Editor's Corner

Good morning, all!

Today’s topic is hats. This is by no means all of the types of hats in the world. I don’t think of myself as a hat person, but I don’t think any of my hats are on this list. One is a hat from somewhere my mom went—it looks like I would be wearing it while dancing on the street and trying to entertain people for some spare change. Then there are baseball hats (the one I have says WOOF, from the Humane Society), I have an Australian hat from my dad that’s sort of a Raider’s of the Lost Ark hat, and a lifeguard’s hat, for those sunny days when you need neck protection. You know, an ugly straw hat with a high top and a huge brim. Oh yeah, and my hiking hat, which tells you nothing about how it looks. Let’s just say it’s practical.

For more official hat types and names, I have these from a Merriam-Webster quiz that I took. Here is the first half of them, for our tribute to chapeaux!

fedora

The fedora was named for a hit 1882 play Fédora, whose title character is a Russian princess.

sombrero

Sombrero can be traced back to the Spanish sombra, meaning “shade.” [KC – Now this is a tall center, wide-brimmed hat. It would be much cooler if lifeguards wore these, and the neck protection is even better!]

bowler

The bowler hat gets its name from the Bowler family of English hatmakers who first designed it.

fez

The fez is named for the Moroccan city of Fez

beret

Closely associated with artists and military special forces, berets are thought to have originated among shepherds of the Pyrenees mountains. [KC – Ugh. I went through a beret phase in high school. I think I had about five colors and wore them in the Seattle rain on the walk to school. The wool would get so stinky when it was wet! At
least I didn’t wear my leg warmers to school.]

mortarboard

The square top of this graduation cap is said to resemble the tool a mason might use to hold mortar.

deerstalker

Though it is closely associated with Sherlock Holmes, his creator Arthur Conan Doyle never mentioned the detective wearing a deerstalker.

cloche

Cloche is the French word for “bell,” which the hat typically resembles. [KC – I’d call that a “bucket hat.” And that, my friends, is why I am not in fashion!]

bearskin cap

The 18 inch tall bearskin “caps” worn by the British royal guard are made from the fur of Canadian black bears.

straw boater

In the early 1900s, May 15th was Straw Hat Day, when well-to-do men were expected to switch from felt hats to straw. On September 15th (Felt Day), they were to switch back, or risk hoodlums plucking the hat from their heads and smashing them.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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