When did young people stop wearing hats?

Atterbury Dodd · May 13, 2006

Hello,
Something I have wondered for some time, when did young people stop wearing hats and what was the leading factor for the style change? From what I have seen of pictures it would seem to be the late forties and fifties that they went out.

Any answers are appreciated,
Atterbury Dodd

Hannigan Reilly · May 13, 2006

Kennedy was the first president who went about hatless, I believe. He ushered in the dawn of the age of casual. Now we have velour track suits.:rage:

As for young people- had to have been early to mid 1950's. Just a guess.

Doh! · May 14, 2006

I would guess the '50s as well. That's about the time teenagers finally started really dressing differently than their parents (blue jeans, T-shirts). If you look at photos before that era, kids pretty much looked like miniature adults; same style of clothing, only shorter.

Magus · May 14, 2006

Hannigan Reilly said:
Kennedy was the first president who went about hatless, I believe. He ushered in the dawn of the age of casual. Now we have velour track suits.:rage:

As for young people- had to have been early to mid 1950's. Just a guess.

And ball caps worn in what I refer to as the "intelligence meter" style. Basically it is as follows:

Bill forward...normal intelligence

Bill Straight backward...sub par intelligence (unless the are a catcher on a baseball team)

Straight sideways...complete moron.
There is a sliding scale of stupidity as the bill moves degrees closer to straight out sideways.

Dixon Cannon · May 14, 2006

My mission

I'm on a mission to get the world out of ball caps! I've got my grandson in a Mallory and his dad in a Dobbs. I'm off to a good start! Two down - now on to Travis Barker!!! -dixon cannon

Solid Citizen · May 14, 2006

Old College Yearbooks!

I like to collect old colllege yearbooks circa 1946-1949 as they
show what people "REALLY" wore during that period.

A copy of the Iowa State 1949 yearbook shows a large two page photo
spread of the crowd at a big Fall football game & I can tell you at
least 95%+ of the crowd are "NOT"

eek: ) wearing any kind of headgear.

Group & candid photos in other books of this period bear this out.
While double breasted suits & swing ties were big, fedoras on campus
were definetly "gonesville"

eusa_doh: )

SC

PS Appears to be a big fashion difference of what was worn on campus
vs. what was worn on "Mian Street" during that period!

Strider · May 14, 2006

I was thinking more along the lines of the late 50's to early 60's. The 60's was a really rebellious period, but men who were from the previous generation still wore hats. It was the kids who were crying "tune in, turn on, drop out". That's my best guess.

Michael Mallory · May 14, 2006

When I was a kid in the late 50s and early 60s, I don't recall anyone other than me really interested in hats. In addition to John Kennedy, who eschewed hats, what really drove the stake through the haberdashery heart were the longer hairstyles of the 1960s. After the Beatles came in and young people starting wearing long hair and bangs, hats went out the window (at least until the 70s, when derbies and leather top hats were popular among the counter-culture crowd). If you have long hair and try to wear a fedora, you look much more like Moe Howard than Humphrey Bogart.

Solid Citizen · May 14, 2006

Late 50's/60's Stingy Brims

IMO that whole era leaves me COLD :eusa_doh:

The stingy brim fedoras, 1 inch black ties, peg leg pants UGH

The "Cold War" look add a pocket protector to your short sleeve
shirt & you were in business (A slide ruler on your belt was optionall

)

sc

LolitaHaze · May 14, 2006

A passage from the 1945 version of Etiquette by Emily Post

"SHALL I WEAR A HAT?

Notwithstanding the continued practice of younger women to go hatless on all occation, best taste still exacts that in town a hat be worn with street clothes in the daytime--especially in church. (In many churches, head-covering is obligatory.) With an evening dreaa, a hat is incorrect; therefore a flower or ornament takes it place.
Although women in street clothes without hats are seen in our cities, the really well dressed woman wears one except when going into the dining room of her own hotel, particularly for breakfast. But when going to lunch in a restaurant a hat should be worn.
The older generation hostesses usually wear hats to lunch even in their own houses. It is always best. however, in each community to do what others do."

So it appears that even in the mid forties gals were no longer wearing hats.

Baron Kurtz · May 14, 2006

Apparel Arts in 1932 ran a long article about "go-without-ism". This was basically about young men who chose not to wear hats, ties and the like.

Being Apparel Arts they were mainly concerned with the sales of haberdashers, but it's interesting to note that they were worried about "youngsters" not wearing the appropriate head coverings in the early thirties.

Go-Without-ism was, of course, casually linked to communism, as was everything different in America from 1920 to date.

THE BALL CAP IS THE MODERN DAY FEDORA.

bk

Byrne Sherwood · May 14, 2006

I am guessing that the sweeping social changes that followed the depression and WWII had to be influential. A generation who had spent a few years in the military may have chafed at regimentation when returning to civilian life. Also, more people were able to afford cars and that meant less time in the elements, i.e. less need for a hat's protection. The advent of rock & roll and TV-the widespread dissemination of visual images seem likely to have been factors, too. Styles change and not necessarily for the better. It is somewhat ironic that these days the act of wearing a proper hat is an act of nonconformity. While I wish people were more into hats than ball caps in modern times, a vain side of me enjoys the uniqueness of being one of the few who appreciates a good hat.

