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"Rules" for newsboy caps use?

Pat_H

Pat_H

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Feraud said:
Look for films where there are real working men characters.
I can recall a James Cagney picture where he wears a cap with a double breasted suit. Could it be The Roaring 20s?
See films like Tomorrow, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, etc. etc.
Click to expand...

The central protagonist in The Informer, John Ford's early 30s film about an IRA informer, wears a newsboy, as do other characters in the movie. Victor McLaglen plays that character, Gypo Nolan, who probably has a newsboy in every scene. The film's is a newsboy tour de force, with a lot of characters wearing them, although the leader of the IRA unit is depicted wearing a Fedora, suit and trench coat (disclaimer, I'm mentioning this movie as a movie, not as a political endorsement or anything).

Ford's second Irish film, The Quiet Man, is also a newsboy tour de force. Both films are set, I think, in the 1920s, but the first film was filmed in 1935, so it wasn't really recalling an earlier era. I understand this question to relate to contemporary depictions of newsboys, say pre 1950 or so?
 
shortbow

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That was an interesting point about the US probably being somewhat different than Europe vis a vis the class and cap thing. As far as I know, the cap was always the thing for sporting use (try for a high bird in a brimmed hat) over there.

Prince Charles was wearing one in a news item I saw last nite about his opposition to GM foods.
 
Lefty

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Brian Sheridan said:
anyone have instances where they were worn in a movie or screen caps (other than LEATHERHEADS or THE GREAT GATSBY)?
Click to expand...

cinderellaman_jim_215.gif
 
Feraud

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I think looking at pictures of real people wearing clothes are better than film.
In these pics you can see caps scattered throughout.
DSC05517.jpg

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DSC05526.jpg

This is a particularly good one
DSC05528.jpg
 
T

The Wingnut

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Rules? We don't need...rules.

Use discretion. Match material(not necessarily patterns), color schemes. One of the sharpest looks I've ever seen was on a friend wearing a navy blazer, cream flannel pants, white bucks and a cream linen flat cap(newsboy is a bit of a misnomer). He wouldn't have looked anywhere near as distinct with a fedora.
 
shortbow

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Feraud, those are extremely interesting photos. It would be great to know more about the time frame/context in which they were taken.

And, you are so right about looking to movies for authenticity. I am woefully ignorant about golden era style et al, but I do know something about Western American history, and I have yet to see Western flic that gets it right in terms of dress and accouterments, and in most cases, especially until very recently, they get just about EVERYTHING wrong.

So for styles of the first half of the Twentieth century, give me photographs, every time.
 
Pat_H

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Great photos.

Feraud, great set of photos.

An interesting thing about newsboys is that, even though they've really declined in general use, they've never become dated at any time. Fedoras (which I really like) have hung on, but depending on where you are, they can appear dated until people get used to them. Some types of Fedoras (stubby brims, for example) really appear dated in some areas.

Not sure why that is, other than that caps are easy to wear and pack, and so they keep on keeping on.
 
Feraud

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shortbow said:
Feraud, those are extremely interesting photos. It would be great to know more about the time frame/context in which they were taken.
Click to expand...
Those are depression era photos from an old book I have on the shelf. I will try to pin down the date and title.
 
shortbow

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Thanks much Feraud. The depression makes sense, but for that one pic with the Yank, Brit and French flags flying from the buildings. I'd take that for 'Teens or early Twenties if I didn't know better.
 
Lefty

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Another one of the many things that I've picked up from Debbie Henderson's Hat Talk book is that, while caps started off as a "democratic" hat (much like derbies, they were initially worn by all classes), they soon became representative of hard-line unionists. The phrase "cloth-cap mentality" was coined to describe the thinking of these socialist types.

Sefton said:
arsenytarkovsky1939pl5.jpg
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Click to expand...
 
Edward

Edward

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Pat_H said:
The central protagonist in The Informer, John Ford's early 30s film about an IRA informer, wears a newsboy, as do other characters in the movie. Victor McLaglen plays that character, Gypo Nolan, who probably has a newsboy in every scene. The film's is a newsboy tour de force, with a lot of characters wearing them, although the leader of the IRA unit is depicted wearing a Fedora, suit and trench coat (disclaimer, I'm mentioning this movie as a movie, not as a political endorsement or anything).

Ford's second Irish film, The Quiet Man, is also a newsboy tour de force. Both films are set, I think, in the 1920s, but the first film was filmed in 1935, so it wasn't really recalling an earlier era. I understand this question to relate to contemporary depictions of newsboys, say pre 1950 or so?
Click to expand...

I have in my time studied early 20th Century Irish history in some depth (especially the 1912-23 period), and having seem a lot of period photos of IRA units etc, that seems fairly accurate. Another one which does it well was The Wind that Shakes The Barley, a Mike Leigh film from a couple of years ago which centred on two brothers involved in the IRA from about 1919 onwards - reaction to the Black and Tans, the War of Independence, and taking separate sides on the Civil War. Fictional story, but based on the real experiences of many. Some fantastic period clothing in that - oh, and see also Michael Jordan's Michael Collins.

Of course, the IRA of that period, being guerilla fighters, wore regular civilian clothing of the time... the working class boys that were typically the men on the ground were cap wearers pretty much, while the more well to do officer types would often wear a brimmed hat (Michael Collins is well known for having sported hombergs). Bear in mind also the practicality - out on manouevres in the hills of Ireland it can get very windy, so a cap makes all sorts of sense from that perspective. The (stereo)typical picture of the 20s IRA man in long coat and flat cap isn't that far off.

ETA: I'm sure I remember Warren Beatty(?) wearing a flatcap for most of Bonnie and Clyde....
 
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