Men in hats

Do you remember when men wore hats? If not, you are younger than I, so this entry will not be of much interest. But to us oldies, the memories of men wearing hats are all positive. Back in the old days of my childhood, the 40s and 50s, all men had fedoras, beautiful, beautiful fedoras. They looked so handsome, elegant even. I loved seeing my dad in a hat.

There was a formality to dress then. People actually made an effort to look nice before they left their houses. When we went to Albany to shop, we wore dresses and pretty shoes. The men, of course, had their hats and usually a suit or at least a jacket. This lended to a feeling of importance, of celebration to what we were doing. It was special.

And let’s not forget church. Attending church was a dress-up event. Not just holidays, like the Easter photo below, but every Sunday. Church meant nice clothes, hats, and gloves Boys had their caps (and couldn’t wait to be old enough for a fedora!) For Easter, my dad bought us girls gardenia corsages to pin our our outfits. We felt so special, so beautiful.

Ah, memories!