Raindog · May 14, 2006

Baron Kurtz Said "The problem as i see it, is not when youth stopped wearing hats, but why it is a problem that they stopped wearing hats (it wasn't just youth, by the way, most "older" gents also stopped wearing hats during the 50s/60s)

Haha! For most people it ISN'T a problem Baron. But, in case you hadn't noticed, this is a forum for people who love hats and snazzy looking hats at that. So kids not wearing hats, or wearing the ubiquitous puke inducing baseball caps it's a matter of the gravest concern

Jeff.

Baron Kurtz · May 14, 2006

Agreed. Most people here, i think, would rather see more hats around. (If only because it would make the high-end hat market competitive, giving high quality felt hats at the price the average Joe like me can afford.) I enjoy hats as a purely aesthetic accoutrement. I have found the styles, brim widths etc. that suit my face, and am vain enough to think they look good on me. I don't particularly care what other people wear (or don't wear, more to the point).

I'm sure my one and only baseball cap would be puke-inducing. I only wear it to play football in the summer months, so it's faded, and badly sweat stained.

bk

p.s. I apologise for the sentence construction on the sentence you quoted from me. Abysmal. No excuses.

ledsled · May 14, 2006

Here's a book on the topic

I just got this book: "Hatless Jack, The President, the Fedora, and the History of an American Style" by Neil Steinberg, a Plume book, first printing December, 2004. I am sorry to say that I have not even read through the entire introduction yet, but it looks very promising. From what little I have read, it gives the popular reasons for the hat wearing decline as being JFK's hatless lush head of hair combined with Khrushchev wearing one during the worst of the cold war. Some other reasons were the American's becoming dependant on driving their own cars everywhere (rather than public transportation), thus being at the mercy of the height of the car's door and ceiling. I think they also mentioned GI's returning to civilian duty and perhaps not wanting to wear a hat, or that a hat was too warm or something like that.

The author of the book debunked some of the assumptions the above theories were based on, and eluded to a more in-depth explanation. Sorry I don't know those explanations yet! From what I've seen of this book, I think it's worth the price to find out.

Raindog · May 14, 2006

Your baseball cap is worn where it should be Baron. On the sports field doing its job:eusa_clap
Today I surveyed a beach full of people baking in the sun.....1 hat.....a slouchy canvas job. My mind reels at the skin destruction going on in front of my eyes.
And I'd agree that we are now the individualists when we wear our hats. I like that

Jeff.

Baron Kurtz · May 14, 2006

ledsled said:
I just got this book: "Hatless Jack, The President, the Fedora, and the History of an American Style" by Neil Steinberg, a Plume book, first printing December, 2004.

I've been meaning to read this one. Let us know what it's like ...

bk

Slicksuit · May 15, 2006

Fedoras were on the decline before JFK

I've read "Hatless Jack", and made a synopsis is a previous post in "Why fedora-wearing IS coming back in style" (4/6/06-Hat forum):
I have just recently finished the book Hatless Jack: The President, the Fedora, and the History of American Style. It was an interesting read, supporting some very good arguments about the forces that combined to erode hat-wearing among American men (cost of hats, comfort, individuality of personhood, hairstyles, etc.). He is very convincing that Kennedy did not kill hat wearing, but was simply a product of his time.

I doubt that fedoras will be worn in the way they were in the 1920's (the halcion of hat-wearing), but think that wearing one will become more acceptable in society. As much as I like hats, I wouldn't necessarily want to return to the time when wearing one was socially compulsatory, either. The afforementioned book notes that men were ridiculed, beat-up, and in some instances jailed for wearing a straw hat outside of the traditional May 15th thru Labor Day period.

Basically, Kennedy's generation was just playing out what was happening in the popular culture. Kennedy and his schoolmates never picked up the habit of wearing hats to the same degree that older generations had. I can pretty solidly state that fedora-wearing was on the decline from about 1930 onward. Whatever sources one comes across from the 1940's and 1950's that implores hat-wearing should be scrutinized...was it from a millinery or hat manufactuer? As the book says, hat manufacturers were desperate to fight the decline in hat wearing, and made ads to counter that.

As regards hat-wearing among G.I.s after WWII, it was a mixed lot. Some GI's had picked up the habit of wearing a hat along with their uniform, whereas others didn't want anything to do with a hat because they had to wear one in the service. The book states that surveys indicate that it had neither a positive nor negative effect.

The process of hats declining in popularity was gradual, and not caused by any one particular event or societal norm. It is more likely that a combination of several factors had the cumulative effect of making fedora-wearing less common.

Roger · May 15, 2006

Then there's the old wives tale that one goes bald by wearing a hat.lol

Baron Kurtz · May 15, 2006

Roger said:
Then there's the old wives tale that one goes bald by wearing a hat.lol

Only if you wear it indoors.

And one goes blind if ...

bk

When did young people stop wearing hats?

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