that I'm just noticing them now because I never did before, being that I'm fairly new to fedoras. Kind of like when I purchased my Subaru Forester and suddenly noticed them all over the road, when before that I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee and noticed them all over the road, etc.

Bad analogy, but I think I illustrated what I mean.

 

[Martinis at 8]

Sometimes I think that I think that, but then I wonder if it's all in my head and that I'm just noticing them now because I never did before, being that I'm fairly new to fedoras. Kind of like when I purchased my Subaru Forester and suddenly noticed them all over the road, when before that I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee and noticed them all over the road, etc.

Bad analogy, but I think I illustrated when I mean.

I have thought the same myself, but then again, maybe we are just part of the trend.

 

[HDRnR]

Let us see those ORs HDRnR. My Grand father also never left the house without a hat and I too thought it was very cool. I wish I had more of his.

Once I figure all that out I will post them.

 

[Topper]

Well here is my theory....... ( 2 reasons)


1) Heated cars and trains. In olden days people walked more, as if they used transport cars e.t.c - they were not the all-coms you have today. If you went in a Train it would be a cold not heated carriage. So people still wore hats. Also the journeys were of often longer ( as slower transport) so you would hat to wrap up warmer- else get a cold, abe become ill.

With modern way of life, we have shorter journeys, travel in, and work in heated environments, thus we no longer have the need to wrap up very warmly unless it is cold (when it is snowing 90% of people wioll probably be wearing some form of headwear).


Hence the demise of the need of "headwear" to keep us warm.

2) Social protocol - Hats also have their function

Bowlers: Rememberence Day & City
Boater: Henley & Boating
Cap: Yachting, Cricket, Prep School!
Tweed Flat Cap: Shooting
Deerstalker: Hunting ( or Sherlock Holmes )!
Panama: Wimbledon, Lords Criclet
Balmoral: Highland Wear
Pith: Polo
Smoking Cap: At home
Silk Topper: White Tie & Weddings
Grey Topper: Royal Ascot
Gibus: Opera, Theatre

As we are nowdays limited to the old social functions, In olden days one had a hat a specific for a specific "function" rather than an select "occasion" - There is a lackness in upbringing these days that leftie liberal people frown on the old social graces. So people are not taught a specific "hat" goes, with a specific "dress code"

 

[HDRnR]

Another thing I've noticed progressing is the total lack of protection from the elements. I work in NYC and regularly see business men in the cold and the rain without an overcoat, hat, or umbrella. And its not like they are getting out of a cab and walking twenty feet into a building, they are walking long distances like this, some are in suits and some are casual. It was not like this twenty years ago, perhaps it has to do with the move to business casual.