Historical Hats

I began my morning yesterday realizing I had a few things to do that didn't have anything to do with any of my goals or work....making appointments for others....finding paperwork for others....washing clothes for others....and thinking about two or three projects I needed to finish up for others.

It's not that I mind doing these things...hardly.  I like to help, but more and more I find my day is full doing a list of things that don't have anything to do with a table of contents I must flesh out, articles to write, and seeing writing opportunities......or at least answering the emails when the opportunities seek me out.

Just a normal day for me as I grew more frustrated by the minute, but this time my thinking and my realizing left my brain, moved down my arms and out my fingers to a Facebook status that said, "I wear too many hats that aren't mine...some by misguided choice, some that are inherited and some are foisted upon me.  I'm going to stop.  Take your friggin' hat and wear it yourself....'

Later, while I was working out at the gym I thought about my status, and then my mind wandered to hats in general.

My first introduction to hats was at Greenbriar Mall west of Atlanta when I was five or six.  Mother frequented  Rich's department store....an Atlanta mainstay....quite often.   Well, actually......very, very often.  She knew most of the clerks by name, and they knew her, too.    I can close my eyes and actually walk around the store in my mind I was so familiar with the layout.  

Right in the center of the store were the escalators with the bakery on one side and the hat department as well.  Every now and then if I caught Mom in the right mood she would give the clerk a smile, and they would let me sit down at the table and chair in the hat department and try on a few. 

I generally went for the flimsy, wide-brimmed pastel creations...but secretly I really loved the veiled concoctions.   At the time I just knew I liked them....now I know I liked them because they were deliciously sexy...add in a pair of matching leather gloves you can only remove by unbuttoning five or six covered buttons, and.....

Oh my....

In another life I had to have worn hats....I MUST have....and mourn the fact that they just aren't worn that much anymore....at least not in the circles I travel.  

I turned away from my hat desires to think about other hats....hats in history.

Historical hats....

There had to be some.....right?

Earlier this year the Victoria and Albert Museum had an exhibit regarding hats.  Of course, since the exhibit ....a collaboration between the museum and Stephen Jones....was in Great Britain the collection included hats belonging to former queens including Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

When we think of Queen Victoria we tend to think of a rather large aging lady in black as she spent the last several years of her life mourning the passing of her husband, Prince Albert, but for many years she dressed very colorfully including fancy bonnets.  The collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum included a bonnet from the 1840s....a construction made of plaited horse hair and salmon pink ribbon.   You can just make it out along the bottom half of this picture.  

The beige tulle and lace hat worn in the late thirties by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was also in the collection.   She wore the hat for a series of well known photographs taken by Cecil Beaton on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.  

Turning towards American History the most iconic man's hat would have to be Abraham Lincoln's use of the top hat.  Lincoln was already a tall man.  It is said he was taller than most no matter where he went, so wearing a top hat was like a six foot woman deciding to wear five inch heels.  

This hat is the one President Lincoln wore on the last night of his life...April 14, 1865.  It's on display at the Smithsonian Institute.  

My research indicates President Lincoln bought this particular hat from J.Y. Davis, a Washington hat maker.  Notice the black silk band....Lincoln had this added to the hat in remembrance  of his son Willie.  

Following the assassination the War Department took possession of the hat and other items left behind at Ford's Theater.  From there the hat became the property of the Patent Office and later was transferred to the Smithsonian where it has remained.  In those days the employees of the Smithsonian Institute were instructed not to exhibit the hat and not to mention that it was there because of the furor it might cause in those early years following the President's death.

The hat remained in a basement storage room for almost thirty years before it was finally displayed in 1893 when the Lincoln Memorial Association borrowed the top hat for an exhibition.  

Of course, today....it's one of the most popular artifacts of American History the museum owns.

Unfortunately, another iconic hat in American History is also connected to an assassination ....the Kennedy assassination.

The American public was first introduced to the pillbox hat during the Kennedy inauguration.

This article states:

[The hat was] a fawn-colored domed pillbox created by a then unknown 29-year-old named Roy Halston Frowick.   The hat sat tilted toward the back, nearly doubled the size of her head, frankly, and creating a pretty contrast to her striking dark looks.  She was nothing the country had ever seen.   A fashionable, beautiful and highly cultured First Lady, one who not only spoke fluent French but effortlessly shopped in Paris and New York.   Across the country, women unanimously agreed:  This young woman was their new fashion icon.  For his part, Halston had no idea what was coming.

Jackie Kennedy also wore a pillbox hat on that fateful date in Dallas, Texas.

The pillbox hat First Lady Jackie Kennedy wore the day her husband was assassinated is as iconic as the pink suit.  

This article from 2011 advises the suit was turned over to the National Archives, but the hat is missing and remains missing to this day.

