The Car That Killed The Hat

I walked the 2 miles to work the other day. I do it sometimes because the dog can’t ride the bus, it’s good exercise (for me and the dog) and it only takes 30 minutes.

Today’s walk was a bit more interesting because of the steady rain coming down. Knowing my waist length rain jacket merely sheds water straight down, leaving me very quickly with wet pants, I opted to put on rain pants. Now I really looked like I was going for a hike, even if it was an urban one.

Now, generally when moving about the city I like to look like I’m a city dweller, not a hiker who’s wandered out of the woods and lost his way. The same is true when I’m riding my bike around town. When I’m out on a training ride it’s spandex all the way, but for errands, commuting or heading out on the town, I prefer to wear street clothes.

So, as I’m walking along all duded out in my plastic shell with my hood up I began to wonder to myself why I was dressed this way and how I might have dressed differently. For example, I could have worn my mighty fine Pendleton wool coat which goes down to my knees. THAT would shed water nicely, resulting in minimally wet pants, if at all. Of course, then there’s the issue of my head, what about keeping it warm and dry? I had a stocking cap on, but that doesn’t keep the rain out of your eyes or off your face and neck. A nice wide brim is perfect for keeping the weather off your face and neck, stylishly too.

President Kennedy was credited for “killing” the hat when he stopped wearing one around 1960. But why did he stop? Did fashion suddenly change after hundreds of years, never to return? This is what I think happened: Cars were invented, people started to buy, ride in, and drive them. Cars have roofs, heaters and later, air conditioning, precluding the necessity to dress for the weather. With a car you can move from your warm house to your warm car to the warm store, office, shopping mall, etc. As fewer and fewer people walked from place to place and more and more people used cars the necessity for hats, warm overcoats, etc. dropped rapidly. Finally, President Kennedy was the first one to take that fateful step, leaving his hat in the closet and its fate was sealed. Poof, no more hats.

Recently the hat has been making a comeback in Portland and elsewhere. British driving caps, cycling caps and various brimmed hats are appearing on heads all over the place. Whether this indicates more people are moving around and in need of a head covering to keep the rain off or if it’s just pure fashion, I don’t know, but it is nice to see hats making a small comeback.

How many other previously ubiquitous things have disappeared with the rise of the automobile and will they reappear as we move slowly away from the hegemony of the automobile culture? We’ll see…

Todd