While googling around, I found this glossary of hat terms. Not to mention, the history of hats, manufacturing info, and more, more, more. Hats off to hatsuk.com.
http://www.hatsuk.com/hatsuk/hatsukhtml/bible/glossary.htm
The most famous large-scale manufacturer of men's hats in england used to advertise its wares with the phrase,
"If you want to get a head, get a hat!"
But what a peach of a site, sparteye - thanks for that link!
Since we're talking about interesting sites, here's one that I came across last week:
http://www.capitals.com It has loads of information on all (or nearly all) of the countries of the world.
Thanks for the hat site, Sparteye. I liked the discussion of the mysterious "Punti" measurement in the Hat & Head Size section.
"If you want to get a head, get a hat!"Should I be ashamed that I first read the name of the site as hat suk?
I first read the name of the site as hat suk
I read it the same way (and the pig got up...).
I think they should be abashed at not having thought of that.
I first read the name of the site as hat suk
I, too, said Cap't. Ahab, er, Dash, er...
When and why did hats fall out of fashion as an everyday item of a man's attire? In movies of (say) the 1940's, men routinely wear hats, but today they do not. How come?
it is said JFK is to blame.. he was the first president who went to inaugeration with out a hat. and is the first to generally not have a hat on in his photos.. but I think he is just the most evident example of a post war thing.. i don't remember my father owning a hat or cap.. and he was of the same age.. but aunts and my mother still wore hats ..(as did jackie o.)
When and why did hats fall out of fashion as an everyday item of a man's attire?
Alas, it appears that the ubiquitous baseball cap has usurped the proper hat's place, and the custom of men removing their headgear indoors has also vanished. I still do it, but I seem to be the only one.
One of the hardest things my son had to learn at bootcamp was a)to wear a hat and b)to always take it off and put it back on when entering and leaving a building! I think that now, after 3 1/2 years as a Marine, he must have that little nicety pretty much drummed into his hard head.
Mom
It's just a pity that I have never yet been able to find an off-the-rack hat big enough for me....Ummm...Max? Is this your way of saying you have a fat head? [ducking for cover-e]
Max, my dear, I hate to tell you this. But fat head and big head do not mean the same thing here in the states! [really ducking for cover this time-e]
you missed your calling.. you should have been a "talking head" TV is very kind to people with large heads.. Merv griffin, on of US's more successful TV producers requires it of his "stars" When you meet Vanna White (wheel of fortune,) or any of the other letter turners from the international wheel of fortune shows, what impresses you, is "wow, she has a big head.." it a bit obvious on Jay Leno (because he also has a big jaw) but big head are a head start for tv stars.
Sparteye, thank you for the link on hats. Hats off to you! Goes neatly into my research on the 1940s and is now in my folder.
Max, I sympathize. I wear a 23 1/2 hat and the "average hat size in US is 20. I have a great Tilley hat that fits like a charm and Tilley can fit just about anyone!
http://www.tilley.com/index1.asp They have an International division. One style has a wide brim that might be just the ticket for you. Not cheap but excellent value, wear like iron. I could go on for days in praise. I love mine. Take a look!
At the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, there are signs as you enter buildings : "In keeping with Navy traditions, please remove your hat while inside." The military usually calls a hat a "cover." where that comes from I do not know.
Even though hats are not worn much nowadays it's odd how we
keep them in the language.
Hats off!
Tip of the hat!
Keep it under your hat!
What others? Emanuella - any similar from Bella Italia?
Aloha all!
P.S. Ummmm, me too, suk! Oh,well.
I, of all people, should have read it as Hats uk - but no - my first impresson was that someone, somewhere, thought that hats are like hoovers . . .
So take heart, Jazzo - you are amongst the best compnay on the board, it would seem.
and riddles.. whats under your hat and over your head?
(works best with kids.. and doesn't work at all with some adults.. especially males!)
When I first started work, in 1956, I was required to wear a titfer by my company (NCR-UK; Sales Promotion Dept.)
I was alone among my contemporaries. We had all been forced to wear caps at school, and took the first opportunity that offered to go uncovered in the world - except me, that is! I have worn a hat all my life, except in bed, although now it is a proletarian cloth cap that I sport. (Mind you, I do have a rather stunning Panama for holidays abroad
)
BTW, Geoff - although I join with you in deploring the sartorial sloppiness of the baseball cap, I can't agree with you that it is not "a proper hat" - any piece of head gear which fulfills the purpose of covering your head, or shading your eyes, neck or wherever, constitutes a "proper" hat, surely?
I, also, sigh for the days when it was "proper" to remove ones headgear on entering a room, or on meeting a woman.
Fun website, Sparteye!
Faldage would be too modest to admit it, so I will take the plunge and speak for him: he *always removes his hat when coming indoors. Musta been that good Navy training.
like wow and consuelo said!
good Navy training
Ain' got no hat on you don' gots to salute. In fack you cain't salute do you ain' got no hat on.
