When my mother was in her prime
so were hat sales
The millinery business was booming.
You have to take your hats off to those ingenious designers.
They were the ones responsible for
Tricking the female population into believing
That their outfits were not complete without the addition of
the right amount of material
adorned with elaborate do dads
draped in various ways and perched on top of a women’s head.
Ladies would not be caught dead
going out without the perfect hat!
Most little girls secured their Easter bonnets
with all the frills upon it
firmly on the top of their heads
by connecting a thin piece of elastic to the hat and placing it under their chins
stretching it uncomfortabley from ear to ear
Like a little kids cardboard birthday party hat
It formed an invisible smile
that remained in place for hours afterwards
The older generation
used those dangerous hat pins
to keep their creations in place
I remember my brothers and I thought women stuck those
Needle look a likes
directly into their scalps
ouch
then again
we also believed it was the same procedure
when trying to fasten a corsage
or
a mini garden
on a womens chest
thank God for nosegays
and how did those babies get their name?
that’s another story
I digress
I have a picture of my grandmother in a rather hideous hat
that made it appear as if a feather
was growing out of the side of her face!
She wore it proudly to my parents wedding
confident she looked stunning
And I know my grandfather must have been tickled!
But it looks a little silly to us today.
From a total of $400 million in the '20s,
hat sales dropped to a low of $250 million
almost in half
around 1953
maybe someone put their hat collection on a bed
which was considered bad luck
but before you begin to pass the hat
chapeaus
were still “IN” for awhile longer
The knitted ski cap
Ali McGraw wore in the famous movie with Ryan O Neil
Called
Love story
Was Extremely popular
Everyone had to have one!
and
The pill box hats that Jackie Kennedy wore
with all her matching dress and coat ensembles
one in every color of the rainbow
were true fashion statements
copied by one and all
The image of her
in the very dramatic
black veiled number
worn to hide her face
unsuccessfully
I might add
to her husbands funeral
Will be embedded in our hearts and minds forever
Yet
As a result of a more casual lifestyle
And the flight to the suburbs
There seemed to be a shift in trends
Right before women started burning their bras
And after everyone had a
closet full of
crazy head ornaments
The female population
began throwing their hats into the ring
And while they were at it,
tossed their white gloves in as well
that’s another story
The haberdashery business
Once a
prosperous industry
Couldn’t survive the decline in sales
And just must have
hat enough
After taking such a drastic nosedive
They probably bought themselves some nosegays
closed up shop
and went out for a night cap
The announcement by the Vatican
that females
no longer
had to cover their head while in Church
Most certainly
Contributed to their downfall
note to all the young girls out there
please keep this under your hats
in the olden days
when good girls did what we were told without question
some of us, including me
were actually forced to wear
Kleenex on our heads
When we entered the house of God
that’s another story
It is my belief
Instead of walking around with their
hats in their hands
Looking for new income
Most of these mad hatters migrated
to Kentucky for the derbies
while
The rest headed to London
To outfit the royal family
Poor Queen Elizabeth and her Queen mum
must have permanent
hat hair
and
that’s another story
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