Somewhere inside the hospital [that fateful day in Dallas], the hat came off.  "While standing there I was handed Jackie's pillbox hat and couldn't help noticing the strands of her hair beneath the hat pin.  I could almost visualize her yanking it from her head," Mary Gallagher, the First Lady's personal secretary, who accompanied her to Dallas, wrote in her memoir....

The pink suit, blood-stained and perfectly preserved in a vault in Maryland, is banned from public view for 100 years.  The pillbox hat...is lost, last known to be in the hands of [Gallagher], who won't discuss its whereabouts... 

....[At some point following the assassination], a box arrived at the National Archives, where such treasures as the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are kept.  In it were the suit, blouse, handbag, shoes, and even her stockings, along with an unsigned note on the letterhead of Janet Auchincloss, Jacqueline Kennedy's mother:  "Jackie's suit and bag worn November, 22, 1963.

No hat.

One has to wonder about the  hat.....

Ah.........yet another mystery in history.

Students and THEIR Labels

One of the things that continually have the bees in my bonnet buzzing is the issue of clothing and students.

No, this is NOT the post where I opine about the serious lack of clothing in American classrooms nor is it the post where I profess to be astounded concerning the large amount of cleavage I see at the local high school. I’m not even going to write about how most school hallways resemble a plumber’s convention due to the amount of rear ends that wink at me.

My point this time is the emphasis children place on particular brands of clothing – Abercrombie, Pacific Sun, American Eagle, Hollister….

Now, I’m not just picking on students. I’m guilty of liking certain brands of clothing as well – Ralph Lauren, Talbots, Liz Claiborne , and Jones New York to name a few.

However, the difference is while I like certain brands of clothing I don’t alienate folks if they don’t wear the same thing as I do….I don’t call them names…..I don’t belittle them publically. Wear what you personally want to wear…..I do.

Unfortunately, students can and do alienate each other, call each other names, and belittle them publically.

This type of activity can undermine our number one purpose….learning.

Every few days I invite a student to join me for lunch…I don’t do this alphabetically because it would be too predictable, but I do make sure that every student is invited each nine weeks. I ask the student to get his or her tray and join me back in the classroom. We talk about all sorts of things. I ask the student about his or her life at home, likes, dislikes. We often discuss television shows including cartoons.

This provides an opportunity for me to build relationships with students…..students that are my problem kids…..kids that are the stand-out stars….and kids that I might not ever even know they were in the room unless I invited them to lunch.

Occasionally during these lunch dates a student will let me know if he or she is having issues with other students. This is usually when I find out I’m having a major clothing issue….a clothing bias can cause enough of a disruption to hinder the learning process.

This is when our normal studies come to a screeching halt, and we take a side road through fashion in history. We might research the fashions of the time period we are studying or, I might choose a short story I can read aloud to student and then ask them to illustrate what they think the characters in the story might be wearing depending on the clues given in the story. Students have to analyze the possible time period and the character’s actions to come up with a plausible costume. These activities also get students to discussing clothing choices and how they make and DON’T make a man.

From time to time one of the activites I use involves the Presidents of the United States. Some of their clothing choices were interesting, and speaking of labels……one label that is often repeated is the Brooks Brothers label. Follow this link to my newest posting at American Presidents titled All the President's Clothes... where I discuss how the Brooks Brothers label has been involved with the executive office since the early 19th century.

13 Things About the Zoot Suit Riots

Here in my fair city of Atlanta there has been talk within the city council regarding young men and their underwear. Seems the young ones like to wear their pants hanging about their knees for some reason. I’m not particularly fond of the style myself. For one thing I simply don’t understand how someone can demand respect from me when they are attempting to walk towards me holding their pants up with one hand to keep them from puddling around their feet. It’s hilarious. Over the years though American youth have had their fads and fashion trends including the Flappers of the 20s and the Greasers of the 50s…….and then there were the Zoot Suits.

1. Zoot suits were popular among Hispanics, African Americans, and Italians during the 1930s and 1940s.

2. They were mainly worn for special occasions. The suit consisted of high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed pants paired with a long coat called a carlango that sported wide lapels and high padded shoulders. Sometimes a hat completed the look that contained a long feather. Sometimes a watch chain dangled from the belt to the knees and then looped back to a side pocket.

3. Just as many consider saggy pants to be a symbol of youth rebellion today the zoot suit was that same symbol in the 30s and 40s.

4. The zoot suit was first seen in the 1930s in New York at the height of the Harlem Jazz culture. Many referred to them as “drapes.”

5. In the summer of 1943 tensions were running high between Chicano youths and U.S. Servicemen stationed in Los Angeles

6. During their off duty periods and after they had been out for a night of drinking sailors and soldiers had to walk through Chicano neighborhoods in order to return to their bases.

7. Some of the interactions moved beyond name calling and erupted in brawls and robberies.

8. It didn’t help that the LA Police Department was also attempting to clean up street corners in Chicano neighborhoods where young men loitered and many participated in illegal street gambling.

9. Prior to the riots in October 1942, a young man was killed during a fracas between two rival Chicano gangs. Over 600 young men were arrested, however, convictions were later overturned.