An you kin salute witcher lef han an yer right han is encumberd
BTW, Geoff - although I join with you in deploring the sartorial sloppiness of the baseball cap, I can't agree with you that it is not "a proper hat"I should have defined terms a bit better, RC. I think of a hat as having a full brim, whereas a
cap has only a bill. So, if one wants to emulate a duck or a platypus, on which a bill belongs, one wears a baseball cap; if one wants to be stylish, however, one wears a
properhat!
This distinction exists in other languages as well, so I don't think I'm just talking through my hat.
I think of a hat as having a full brim, whereas a cap has only a bill.
Which is the only place you need it; anywhere else it's just an impediment. If you're shooting vertical format pictures you can turn your cap around and get it out of the way of the camera, bringing it back to shade your eyes when you are done shooting.
It's looking good versus being able to function properly.
and riddles.. whats under your hat and over your head?
(works best with kids.. and doesn't work at all with some adults.. especially males!)
The human body, when exposed to cold, conserves heat by diminishing blood flow to the exposed skin -- but for obvious reasons does not diminish blood flow to the head. Thus a great deal of heat would be lost from the head, and the species, though in general rather hairless, has evolved to retain insulating hair atop the head.
Unfortunately, some of us have lost much of that insulation as we age!
Oh, for the day when hats were fashionably acceptable!
[shivering -e]
Oh no, faldage, a proper hat is just the thing for pictures, a nice big brim acts to frame to your face, and block out messy background details..(and others!)
secondly, a full brim, will shade your neck, and ears and protect your neck from sun burn. (or rain!)
and lets not forget to mark 11/6 (US Style, Nov 6th) on our calendars as irrationality day.. in honor of the mad hatter.
just the thing for pictures
Depending on which side of the camera you're on.
Nov 6th
Or June 11th depending on which side of the Pond you're on.
talking through my hat
There's another one! Thanks Geoff!
Max - let's ignore Angel - I too have the same problem.
We had to wear straw boaters to school - and mine was the second largest (52cm? 54cm? I forget) of an assortment of 1,500 of the darn things! If I do find a hat that fits 'north-south', there's usually a half inch gap between my temples and the inner brim!
It's also a bugger getting spectacles that fit. I'd lurv to have a trendy pair of Oakleys or somesuch, but the squeeze on my temples is too much to bear! I also find my eyelashes brush up and down on the inside part of the lens - a most disconcerting sensation! et tu Brute?
stales
Max - let's ignore Angel - I too have the same problem.Just you try and ignore an Angel, Stales! [mock hurt-e] Harrumph®!
I sincerely hope no one takes this seriously, as I did not take his comment seriously either. Too much hurt on this board, and this was not meant in a hurtful way.
It's also a bugger getting spectacles that fit.It's also a problem for me, but for different reasons. My head is too
narrow. Usually childrens' glasses look fine on me, but the arms don't reach my ears! It's always a hassle when I have to shop for new glasses.
Thus a great deal of heat would be lost from the head, and the species, though in general rather hairless, has evolved to retain insulating hair atop the head.
OK, I'll buy that. But I've always wanted to ask someone (instead of L-ingIU for myself) how you explain the evolutionary persistence of underarm hair.
Just had to mention the classic Abbott and Costello routine where Lou is a hat salesman with a box full of straw hats. It's hilarious! Here's a synopsis...(I can't find a script link, if I do I'll edit it in):
Fleugal street
Changed to "Susquehanna street" for 'In Society', this is a classic routine that was written by Billy K. Wells in 1918. Lou has to deliver some hats to a hat company for a friend but doesn't know where the road is so he has to stop people and ask them. All the people turn out to be loonies. He tries a hat on and each time he encounters a loony, they break it and Abbott tallies up the cost as they go along. Crazy routine this one, suited to the TV show more than the film. Enjoyable and memorable none the less.At the end, Lou winds up just breaking all the hats himself.
It's also a bugger getting spectacles that fit.
It's also a problem for me, but for different reasons. My head is too narrow. Usually childrens' glasses
Similar here, with eyes set so closely together that I can't use a pair of binoculars (the two eyepieces, even at the extreme adjustment, are too far apart) and my glasses slip down the bridge of my nose. Trust me, folks, my wife has already made all the jokes about narrow-mindedness.
Underarm hair, like pubic hair, is a secondary sexual characteritic.
it help establish your scent. Nowdays, especially in modern world, the idea of a personal scent is considered 'unattractive'.. but human still respond to them.
a study done with new mothers, had them smelling blankets..(used one night) most mothers could correctly identify which blanket their baby slept in. (it smelled the best!)
another study i read about, reported on small closed societies. (ie, amish). very often, a person found to smell unattractive, was also one who had too much of a genome in common..a bad genetic match.
(too much different also results in an unattractive smell-- a complaint often made about foriegners.. they smell bad)
so underarm hair (and the scent associated with it) becomes important geneticaly, once you reach puberty.. and it appears right on schedule!
the most common expression of this, is good old house hold laundry.. when your in love, you don't mind the smell of your loved ones laundry.. but fall out of love, and their clothes stink. secondly, most parents find the clothes of their teen age kids to stink-- a secondary protection against incest.
