My dad always wore a hat, all year long.

Think his were that felt kind and then I do remember him having straw hats for the summer as well.

Plus he was suit person, and always had his monogrammed handkerchief neatly fixed in his front coat pocket.

This was my dad's hat

{{!gwi}}

The felt used to make hats comes in different weights or thicknesses and is graded by a number followed by an X. The smaller the number the lighter the weight or thickness.

Winter hats were commonly 5x or 6x felt, while they made the same hat styles in 3x or 4x for summer use.

In addition to felt, they also made White, Black & gray straw Fedoras and a colored cotton similar to denim but a bit lighter called "Twill"

In hotter climates it was popular for men to wear white "Panama" hats in summer, which offered a slightly wider brim and a bit more sun protection.

It was also popular for men to wear a lightweight "Alpine Style" hat in summer.

On a side note, while we commonly think of J.B.Stetson as a western hat, Stetson was originally based in Waterbury,Connecticut and they not only made western hats, they were the worlds leading producer of high quality felt Fedoras

I grew up in the 1940ties-50ties, but I don't remember my father ever wearing a hat, winter or summer. He was an executive for a middle-sized mfg. company in the Midwest, & always wore a suit, white shirt & tie & polished shoes to work, but never a hat there or anyplace else. I remember every Christmas, one of his suppliers always gave him a "hat certificate", which was cutely a minature man's hat inside of a little square hatbox---I'm sure it was a "Dobbs"---which he could exchange for the real thing at any full-line dept. store. Not sure what he did with these now that I think about it.

Except for men's straw bowlers (in the 1920ties), I can't come up with a man's summer hat in the 1950ties.

This is CLOSE to what my dad wore. Don't remember the band being that wide. And that tall. I said close :o)

{{!gwi}}

Thanks, everyone! I suppose the region of the country was a factor, too. My dad was in NYC. I'll bet our fathers all looked great.

Lazypup, you might be interested to know that Stetson University is in Deland, Florida (where my parents lived in retirement).

Back in my truck driving days I delivered a load to Stetson University once..

On a side note, I once had a hat get me cussed out...

I was stationed in Germany for 4 years and in Germany it is the practice that all men wear hats when outside. It is also their custom that when you are walking down a sidewalk and you pass someone nearby you politely tip your hat and say "Guten Morgan"(good morning", "Guten Tag (good day) or "Guten Ahbent" (good evening) whatever the case may be and as you might imagine, after living there four years it became a habit.

When I returned to the States my wife and I stayed at my Father-in-Laws home in Cleveland for about 30 days. One day I decided to go downtown Cleveland to the Navy Finance Center to draw some pay and as I was walking from the subway station at Terminal Towers to the Finance Center wearing my full dress uniform, I happened to pass a well dressed young lady about 30yrs old who was heading the other way. Out of habit, as I passed I tipped my hat and said, "Good Morning", meaning nothing by it, just out of habit. To my complete surprise she stopped, looked at me silly, then started shouting indignantly, "What the hell is your problem? Do I know you? Who are You? Are you some kind of pervert or what?"..She was still carrying on as I continued walking along my way and saying to myself,,"Welcome home G.I. you are back in the world now."

My father always wore a hat to church on Sunday. It looked like the one in Glenda's post.

Maybe there was a subsidiary plant in CT but the original and main Stetson factory and offices were in Philadelphia. John Stetson was born in Orange New Jersey and after touring the West moved to Philadelphia to start a hat making business which became the largest in the world. At one point there were 25 buildings on 9 acres in north Philly and over 5000 people worked there. The factory closed in the 1970's. I still remember reading about the closing in the Phila. papers when I moved to Philly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stetson

Me and my dad, 1944. I was 5

{{!gwi}}

Tom Ewell looked really dapper in a New York heat wave.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Seven Year Itch

My Dad always wore a hat. In the winter it was felt but for the summer it was straw. We had a hat factory in Norwalk CT where I grew up.

Oh, Glenda, you were a little beauty! And your dad looks a little bit like Tom Ewell--but handsomer.

Here's my dad in the early 1940s. This picture looks rather film noir to me.

{{!gwi}}

My dad worked in NYC in the 50's and wore suit, white shirt, tie and polished shoes and hat. No straw hat in my memory. Perhaps different weights as suggested by Lazypup. He was a CPA in a large accounting firm. When we moved to northern NY, he became the comptroller of a very casual office and I doubt he ever wore the hat again.

In the 1940 and 1950, my dad was a farmer. He wore felt hats and in spring and summer, when in the fields, he wore straw hats of substantial design.

