Did they really punch out their straw hats at the end of the season?

[scotrace]

From Shorpy (http://www.shorpy.com/node/6515?size=_original), exhibit A:

http://mysite.verizon.net/respd8l2/hat.jpg

[RBH]

I can remember my grand father telling of throwing the straw hats into the threshing machine [and later the combine] when farming was done for the fall.

[feltfan]

That gives HarpPlayerGene another couple of months before
he is obligated to do the right thing.

[Marc Chevalier]

Why did folks hate their straw hats so much?


.

[Fletch]

Maybe they were so el flimso they were already coming apart by late August.

[Hemingway Jones]

Or filthy dirty.

[RBH]

This commentary tells it from a farming standpoint.
Pretty neat story.

http://whatsundermyhat.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/wheat-harvest-09/

[thunderw21]

Perhaps a ceremony to mark the changing of time and season?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a story in my February 1929 National Retail Clothier Magazine of men 'sacrificing' their felt hats on a fiery alter before parading through town for National Straw Hat Day. Retire the old, bring in the new.

Could it be the same thing only with straws?

[Dewhurst]

What, were these people rich or something?

I willingly revolt against "traditions" like this.

[johnnycanuck]

If the Boater hat (I take it we are talking about boaters) was as cheep as the new straw fedoras Wal-mart offers I could not see why anyone wouldn't punch a hole in it and buy a new one the next year. Just a thought.
Johnny

[HarpPlayerGene]

That gives HarpPlayerGene another couple of months before
he is obligated to do the right thing.

:eek:


lol

[Mr. Lucky]

This commentary tells it from a farming standpoint.
Pretty neat story.

http://whatsundermyhat.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/wheat-harvest-09/
What a GREAT story! Thanks, Rusty.

[Dewhurst]

If the Boater hat (I take it we are talking about boaters) was as cheep as the new straw fedoras Wal-mart offers I could not see why anyone wouldn't punch a hole in it and buy a new one the next year. Just a thought.
Johnny


So, they weren't rich, they were masochists who were only too happy to destroy the object of their pain!

[Doctor Strange]

My dad, who grew up in NYC in the 20s (he turns 90 next month!), told me about this many times. It was a tradition on Felt Hat Day, September 15, to put your fist through your straw hat and break out your cool-weather felt. He saw it done plenty.

Of course, you could buy a decent new hat for a dollar or two then - a very different situation than today, even accounting for inflation!

[winston]

These people worked hard in their hats. I doubt if they were fit for use come next spring/summer, and I doubt if they cost much to begin with.

[Feraud]

I applaud the marketing guy who made up that "tradition".
;)

[Carlisle Blues]

Looks like it was run over.....[huh] [huh] [huh]

[Lefty]

Sometimes, they kicked through the crown.

http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/images2/33/t4/27456.jpg

There were, of course, other options.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk14/erikandgina/Not%20hats%20but%20close/strawhatcleaner1903.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk14/erikandgina/Not%20hats%20but%20close/strawhatbleacher1860s.jpg

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk14/erikandgina/Not%20hats%20but%20close/Strawhatdyekitn.jpg

[Feraud]

It is interesting to see a jet black coloring product for straw hats.

[Brad Bowers]

http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/images2/33/t4/27456.jpg



Man, those Giant Boaters were everywhere back then!

Brad

[Marc Chevalier]

It is interesting to see a jet black coloring product for straw hats.




Very occasionally, jet black vintage straw boaters appear on eBay.



.

[thunderw21]

:offtopic:

I wonder, where did the term "jet black" come from?
I always assumed it referred to jet aircraft but since that coloring product predates modern jet aircraft my theory (assumption) is shot down.

[Feraud]

I think jet black refers to the bead.

[Torpedo]

I think jet black refers to the bead.

That is how I understand it, too.

[Marc Chevalier]

I wonder, where did the term "jet black" come from?




"Jet" entered English in the 14th century, adopted from the Old French "jaiet." The French form was drawn ultimately from the Greek "gagates," meaning "stone from Gagae," a town in Asia Minor. The "stone" that gave its name to "jet" was actually a black form of lignite coal, very hard and glossy, commonly used for buttons and ornaments. "Jet" in English originally referred to the material "jet" itself, but by the mid-15th century "jet" or "jet black" was being used to denote the deep, glossy black of the coal.


.

[thunderw21]

Makes sense.

[dnjan]

These people worked hard in their hats. I doubt if they were fit for use come next spring/summer, and I doubt if they cost much to begin with.
their wives probably didn't want those filthy, sweaty things in the closet all winter ...

[Marc Chevalier]

their wives probably didn't want those filthy, sweaty things in the closet all winter ...



It was bad enough to have their filthy, sweaty owners in bed all winter ...



;)

.

[RBH]

This type of straw would have been worn by the rural man in the south, west, east and north .
I would be certain if finances allowed they would have had a 'dress' straw for special occasions.


From 1937 Miami Oklahoma

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/3781/harvest.jpg


and from 1945 Ada Oklahoma


http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5226/harvest45.jpg

And from 1944 in New York [cut from a large Montgomery Ward ad]


http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/6326/newyork44.jpg

[Midwest Boater]

for many years ive worn hats ranging from $10 - 40 USD very summer and even the nice ones when i got them out and ready to use in the spring had to be replaced , i may as well of been punching them out or tossing them into a thresher . now i have a nice brooks brothers boater that i would never treat like that (i cringe at the thought) but my straws that i work in all summer better look out.