10. Things escalated between U.S. servicemen and zoot suiters when the servicemen attacked and beat up a Chicano group stating the zoot suiters had stabbed one of their own.

11. Attacks and retaliation attacks continued in May, 1943. As U.S. Servicemen headed out to “get back at” the Chicanos those wearing zoot suits were easy to identify and they bore the brunt of the attacks. While many zoot suiters were arrested and processed throught the LA justice system the servicemen were handed over to the military police and were often let go.

12. As the days passed historical records show that thousands of servicemen joined the attacks. African Americans were involved as well as they took the side of the Chicano community providing vehicles and weapons to fight against the servicemen.

13. An eyewitness account helps to give an image of the attacks: Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot suiter they could find. Pushing its way into the important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked off their seats, pushed into the streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy.

After several days the military intervened. Local press printed stories lauding the servicemen stating their attacks had rid the community of hoodlums and miscreants. Luckily the military designated downtown LA offlimits to servicemen in the future. Very few charges were leveled at the servicemen and the charges that were made quickly went away. When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out against the riots stating that long term racial discrimination against Hispanics led to the problems she was accused of attempting to create more racial discord.

….and we thing these types of things only happen today.

Visit the main page for Thurday Thirteen here

Fashion Sense...It isn't Just About Draggy Pants

I spent last Saturday in the land of my forefathers (North Georgia) celebrating the birth of my father as well the births of my niece and my daughter. Attempting to choose a gift for my father is an impossible task….either I can’t afford it, or he already has it.

I was pleased when Dear Father handed my husband a pair of computer speakers and had a perplexed look on his face. Dear Husband set to work hooking the speakers up, downloaded Real Player, and suddenly Dear Father’s music suddenly filled the room. We enjoyed tunes from the Big Band era while we ate a wonderful lunch prepared by my step-mother. I told my father since I had come empty-handed for his birthday the installation of his speakers was his present.

I remember reading somewhere that we often reach a point in our maturity where we become comfortable in our style of dress, and we no long experiment with fashion and musical styles. When I was young girl I still remember many of the ladies at church and at school who dressed in the style of the 40s and 50s instead of wearing Jackie Kennedy inspired outfits. One friend of my mother’s could have been Beaver Cleaver’s mother complete with the single strand of pearls.

Many of us become anachronisms meaning that our outward appearance and our various style preferences can be dated to an earlier time. In the 1830s, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. wrote about Major Thomas Melville, a real-life anachronism (he was also the grandfather of Herman Melville). Major Melville was one of the men dressed as an Indians at the Boston Tea Party and fought in the American Revolution. The Last Leaf, a poem by Holmes, describes Melville late in his life when he has reached anachronism status. The lines… But the old three-cornered hat, and the breeches, and all that, are so queer…identify the Major’s comfort zone as he continued to wear clothing from his heyday into his old age. I used the poem to teach about the anachronism concept and to revisit the Boston Tea Party because students always want to know who actually took part.

Go back a few hundred years and you can see drastic dividing lines between generations and what they preferred to wear and listen to. I believe it is harder today to date someone to a particular decade because current styles are so blended and the dividing line between various styles have become blurred. Nowadays if I wear a retro set of Nina platforms (how did I ever do that?) and a flaired skirt paired with a short vest I’m not only an anachronism to my own high school days in the late seventies I’m also very hip because my fifteen year old daughter has some of the same styles in her closet that we have bought brand new. If I go back to my early seventies days and choose to wear a short mini or a pair of low riding hip huggers (God forbid) I could also be accused of trying to look fifteen instead of simply being an anachronism to the era of my youth because Dear Daughter also has those same articles of clothing manufactured just a few months ago.

Since recent styles have become much harder to identify I’m not sure how my teaching colleagues will assist students in identifying the early decades of the twenty-first century, but it’s still fairly easy for me as I attempt to do the same with the first couple hundred years of American History.

I do know, however, that if you can get students to recognize certain forms of dress you have given them an important puzzle piece in analyzing historical sources. Political cartoons, a possible time period for a painting, or even a description of a particular individual can all become part of the questions with one of those pesky standardized tests, and being familiar with particular clothing styles is just one more skill that can become handy for students.

Knowing a little something about the history of fashion can also help to boost comprehension when students are reading a literature piece. Clothing can help to identify the time period which is just as important to the setting as location can be. This can lead to understanding certain details that only make sense when the time period and social mores are tumbled into the analysis.

Major Melville wasn’t the only anachronim walking about in the early 1800s. At one point my students discovered President James Monroe was a throw back to the Revolutionary era as well. One young man brought this to my attention when he came to me during independent reading time to show me an inappropriate word in a biography of James Monroe.

I identify the word and all the interesting details in my latest posting over at American Presidents.

Run along now….I’m sure you’re dying to know what word I had to address with students. I’ll be here when you get back.