We used his old felt hats to make filter funnels. We bought gasoline in bulk from a tank truck and stored it in 55 gal drums. We might make two buys between January and September. There was a potential to comtaminate the fuel both fromour storage and from the supplier's tanks. Water was the principle comtaminant. To guard against carburetor problems, an old felt hat was put in a funnel and the fuel filter through the hat when filling a fuel can. We always looked in the hat after a draw to check on quality. Water would not readily pass through a good felt hat. Clean gasoline passed quickly, but water comtaminated fuel slowed and when that happened, we knew we had comtaminated fuel.

Dad's old felt hats prevented a lot of fuel problems with our tractors and trucks.

Men wearing hats began to phase out after WW2. In the 1950's, highschool boys thought that hats were not 'cool' - Think Archie and Fonzie. As part of the rock and roll movement, boys became obsessed with hair-dos and anyone with 'hat hair' just was not "with it". Farm laborers wore air breathing straw hats for protection from the sun. Those hats were removed when out of the sun.

I have some family photos that are 100 years old. One shows a group of 12 men and boys cleaning their catch of fish, apparently at a family gathering. All have hats and most were floppy, well used felts.

Pam, my dad was an accountant, too! He headed the accounting department of an oil company in lower Manhattan. A lot of people think of accountants as stuffy, but that certainly isn't true. :-)

Oh, and my daughter Suzanne's bachelor's degree is in accounting, too.

My dad wore a straw hat in the summer in the same fedora style as the felt hat he wore in winter. He also wore summer undershirts, what my kids call Wife Beaters. He supervised the taking down of the storm windows and installing of the screens. He took care of the screen door at the front door so that it was always in good repair. He even installed a knob down low for the family toddlers, which he made by screwing an empty wooden spool from Mom's sewing basket to the door frame. And the awnings were installed for the summer too. I know, more than you asked.

My dad wore a hat year round but don't remember a straw one. He wore always white starched shirts,, never a color or striped, dark tie and dark suits and polished Florshein (?) shoes. Tonight I watched Mad Men. Love it. Makes me remember those times .

My father wore a felt hat in the late 1940's to early 60's, always to work, but never on the weekends. My paternal grandfather was never without a hat and did wear a straw hat during the warmer months. My father-in-law who is 91 still wears a felt hat when wearing a suit. He needed a new hat recently and it was tough trying to find one of quality at a department store, so we ended up ordering online.

My grandfather had a hat like those for special things.
My father on the other hand was a man who worked in a sawmill and almost neverleft the house with out his cap. His were white, clean for good, and very off color forwork and when working in the garden, work shop or chores like working on the car. They were cotton caps that you see today on little boys orsome pic's of golfers and some had a snap on the brim to keep the poof out I guess.

I've only seen my father wearing a straw hat ('a boater') in photos taken long before I was born. Later, he wore a hat as much as possible, to cover his hair loss!

Old photos taken of streets in cities are always striking for the *hats* on every head, men and women -- and the white gloves every lady wore in summer. (Mine would be smudged with coal dust by the time my mother and I got off the train in the city.)

Corporations had dress codes requiring men to wear *white* shirts, dark suits, leather shoes with laces, and HATS.

I was born in the late 30's and as long as my Dad lived, he never went outside without his hat. Felt in winter and straw in summer...new for each season. Up at 5:00 A.M. & off to the local hotel for his Wall Street Journal, a shave & a shoe shine.

He was particular about his appearance and clothing & I have vivid memories of him in winter -dressed in a heavy overcoat, with hat, gloves and spats. And he never failed to tip his hat and hold a door open for the ladies!

Mother wore hat & gloves even for grocery shopping until near the end of her life.

IMHO we could use a lot more of those more 'proper' times.

I think most grown men wore hats in the 40's my dad wore one like alisande's dad He looked a little like Bogart sometimes

My Dad really enjoyed sailing (he owned his own boat) and fishing. He work a white sailor hat all summer (just like Popeye).

Love the pics! Glenda, your son and gson resemble your father quite a bit!

I wish hats were more popular again, although I'm seeing a resurgence of them. A hat store opened up across the street from my work so I went in there to browse. There were some really nice ones for both men and women. I tried a few on but they were expensive, about $125 each!

southern ca was our stomping ground in the 50's thru 65...dad was sales for elevator co's so it was white shirt, tie (often bow) suits, but no hat...he had one but never wore it...

when they moved to las vegas in 65, to his passing in 1977, it was the same standard suit and tie, even in the 100+ temps!

Generally when we speak of straw hats ppl envision a cowboy hat or a wide brim staw hat that makes you look like an Amish Field Hand,,,

but although straw is a very popular medium for making summer weight hats, rest assured they come in hundreds of varieties.

Note in the upper right hand picture even though the hat is made of straw, the weave is so tight that one might think it linen or felt from a distance.

Since Alisandes original inquiry was about Fedora hats, and what did men who wore Fedora's wear in summer, I went in search of photos of summer weight Fedoras

I don't remember my father ever wearing a straw hat. I do remember felt hats and cloth hats, so maybe he had a cloth hat for summer.