Men Not Wearing Hats
You more than likely have photos of most of your male ancestors and they are wearing a hat. The wearing of some style of hat has been a must-wearing apparel for many years. A man didn’t think of leaving the house without a hat on. Look at the old movies and TV shows, even those of the 1950s and early 1960s, sure enough, every man had a hat. So why the change in this once had to have item.
Temperatures are controlled better in offices, businesses, shops and in automobiles. Plus many autos have less headroom compared to cars of the 1910s-1960s. This is true of buses and trains. Also, the changes in social stations in life are not as important as they were once held. Even the wearing of a certain hat style spoke of your social position.
Decades ago washing one’s hair was done maybe once a week, so by wearing a hat, less dust and dirt got into the man’s hair.
There were hat styles for every occasion and those changed over the decades. Of course, those in the military wear hats still today.
By the mid-1960s and into the 1970s individualism was the order of the day. Men began to reject the rule-bound world of hats, embracing anti-establishment afros, long flowing locks and blow-dryer hair.
In present times, the wearing of a baseball cap either with the brim out over the forehead or behind the head is done. In cold weather, a person might wear a knitted cap for protection.
So an interesting item to include in your family history. Note when you see less of your male ancestors wearing a hat. For my father, who served in the military for 30 years, once he retired in the early 1950s, he did not wear any hat as a civilian.
Photo: A Florida gentleman wearing his hat in 1946.
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< Return To Blog My dad always wore a hat. He always looked good. After he retired in the 90s, he started wearing his baseball cap more, but he'd put his nice hat on for certain occasions. He lamented the modern cars and their lack of hat room. It never occurred to me that it was old fashioned; I thought it was always appropriate.Sara N Martin 30/11/21
Good observation and your Dad did blame the headroom in cars.
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