A Hat for Pops

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I am glad to have grown up in an era when men wore hats. I mean real hats like fedoras and pork pies. I'm glad hats are back. Let's be clear though, I have no delusions of looking like Don Draper or Dick Tracy. But it would be cool for the Grand-girls to remember Pops' hat. You know the way you remember special, random stuff about your grandfather(s).

I remember my paternal granddad sporting a fedora, dressed in a nice suit, driving a big long Pontiac. My mom's dad wore these great little wireframe glasses that hooked behind his ears. The lenses were always pocked because he would forget to put on his goggles before firing up a cutting torch.

About this hat business--there's some great reading about hats on one of my favorite blogs:  "The Art of Manliness." It's an excellent blog, made even more appealing by the fact that it's published by a young couple in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here's an excerpt from a post about hats:

"Up until the 1950s, men were rarely seen out and about without a hat sitting upon their head. Since that time, the wearing of hats has seen a precipitous decline. No one is precisely sure why. Some say the downfall of hats occurred when JFK did not wear a hat to his inauguration, thus forever branding them as uncool. This is an urban myth, however, as Kennedy did indeed don a hat that day. Another theory posits that the shrinking size of cars made wearing a hat while driving prohibitively difficult. Most likely, the demise of hats can simply be traced to changing styles and the ongoing trend towards a more casual look."

But hats are back.

I started my search for the perfect hat with a good on-line search. Then I visited hat stores in New York City and Austin, Texas. But Eureka! It turns out that one of the best haberdasheries anywhere is in Tulsa. It is in the historic Greenwood district, literally behind left field of OneOK Field, home of the Tulsa Drillers baseball team.

Let me tell you, if you want a proper hat selection experience you need a pro and Lemmel Fields of The Brothers Hat Shop is a pro. I highly recommend that you go visit Lemmel and let him work his magic. Make sure when you visit you plan to spend some time. Not only is Lemmel a hat expert, he's a great guy to know. Turns out he dated a high school classmate of my Amazing-Missus at Bixby High School. Check out this article about Lemmel.

Lemmel Fields of The Brothers Hat Shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Lemmel Fields of The Brothers Hat Shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma

A few days ago, I modeled my new Stetson "Dexter" for the Grand-girls. Harper, the two-year old, said, "No Pops!" She then led me to the rack in our utility room where my favorite baseball caps hang. She held up her arms, which is the universal sign for "pick me up." She then took her favorite cap from the rack, put it on my head, and proclaimed, "There!" 

I guess that's how she pictures her Pops.

Pops and Lemmel looking for the right hat.

Pops and Lemmel looking for the right hat.