Of Men and Hats

On Fathers Day, I actually gave a gift to my SIL. It's a pro baseball cap from the Montreal Expos that I've had since 1995. I bought it as a souvenir from a trip to Montreal. After being raised there, we left for the Toronto area in 1962. 1995 was my first time back since the later 60s except for a brief winter trip for my uncle's funeral in 1971.

I found my old houses and schools, and we did a little touring such as the old port,which was unfamiliar to me, and Mount Royal, which was very familiar to me. I was a baseball fan at the time, and we visited Olympic Stadium to see my favourite team, the Expos, play. They won but the franchise was beginning its collapse after they did so well in the previous strike-shortened season. The became the Washington Nationals in 2004.

Anyway, I don't wear ball caps, so, 18 years after purchasing it but not using it, I passed it along to Eric to do with it as he will. It's a fitted cap, but it fits his head too.

There's something about men and hats. Here is a photo from the early days of my grandfather (second row,extreme left) and the rest of the construction crew. Every guy was wearing a cap.

Here's a photo of my other grandfather at work.

How about great grandfathers?

Comme pour moi? Here's a very recent one of me wandering around with my camera catching flies with my open mouth.

And here I am in my new, favourite, cooler weather cap.

As you can see, I am a hat/cap guy but not baseball caps. Everybody wears those, and they don't look good on too many people. Besides, there's nothing distinctive about a generic, ubiquitous ballcap.

Why do men wear caps? In my case, it is at least partly because I ain't got no hair up there. So, the dome gets pretty cold in winter, and the sun really bakes it in summer. I need the protection.

Aside from that, I guess it's the one manly thing that men can do to add something to their appearance. According to societal norms, we can't do much with our hair, even those who have some. And we can't wear makeup to disguise our flaws and general aging. It just isn't done. We can wear hats, however, and often choose to do so.

And ... one final late-breaking photo as it were -- hot off the press.