Hat Etiquette

[orezok]

What ever happened to hat etiquette. I spent my formative years growing up in West Texas. I met a lot of older "instructors" who told you what was right and wrong when it came to wearing a hat.

I was told that you never wear you hat indoors unless it was a public building.

You tipped you hat to ladies and people who you were giving direction or assistance to.

You never tipped your hat to a stranger as it may bring into question their gender! A nod of the head was sufficient acknowledgement.

You removed you hat when greeting a close acquaintance.

You removed you hat during the national anthem or when a funeral procession passed.

I think that the movie Urban Cowboy ruined it all! I miss the good old days! when people showed some courtesy.

 

[crash325]

What ever happened to hat etiquette. I spent my formative years growing up in West Texas. I met a lot of older "instructors" who told you what was right and wrong when it came to wearing a hat.

I was told that you never wear you hat indoors unless it was a public building.

You tipped you hat to ladies and people who you were giving direction or assistance to.

You never tipped your hat to a stranger as it may bring into question their gender! A nod of the head was sufficient acknowledgement.

You removed you hat when greeting a close acquaintance.

You removed you hat during the national anthem or when a funeral procession passed.

I think that the movie Urban Cowboy ruined it all! I miss the good old days! when people showed some courtesy.

I grew up with the same set of values or rules.

Along with Real men did not wear short pants. When a boy turned 14 he no longer had to wear "knickers" and got his long pants.

 

[dusty3030]

If you wore a hat to the table my grandfather would take it off of your head by smacking you in the back of it.
I never wear a hat at the table and it irks me to see people who do.

 

[newbury]

Coming from Northern Vermont, not quite Canada, I was surprised when I got to Virginia and everyone wore their hats into stores etc.

Being in and working for the Army for 36 years just reinforced that habit of "no cover under cover"

Now I'm slowly moving down to Mississippi and was surprised at first to see all the men wearing their hats to dinner at local eateries. It seems to be less so on Sundays but I've felt out of place at some of the local eateries if I DIDN'T have a hat on, with some brand of farm equipment. So I usually carry a Woodmizer hat or a Kubota hat.

It's gotten so when my wife suggests we go to dinner some place unfamiliar to me I no longer ask if I need a tie, I ask if I need a hat.

 

[Bird]

I, too, thought you never wore a hat or cap to the table to eat.

Of course the police department no longer requires officers to wear a uniform cap, but when I started, the rules didn't even allow us to remove the cap in the car (and we did not have air-conditioning), but we certainly did remove it when we entered anyone's home. And we stopped, got out of the car, and removed the cap when we encountered a funeral procession.

 

[creekbend]

These are some of my thoughts - pro and con. I think one should remove their hat or cap when attending Church, attending a funeral, eating at a restaurant, visiting someone's Home, while sitting at the table to eat, where ever you may be eating a meal, in respect of the National Anthem when playing, entering a courtroom, entering a classroom; etc. I don't think that it is necessary to remove one's hat or cap when shopping at the market or any other business, grocery shopping, hardware store, building supply; etc. What really aggravates and concerns me, is the lack of respect that is shown by some individuals in the way that they wear their pants or shorts in Public. Most of you have seen someone wearing their pants so far below their hips, that their "Butt Crack" is clearly visible. Some of these individuals even have to hold their pants while walking, in order to prevent their pants from dropping to their knees.

 

[RobertN]

I've always removed my hat at the table, and for the anthem.

Although, some times my hair looks so scary, people probably wish I had one on! Even with shortish hair, it goes wild.

At Boy Scout camp, never enter the dining hall with a hat on...

 

[jinman]

In every military club's bar in the US Navy, entering a bar with your hat (cover) on will get a ship's bell rung and you have to buy the bar a round. They post a poem on the wall that says:

He who enters covered here
buys the bar a round of cheer.

He who doesn't is a fink
and leaves the bar without a drink.

 

[TBarD]

I used to take my hat off in restaurants here in the West; sometimes still do if there is a safe place to put it. But often there isn't. In one place I used to hang it on an empty chair (didn't want to put it under the chair in this case), but the second time the waitress knocked it off that was the end of that. Now I just wear it in most places. So much for the old ways.

By the way there is a great steak place in Tucson (Pinnacle Peak) where it is not allowed to wear ties - they will come and cut them off, and there are zillions hanging from the ceiling (probably a good way to get rid of a tie you don't like!). But no problem wearing your hat, for sure.

 

[TripleR]

The hat thing is to me just another sign of the many changes in what is accepted as "normal" today. Times change though I guess and there is no going back.