MTFCA Forum

For you guys that want to be era correct when out driving you cars, be care full that the straw hat nazis don't see you. (Think soup nazis ala Seinfeld).

http://blitzlift.com/unacceptable-to-wear-a-straw-hat/

In the same category as ladies not wearing white shoes after Labor Day....

My choice of headgear depends on weather: cloth cap for cold, straw hat for hot. The calendar has no say in it.

I rescued 2 straw hats from the family storage room. My Uncle threw a lot of things away that have now become valuable. I also got one when I purchased my Buick. They all are stiff and don't fit my head. Also, I am weary of them blowing off while driving an open car.
The certainly are jaunty and scream 1910's.
Fun to read about the Riot.
Rich

I have a straw boater and it's probably the most uncomfortable hat I own. I agree it fits with the Model T, but so does a newsboy cap and the latter is wa-a-a-ay more comfortable to wear.

Yes, a boater can provide plenty of discomfort if it isn't a perfect fit.

The Amish style is more comfortable and gives more shade.

I occasionally run across antique straw boaters at estate sales. The problem is that, compared to today, most men in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s had smaller heads so it is difficult to find an antique boater in my size which is 7 3/8. Same goes with antique derbies. 6 3/4 to 7 1/8 are very common but I have never found a large straw boater.

Below is a real nice antique boater that I picked up for $8 at an estate sale. Not my size but it did fit my seven year old nephew. I sold it at a swap meet to a fellow that had a medium sized head.

I live in California and wear what is comfortable for the particular day. We can have warm days in January and cool days in June. October can go either way as well as December and January.

I have a problem with the stores. I went to buy a bathing suit in the summer and all they had was sweaters and coats because they were selling early for fall and winter. Sometimes you need to buy summer clothes in March or April and it is still cold.

Anyway, I just wear clothes until they are worn out and then use for rags when I work on T's.
Grew up in the depression.
Norm

I love wearing the boater style straw hats, and being a pin-head at 7 1/8, have been able to find several that fit me. 7 1/4 actually is more comfortable, and I have a couple of them. Ed Archer as I recall takes a 7 5/8, a tough time finding that size, but he does have a few that fit him well!
One must quickly learn when wearing one while driving or riding in a car, to keep head down a bit into the wind. The other thing I really like about them on hot days, is there is a hand grip on the crown of the hat that turns it into a fine personal fan! Especially nice if you are in a shady spot.

I have a boater, but it's such a chore to keep it from blowing off in the slightest wind that I never wear it. How Henry Ford kept hi on while bicycling is a mystery to me.

Erik, I understand your frustration as I, like Ed, am a 7-5/8 (how many guys even know their hat size?). Hard to find specialty hats in that size--my Top Hat was a chance find at a swap meet.
Mark, why does your profile pic look like Red Green???

Erik, I understand your frustration as I, like Ed, am a 7-5/8 (how many guys even know their hat size?). Hard to find specialty hats in that size--my Top Hat was a chance find at a swap meet.
Mark, why does your profile pic look like Red Green???

My profile pic looks like Red Green because I like Red Green!

LOL, As If any of the members on the site worry about what they wear and what others think. Pictures over the years show many of us live in greasy shirts and hole filled pants. Any straw hat would be a improvement!

I expected this discussion to evolve into political correctness given the story in the link. Thanks for not letting it become OT.

Well, I am surprised....I’ve Never heard Straw Katys call “Boaters”....Anyone else know ‘em as straw katys ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boater

I've also seen them called "skimmers".

I generally wear an Amish style light straw hat in the sun and while driving my TT. I will be getting some of those clips as I increase my speeds. (Rocky mountain brakes will be added soon).

My favorite straw hats were hand made by an Amish lady named Emmy Lapp in Myersville Pa. She measured my head by having me try on a few of her hats, then found a couple of rosewood sticks for the front to back and side to side measurements, tied them with a piece of string and set them aside. Wouldn’t take any money till I got back to pick up the hat. Ten bucks for the first one, twelve a few years later. Parade hats now and for special occasions.

My wife found my current light weight one on line to replace one I bought at a re-enactment in Florida. Everyone I know wanted me to retire that hat that I had been sewing together for years. It has a great patina and has a deep dark dirty oily brown color. Perfect!

The new one is not near as comfortable yet!

More than you ever wanted to know about straw hats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxbVTozEoa0

Don't forget the speedster bunch.

Norm, you can always swim in your birthday suit. It is available all year round and it is free.

Found yet another really nice antique boater/skimmer for a very reasonable price at an estate sale last week.

Same old story - size 7 1/4 - too small for me. Tried it on anyway just it case it did fit. No such luck.

It is absurd to think that all straw hats across the whole US instantly died out after that small bit of idiocy- that is a limited criminal incident in NY. So, wearing a straw hat after that is perfectly acceptable and was probably still common in most of the US for some time. Unlike today's instant news, word and fashion spread far slower and crept across the US.

For some reason I get an couple of images (well really more then a couple) when I think of a straw boater; Ricky Ricardo preforming at the Tropicana or someone from the 50's on a tour wearing striped coat looking like they stepped out of a Barber Shop Quartet.
I took a look at my 1908 Sears catalog, what people are calling a Newsboy, was called a Golf Cap(that's what I call them), the the closest thing to the Greek Fisherman cap was a Tourist Cap. No straw boaters shown that I could find.