My dad, and my granddads always wore hats — I don’t think they hardly ever left the house without their hats. In fact most men wore hats when I was a kid. And the women almost alway wore some kind of hat for any kind of dress-up occasion, like going to church.
When you look at old photos, or even watch old movies, most of the people are wearing hats, especially the men.
Today, you rarely see anyone wearing a hat — what changed? If you look through history books, it seems like hats have been around forever. I guess that makes sense if you think about it — it’s only natural that the first thing you shield from the elements or falling objects is your head.
I suppose there are other reasons, besides protection, that people wear hats — a fashion statement, to show association with a group, or maybe to show social status or class. Old pictures and movies seem to show upper class people wearing top hats and the lower classes wearing flat caps.
There has been all sorts of types or styles of hats that have been popular over the years, but why have they all mostly disappeared?
I obviously don’t know why people don’t wear hats like they used to — maybe its because things just change over time. But I’d guess it has something to do with the weather and better heating and air conditioning in our homes and offices. I’m sure one reason everyone had a hat was to keep their head warm. Today, if it’s cold out, you leave your heated office and go to your heated car, drive home and go into your heated house. For those few minutes (or seconds) you’re outside, most people don’t go to the trouble of wearing overcoats, gloves, and hats. Most people just kind of dress for room temperature, because they spend so little time out in the elements.
Another reason is probably what I mentioned before — the notion of social class. Years ago, social class was very important and people were expected to know their place. I’ve heard that maybe one of the good things about the World Wars was that they brought the social classes a bit closer and the focus shifted more to the individual rather than on their class. That’s probably when people’s dress as part of a distinct group stated to change.
Another reason, I think, is the modern cars. I remember in the mid to late 1950s cars coming out with smaller wheels and designs that made them lower (and supposedly “sleeker”) and I remember that my parents got one of the newer models and my dad took off his hat when he got in because the top of the car was so low, his hat wouldn’t fit.
So as I said, I really have no idea why hats aren’t popular, but it seems that, in general, clothing has become more casual over time and society seems to have accepted it — looking “respectable” was apparently more important in the past. I was looking at some old World Series pictures not long ago and it looks like every man in the stands was wearing suit and tie — and there were lots of hats. I’m trying to remember if I ever attended a baseball game and saw someone wearing a suit.
There’s an old saying, “Home is where you hang your hat.” Someone also said, A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat.
Maybe that’s where all the hats have gone….
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