What's a wind trolley?

[Marc Chevalier]

If I'm wearing a hat and it's windy, I'm taking the hat off. Wind trolleys are... dainty, totally unnecessary, impractical.

Yes! :eusa_clap

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[Prof Branestawm]

If I'm wearing a hat and it's windy, I'm taking the hat off. Wind trolleys are... dainty, totally unnecessary, impractical. Why would you go through the bother of unwrapping the wind trolley and pushing it through a button in your lapel if you can just take the hat off? An even better question -- what if you aren't wearing a shirt that has a button hole? It's 2007. The whole idea is outdated to me.

What if it's also tipping it down with rain?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

What if it's also tipping it down with rain?

Use an umbrella, stand under an awning, or stay indoors?

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[Snrbfshn]

Ya see, I think they got the trolley idea all wrong...

Sure it makes a neat accent ringing the brim, but engaged button-in-lapel, cord blowing off to the side, it looks pretty goofy.

I think having a safety belt for your hat is a great idea. I also think whoever dreamed it up blew it at the start. Surely the reaction of '30s-to-'50s guys when given the option for trolley was, like most of us, watch their hats take off down the street.

Why not attach the trolley cord to the inside of the hat at the back, with the cord wrapped around the inside of the sweatband and the button attached to a loop sewn into the liner at the top of the crown? That way, you could bring the cord down the back, inside your coat collar, hidden from view.

My guess is, it was never about function, anyway.

 

[Dinerman]

Does anybody remember the bit in "Duck Soup" where Harpo (I think it was Harpo, maybe it was chico, it's been a while since I've seen it) yo-yo's the Lemonade vendor's hat with the wind string?

 

[Spellflower]

For years, before realizing that what I really wanted was a fedora, I wore Minetonka Aussie style hats, which came with wind cords. My first one had two holes in the brim, just above the ears. The cord went around the back of the crown, and down through the holes. When I wasn't using it, I simply tucked it up inside the sweatband. When I wanted it, I'd simply pull it down around my chin. My second Minetonka, come to think of it, didn't come with a cord, merely two holes in the band, through which one could thread a cord. It was nice to conceal it a bit more, but it wasn't as functional, since the cord was just attached to the flimsy cloth sweat, not the leather hat.

My first fedora, a crushable wool Indy, didn't come with a wind cord, so I sewed one onto the sweatband, and tucked it under. It worked wonderfully on the deck of the small craft which took me around the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, the hat didn't stand up to the salt water as well as the cord stood up to the wind (sea + wool = stains).

I'm now considering adding a similar modification to my Akubra Federation, since its wide brim is prone to catching a breeze. I'll try to remember to post pics if I do.

Oh, and I do use the wind trolley on my Akubra Fedora. Dorky as it may be, it beats losing a hat. The last time I used it was when tiptoeing across a wall above an inlet of New York Harbor on my way to take photographs in an abandoned building. There would have been no way to recover my poor Fedora if it took a tumble into the drink, and that I just couldn't chance.

 

[Dinerman]

My italian hats (borsalinos and barbisio) have stretchy, elastic wind cords. My American hats have no elasticity.
Anyone else find this?

 

[XPLSV]

I've noticed the same thing and it crossed my mind that the age of the American hats might have caused a loss in elasticity--but perhaps it was never elastic in the first place.

I have considered using the wind trolley on a few occasions and found my lapel bottun hole to be sewed shut, as is the norm these days. I have thought to slice ip open but it have yet to do this with any of my coats/jackets.

 

[KY Gentleman]

I've only had a few hats that had a wind trolley and I never used them. I recently bought a Campdraft and promptly removed the trolley. It wasn't wrapped tightly enough, there was slack in the string, etc. It looks great without it.

 

[Stoney]

Being one who often works

aboard vessels.. I do use mine when I'm at the pier or arriving /departing the ship. I really don't care if anyone thinks it looks silly. Carrying the hat is not really an option if your hands are already full. The fact is that using the wind cord has saved more than one vintage hat from going into the harbor. I'll be the voice of opposition here and say that I think they are quite practical.

Dinerman,

I've noticed the same thing. The elastic cords seem to be predominately on the European hats.

 

[Wil Tam]

haven't .... yet

My Knox has one but the fit is spot on so it hasn't been necessary to use it, My Borsalino Como also has one, but since it's a perfect fit on my noggin... I'll try them on a really windy day and report back.

 

[Inusuit]

Yes, on a regular basis when I wear the one hat I own with a trolley. The wind does blow in Wyoming. The only custom hat I own was fitted to my head shape and, knock on wood, has never blown off. No so with other hats.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Sometimes.... though not often. I tend to put mine in the lapel when I'm worried about the hat going overboard. It's okay when on land, though on ship I get a bit more nervous.

 

[Chuck Bobuck]

The only hat I have with a wind trolley is my Campdraft. While I like the idea of not chasing a hat down the street on a windy day, the trolly and cord just seem too flimsy and fickle to fuss around with. I like the way it loooks on the hat though. I might try it out someday. Now I just place my hand on the brim if it's too windy or wear a different style of hat.

 

[Subvet642]

I was watching In The Good Old Summertime today on TCM, and I saw that Van Johnson was using the wind trolley on his boater. I have never seen that before. It didn't look awkward at all, and I almost missed it.

 

[dnjan]

Why not attach the trolley cord to the inside of the hat at the back, with the cord wrapped around the inside of the sweatband and the button attached to a loop sewn into the liner at the top of the crown? That way, you could bring the cord down the back, inside your coat collar, hidden from view.

I added a trolley like that to a panama hat I have. Only difference is that instead of a button, I used an old tie-bar (the type that slides over the tie, with a part on the front and a part that goes behind the tie). The tiebar goes onto the collar of my shirt. When not in use, it slides over the sweatband, and I cannot feel it. For a cord, I used monofilament beading cord, which has some stretch to it, but is fairly clear.

Used it when walking in the surf on the gulf coast, summer of '07. It gave peace-of-mind in the breeze, and I could keep my hat on to provide sun protection.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

I was watching In The Good Old Summertime today on TCM, and I saw that Van Johnson was using the wind trolley on his boater. I have never seen that before. It didn't look awkward at all, and I almost missed it.

I didn't notice it at all. Goes to show ya, I suppose.

 

[Widebrim]

My $2.99 thrift store Borsalino Allesandria (see Avatar) and my Fernandez Roche both have one (wound fairly well), but I haven't used the trolleys yet. I don't wear either hat much, though, since the Fernandez Roche is a very big brimmed hat, often used by Hasidics, and the Borsalino is so delicate and stylish that I reserve it for special events.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

aboard vessels.. I do use mine when I'm at the pier or arriving /departing the ship. I really don't care if anyone thinks it looks silly. Carrying the hat is not really an option if your hands are already full. The fact is that using the wind cord has saved more than one vintage hat from going into the harbor. I'll be the voice of opposition here and say that I think they are quite practical.

Completely fftopic:
Stoney, I once dropped $50.000 cash in the void between ship and her berth for lacking of both a proper leash for holding the bag AND the dexterity required from a decent boarding agent (the money was fished out and hung to dry on a clothesline at the office...)
In august, I boarded one of our ships in Altamira (Tamaulipas, MX) wearing my brand new Mexican bought panama sombrero, and if any one thinks a wind cord looks ridiculous, give a thought to a guy holding his hat with one or even both hands whilst teetering on a gangway...
Confraternal greetings from Antwerp
Paul

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Kabuto, that was before security guards, insured cash transport...ships gobble up a lot of cash, for paying the crew and other...business...