Bean:
A good optometry shop will be able to put on longer temple pieces. Theo, my six-year-old, wears glasses, and we got him a set of frames that cost over $300! BUT! They are titanium. I can literally bend the lenses toward one another so that they rub together, and when you let go they snap right back to the original configuration. You can tie an overhand knot in a temple piece without causing a permanent bend.
Anyway, when last we visited the optometry shop, they noticed that the temples were too short, so they TRADED OUT the old ones for longer ones and didn't charge me one red cent.
Ted
Thanks for the tip, TEd. I have a very satisfactory pair of glasses right now, but eventually they will have to be replaced. You should see how funny I look with a typical pair of glasses on - looks like those novelty sunglasses that existed 10-15 years ago, which were purposely way too huge! Luckily styles are becoming smaller and daintier and I've had more luck finding good-looking glasses in recent years.
Which brings me to another question! Just what was the price on the ticket in the Mad Hatter's Hat? My copy of "Alice" doesn't have a print of Teniel's original illustration, so I can't check just now, but I always thought it was marked "10/6" (i.e.,ten shillings and sixpence, or half-a-guinea in the ancient Brit-cash mode). The quizmaster at our local pub (the Boot & Shoe!) gave the answer to that question as 7/6 (seven and sixpence, or "free 'arf crahns" to a Cockney)
Now Helen is implying that the price is 11/6 - whihc is right, please?
Many thanks for the link, Keiva - I can now go and brandish it under the nose of the Quizmaster and make myself generally obnoxious
Re: Hair today, gone tomorrow
Underarm hair, like pubic hair, is a secondary sexual characteristic, it helps establish your scent.
Ain’t it the truth troy. But Father Nature rarely packages adaptations into the neat little language packets that we require for our understanding. There are likely many reasons for the advent of underarm hair, one in particular is as a anti-friction pad to prevent chafing, and for the moment let’s shy away from the anti-friction aspects of pubic hair, and move the discussion up the torso to
beneath the hat, and above the head.
The small bald spot on the top of head doesn't seem to have a name. Everyone has a spot, even ethnic groups that don’t in maturity had them when they were young. The pattern of hair, this rosette of hair, begins at this spot. Like the uppermost layer of a thatch roof of a house, hair growth is directed outward and overlaying from this point. As a consequence droplets of water are directed off the head and onto the ground. Free-thinking Glenn G. Strickland in the book “Genesis Revisited” carried this process a step further. He noticed that the hairs on the body pointed down, directing water off and to the ground, except for those on the outer thighs and the backs of the forearms. Puzzling as well was the reality that the the bald spot was near the rear of the head and not on top as it should be.
Clasp both hands behind your neck. Now squat down. This is the way your great ancestors passed time through rainstorms.
Re: Everyone has a spot, even ethnic groups that don’t in maturity had them when they were young. The pattern of hair, this rosette of hair, begins at this spot
I know this spot as the crown.. crowns come right handed, and left handed, centered, or for some lucky people, (such as my family!) you get two spots.. you are double crowned.. (and if you are my sister, you have a double crown, a widows peak and a cow lick! which severly limits hair styling!
double crowns and cow licks interfer with this natural flow of the hair.. (and i am presuming here every one knows what a cows lick is..)
It's just a pity that I have never yet been able to find an off-the-rack hat big enough for me, and I can't be bothered going to a milliner to get one made.Move over Max Quordlepleen, say a big hello to Max Headroom! I b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-saw you at the ferry terminal in Dover last week, actually ...
And our underarm hair is, to my knowledge, the outcome of an unholy alliance between the current version of the common deity and Wilkinson Sword. All this evolutionary crap ... pshaaaaw!
re body hair - I recall hearing a presentation from a student somewhere as to why there are "fly trails" (as we call them) of hair between the pubic region and the belly button. This guy had done experiments with shaving different diameters of hair from the belly button.
His conclusion was that the fly trail had evolved exclusively for the transport of lint into the belly button.
stales
His conclusion was that the fly trail had evolved exclusively for the transport of lint into the belly button.
Sounds eminently reasonable, particularly as Wilkinson Sword hadn't already staked the territory out!
Yuck, only a guy would come to that conclusion. The belly-button is *not a storage area!
As a bald man, I've noticed that the less hirsute I get cranially, the more I get elsewhere. My eyebrows can now be combed over my head, replacing the hair lost there, to say nothing of the ear hair, which can replace sideburns nicely. As for the belly button, I wouldn't know if there's any lint there, since I can no longer see it through the black forest of fur. And, worst of all, there's a thicket in my - uh - umm - nether regions. This appears to be primarily a male phenomenon, thank goodness! So now you know why I wear a hat - to hide my fuzzy face! And, yes, it's damned cold in the winter and hot in the summer without one.
As a bald man, I've noticed.... Hey, Geoff, it's really nice to have you back! And thank you for that verbal picture of yourself! Such a handsome devil you must be!