Hats: a Western perspective

When my LH and I first moved to Arizona in the early 80s, we quickly learned about hats. In the West, a man's hat, whether it be a pricey Stetson or a proletarian baseball cap, is Very Important. Too important, in fact, to remove from the head in most situations. For example, over coffee in a restaurant...


..at an indoors public event (hint: count the number of hats in the picture above)...

...or at a political picnic.

The husband, a seasoned debater, offered all manner of reasons for head gear; top of the list was the sun beating down on one's exposed noggin. (Yes, he insisted that I wear a hat of some sort when we went exploring. He, BTW, for many years wore a rakish Robin Hood-ish leather he found at the Yellow Front.) But that doesn't explain the wearing of the hat in the Red Lobster or mom's living room. She, of course, was brought up in the world in which gentlemen and young boys all doffed their boaters or derbies to ladies. And never, never wore a hat indoors. Big culture conflict.

Such niceties have long been forgotten or, perhaps, never existed in the West, where black hats...

...gritty hats

...and warm weather straw are all at home indoors.

In Prescott, we have one store on Whiskey Row that is stocked with an amazing variety of hats (and forbids picture taking -- these shots were all taken surreptitiously). If you like, you can even buy a Cat-in-the-Hat hat. Or a stylish cheesecutter. That's my Aussie bro below, with his new lid, purchased when he was last in town.

He saw no reason to buy a outdoorsman's hat from Oz over at the Outfitter's, but locals apparently like them.

Come to think of it, I do recall one occasion when hats were removed indoors. Twas a house concert out Williamson Valley way. I guess these expensive extensions of guys' egos were considered safe for a brief couple of hours. Go figure. I'm sure they'd never settle for the electronic cap described here.