This morning the President made another big announcement. I am now eligible for full Social Security benefits and thus the government considers me eligible to be fully retired, I guess. Those of us born between 1943 and 1954 can call 66 the official year. Those born after 1959 must wait to 67 and in between gradually increase so suck it after 54 ‘ers. Of course my Congressman, Congressman Fred “just call me Fred” Upton couldn’t just leave that to happen without a fight. Congressman Fred said he was introducing a bill that would deny SS to you unless you could prove that during the 1950’s you wore hats. Now that made about as much sense as anything else him and his GOP guys have done over my lifetime (well except for that Eisenhower guy and the interstate highway) but don’t worry I’ve got it covered.
From the most early age I decked myself out in stylish hats.
You may say “it looks cold out a hat made sense, even if it is an old man hat with ear flaps” but here you can see another stylish number in the summer heat.
Of course the famous picture of me that should have been on the cover of Life magazine featured a hat along with fence posts ready to impale my young body.
Sunday go to meetin’? Requires a hat.
What third birthday party wouldn’t be complete without a Sherlock Holmes hat.
And yes it was a dark world back then.
Being outside hell driving requires a hat also.
I thought for a moment that the arrival of a sister might have put and end to the hats…
But nope, hats for all.
In fact the hell driving required many styles of hats including this, before it’s time, flat brim baby.
During the 50’s hats were required when watching TV.
During the summers in August we would spend a week at the lake in northern Indiana for a week where Grandma Marchant and I wold color, wearing a hat.
Another birthday, another hat.
Winter always brought out the hats, of course, although you will note that dad seemed to not need a hat or for that matter a winter coat.
There were a series of illnesses that all kid had to go through in the 50’s, chicken pox measles, and mumps. Here I am confined to bed with the mumps, and of course, a hat.
As I reached the later years of the 50’s the hat became more theme oriented depending on what park program was in play. Here is some Indian hats.
Here is a King Aurthur hat (that sword is still in the footlocker in the furnace room and maybe the Indian hat also, I’ll have to look)
As the 50’s began to fade uniform hats became the norm.
The Naas Foods baseball hat got worn everyday even without the uniform as did all little league hats in town. I think it was city law that they be worn all the time. Notice the stylish crease in the top.
There were some hats that I just don’t know the origin of such as this hat in what must have been a photo shoot for the cover of the Canadian NRA magazine.
The 50’s ended and so did hats, except for baseball caps but Congressman Fred only was going after the 50’s so I’m clear but I do get some extra credit such as this mid 60’s summer band uniform that was the cutting edge of stylish band stuff. As noted, mom found this on an old roll of film in an old camera years later.
That was pretty much the last hat on record except for the stupid beanie they made freshmen wear at Purdue back in those days.
And finally the green visor although not a hat is the last proof that I can pass on to Congressman Fred that I meet the requirements for being 66. This prior to a trip in the VW camper down Route 66 to Phoenix along in 74 as noted.
So having never really been a hat person, although I would wear one to the Purdue football games the last few years it is only fitting I leave with this as a ying yang hat thing. The ying being me older than these pictures and the yang a hat from 50 years ago the, Portland Panther High School baseball hat that has been used as a paint hat sometime in the past.
Apparently your head gets fatter with age also.