mad hatter

I have always loved wearing hats. There are people that can't wear hats. My dear friend Jerry Connel once told me decades ago that he could wear hats - he said he didn't look good in them. I told him to try one on and sure enough - he can't sport a hat. I never understood why some people can't wear them - maybe the shape of their heads or something. Who knows - it's a mystery to me.

I grew up watching all those old movies. Every one wore hats in the old black and white days. I wondered as a kid what happened that men don't don those cool looking fedoras anymore. The truth be known, we can all blame it on Jack Kennedy. Jack didn't take to wearing hats and decided not to wear one at his inaugeration. There are others who will contest that more and men were leaving their hats at home prior - it's just that Kennedy brought attention to the issue.
Kennedy or not - I was going to grow up wearing hats.

I've enjoyed wearing hats since as long as I can remember. My dad used to have a shelf of hats in his closet - all kinds of hats he'd collected through the ages. He had an old top hat from his dance band days. It wasn't the cheesy kind like you get at a tuxedo rental place, but a bona-fide tall collapsible top hat like Fred Astaire or Abe Lincoln used to wear. We Finlayson kids wore that one out a long time ago. Dad had a yachting cap, different kinds of short brimmed fedoras, driving caps of different patterns. When I was little I would use a chair to climb up into his closet and try on all of his hats.

Brook in his late teens donned an Australian bush cap - slangly called a Digger. It was a wide brimmed hat that was clipped up on one side - like Sgt. Sam Troy (Christopher George) on the TV's Rat Patrol. Brook was nicknamed "Digger" because of the hat, and his red Volkswagen was dubbed "Digger's Chigger." When I was a teenager, I adopted my father's navy blue yacht cap. I wore that one out as well, not before being nicknamed "Captain". I didn't really like the moniker because I was named after the cheesy muskrat singing Captain of Captain & Tenniel. Egad!

I have more hats now than my father ever owned. For practical reasons, hats really do keep the head warm during cold months. My favorite hat is a beret that I found at Unclaimed Baggage in Boaz many years ago. It's very warm and tucks away in a pocket easily. I put our family's Farquharson crest on it. One day I will find a nice looking Scottish tam to take it's place.

Gina gave me a very soft and warm Shoreman's Fleece Watch Cap (toboggan) this Christmas. It's just as warm and as convenient as the beret, and I've been wearing it a lot. It's so comfortable that I've used it as a night cap on cold nights. I am still waiting on a Christmas present that Gina special ordered for me for Christmas - a new wide brimmed, camel hair Stetson. My old green Stetson has seen better days and is retired on it's knob in my studio.

The downside of wearing a fedora is that you've got to take care of it. You can't just fold a fedora and stick it in your pocket. I used to own a Panama Straw in the 80's but got tired of the wind sweeping it off my head. I once lost my hat while driving in my sun-roofed Renault LeCar. I had to pull over, run back, and chase it down. It ended up in the middle of a four way stop. There were folks looking on and laughing at the bozo chasing his straw fedora - I don't blame them.

There are more common hats in my collection - baseball caps. These caps don't have team logos on them, but rather band names. I've gone to concerts from time to time with my sister Cindy. She usually buys those pricey souvenir baseball caps for me. I have a Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, and Crosby, Still, Nash & Young cap. I wear them more often in the warmer months and they remind me of those great concerts as well as my sister's love.

I have a short brimmed black fedora that I found for a very reasonable price. I'd been looking for a Jake & Elwood Blues Brothers hat for quite sometime. I can't tell you how many times that I'd looked at Salvation Army stores or Goodwill for a hat like that. It's a felt hat, nothing special, but it looks good.

Once, a dozen plus years ago, Gina and I were in Paduca, Kentucky for a wedding. They've got a walking tour of Antique stores. Amid all the stores, I ran across a store that sold old movie props, clothes, and the like. It was a very unusual place. I found a navy blue yacht cap that reminded me of the one Dad used to wear. Gina didn't like it and didn't understand why I wanted it. I think it was 35.00 at the time. Gina urged me not to spend our money on it. I bought it. Dad's old yacht cap had a patch on it, this cap has a brass anchor on it. I like it better than Dad's old hat.

Here's a list of hat's I've donned the most down through the years.

1960's - Leather Flying Cap (yes, like Snoopy) purchased at a surplus store in Alabama City.

1970's - Dad's Nautical Cap (like Skipper of Giligan's Island)

1980's - Panama Straw & NY Yankee's ball cap, and later the green Stetson fedora found in 1988.

1990's - military issue beret with SAS patch (who dares wins) & same green Stetson

2000 - green Stetson & non-military black beret purchased in Boaz.

Can't wait to get my new addition. This week perhaps?