Mann on hats

[castiglione]

I have spent the dog days re reading The Magic Mountain in the new English translation by John E. Woods. My command of the German language and the nature of the text adviced discretion. And yes, I survived, no need to rush to 911. I am still kicking and alive. Sort of. The text is dense, somewhat elegiac in mood and very likely an epitaph to the European generation that perished in the trenches of the IWW. Do not fear, dear members I will not try to give you my modest opinions on the book. I only wanted to quote Mr. Mann on hats, a subject so close to many of you, oh decadent fellows!
Here it is
Pag 52, paperback edition.
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"Let me tell you. So there I am, asking myself how I ought to act under the circumstances. I did not have a hat to take off-"
"You see!" Hans Castorp quickly interrupted yet again. "You see, a man should always wear a hat. I have noticed, of course, that you people up here never wear one. But you should, so that you can tip it whenever the occasion demands. But now, what happened?"
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Here you are. Another gem was the elevator, not in order after supper since the bellboy had already gone to sleep and customers were not supposed to tamper with technicalities. Rather climb the stairs.
And with this trifle I conclude the day. Good evening all.

[Costi]

...and good morning, with a tip of the hat

[NJS]

I see that the translator uses 'tip' (and I don't know what was the German verb used - Marcelo - you have Mann in German) but (not that it matters very much), 'doff' might be a better verb; going back to 1400. It has been used for removing any clothing but has come to be associated with raising one's hat as a salutation or sign of respect.
NJS

[davidhuh]

I cannot find the right portion in my Zauberberg, but Mann is using "lüften" (literally: to lift) elsewhere in the book.

Quote "..., und wenn Joachim jemandem Guten Morgen sagte, lüftete Hans Castorp höflich den Hut."

cheers, david

[NJS]

Great stuff, David.

[hectorm]

Tip (lift, doff, etc.) your hat to the man while crossing him on the sidewalk and he will surely do the same.
BTW, I love his overcoat and his spats.

[castiglione]

Dear David. Just to help you locate the precise part of the book. It is at the beginning in the Chapter "Teasing/Viaticum/Interrupted Merriment". Joachim is explaining to Hans Castorp the vagaries of death at the Sanatorium and tries to describe Barbara Huyus, a teenager, final moments. She is catholic and the priest arrives, glockenspiel and all, altar boy with cross, the whole hog of what the translator calls "extreme unction" and my English used to call "Last Ointment" or "Viaticum". You have a very moving depiction of this Catholic sacrament in the first chapter of Joyce´s Ulysses when Stephen mom is in the pangs of death.
Quote.
"Her glazing eyes, staring out of death, to shake and bend my soul. On me alone. The ghostcandle to light her agony. Ghostly light on the tortured face. Her hoarse loud breath rattling in horror, while all prayed on their knees. Her eyes on me to strike me down. Liliata rutilantium te confessorum turma circumdet: iubilantium te virginum chorus excipiat."
End quote.
So Joachim, Hans Castorp cousin and a dyed in the wool Hamburg protestant watches all this holy parade go by and does not know what to do for he is not wearing a hat. Hans Castorp interrupts then with the quote.
Hope it helps.
Hector impressive in his erudition. And not to be off topic: Chapeau!

[davidhuh]

Thank you Castiglione, now I found the portion. Hm, I was wrong... - Thomas Mann could have used "lüften", but he didn't.

It is one of these "simple sentences" Mann was famous for. "Man soll aber einen aufsetzen, damit man ihn abnehmen kann, bei Gelegenheiten, wo es sich schickt."

Personally, I would translate "abnehmen" by "taking off". But my Langenscheidt Muret-Sanders is using "doff" in the context of a hat, as proposed by NJS.

cheers, david

[alden]

In any case a superbe Ulster coat with slash pockets...it may not be a magic mountain but it has Everest written all over it!

[Pssst]

Tip (lift, doff, etc.) your hat to the man while crossing him on the sidewalk and he will surely do the same.
BTW, I love his overcoat and his spats.

[couch]

This is an interesting point of etiquette. Mann here doffs his hat but offers a gloved hand to shake. Thoughts?

[hectorm]

Good observation Couch.
A hand shake is not such with the gloves on. The old story says there must be a bare hand for showing it free of weapons and demonstrating the other person is not unworthy of touching your skin.
As for removing your hat outdoors, it´s an elegant form of salutation au passant. You don´t stop, don´t shake hands, only acknowledge with the hat and keep walking.
I think it´s proper to remove your hat when you are being introduced and you want to show respect, but for someone you already know, if you stop, the bare handshake is much more important. Outdoors you may keep your hat when it´s cold but you always take off your right glove before shaking hands. Mann knew all this, of course.
My bet is he got surprised by the other man´s action. Probably he thought they were just crossing each other and he only removed his hat. Then the other man slows down, removes his glove and stops offering his bare hand for shaking. A bit of a moment, no?

[Costi]

I don't suppose Mann (of all gentlemen) would have extended a gloved hand. I suppose the other (younger) gentleman ventured to invite a handshake and Mann, rather than struggle (already with his hat in his hand - held by the crown, not by the brim) to unglove, preferred not to keep the other waiting with the arm suspended in midair. To me, Mann's attitude in the photo suggests a response, rather than an invitation.

[castiglione]

Quite frankly, gents, I never ever imagined I would be discussing hat and glove etiquette in my days. Would you believe that I happened to actually study how to don (whatever) a hat? Primary School (private, nuns, I was five and six years old, never forgot the lesson. The book must be somewhere in the attic)
1.- To a buddy. Just touch your hat.
2.- To a partner. Lift your hat. Just a bit.
3.- To a married lady. The whole hog. Up and down until the knee line.
Gloves. Tricky thing. In principle bare hands. But...among the military gloved hands are the norm. Even when a Captain salutes a General. In civil life gloved hands are admitted too if you shake hands with a friend.
Just to top it all. Old proverb on gloves. For the King one. For God none. Meaning. Your right bare hand to shake hands with the King. The left hand remains gloved. In Church never ever gloves right or left, bare hands only. Ladies excluded, as usual.

[couch]

I did not mean to suggest that Mann initiated the handshake; perhaps I could have been clearer on the point. I think both Costi and hectorm have suggested the likely scenario. That's why I posed the question. As hectorm says: "A bit of a moment, no?" If the purpose of etiquette, and/or good manners generally, is to make the other person comfortable, then Costi's thought that Mann "preferred not to keep the other waiting with the arm suspended in midair" is the generous and polite thing to do. But if extending a gloved hand (even to meet another's initiative) by tradition signals that one is not on peaceable or polite terms with another, then in this little vignette we have goods in conflict--an awkward situation in which any of the three possibilities (the third would have been for Mann to leave his gloved hand at his side and allow the smile and the hat-lift to be his greeting) is neither wholly satisfactory nor wholly wrong. I tend to think the choice depicted is the best, but if the other fellow was aware of the "uncovered hand" convention, he would not have minded the pause while Mann ungloved. If not aware of it, then Mann's choice allowed him to save face while also being the smoothest and most practical.

Convenient that a photographer appeared at that moment. Do we know who the other man was?