Real Men Wear Hats

Growing up in East, TN if you are a man, you wear a hat. It doesn't really matter what kind (unless it's a sissy hat). Through the years my dad would either wear a baseball type hat or a fedora of some kind. I remember way back in the 70's he wore an old tattered brown fedora with a yellowish band. Later in life when he had more income he moved up to wearing nicer type fedoras. I have a few of his old ball caps but none of his fedoras. 

Dad in different hats

I suppose I got my love for hats from dad. Over the years I have probably had 200 or more baseball style hats, I prefer the ones they call "Trucker" hats. But my favorite hats of all are fedoras. I have been able to purchase several of those. I started out with inexpensive ones. These are usually the "crush" kind. They don't have a lot of shape to them but they will do. About 3-years ago I decided if I was going to wear fedoras I would only start buying the more expensive ones, you know, the ones that hold their shape and the brim will actually "snap." Usually every time I wear one out in public I will receive compliments on them. People are just somehow drawn to fedoras. 

I now own 5 Stetson fedoras, the latest is the Stetson Stratoliner in Silverbelly (you can see it in the center photo below). This is the most expensive hat I have ever bought and of course, it is the highest quality one as well. 

Me in a few different hats that I wear

There is a huge difference in the way higher quality hats fit and look. I can't hardly bring myself to wear the crush fedoras any more unless it's raining or if I'm doing something where my hat may get dirty or damaged. Of course, I usually wear a ball cap if I'm working.

The love for hats has also been passed down to my son, Matthew. He is rarely without a hat and collects them almost as much as I do. He mostly wears ball caps but he is one of those guys that can pull off wearing nearly any hat and it look good. Lately he has been wearing a large 10-gallon cowboy hat!

Matt in a few different hats

Some people say wearing a hat will make you go bald but that isn't true, none of the Cheney's are bald, in fact, we have more hair on our head than the average person! 

I really didn't have much of a point to this post, I was just thinking about how wearing a hat is a tradition in our family.