Hat-wearing while dining outside?

[Costi]

I like the glass soda syphone on the table - it reminds me of childhood days when I was captivated by the moment when the CO2 capsule discharged eruptively into the bottle. Who uses soda syphones anymore these days? Are rechargeable bulbs still availble? They used to come in sets of 10 in plastic boxes. I haven't seen them for years...

[dopey]

There is still an old-fashioned Seltzer Man in Manahattan delivering seltzer water to your door and picking up the empty bottles to be refilled once again. I don't use the service but I have friends who do. It is a great product but by no means effortless. Marty the Seltzer Man is getting on in years and is quite the curmudgeon. He is still accepting customers, I think, but it is not easy to meet his approval. That sounds silly, but as a one man show he has limited capacity and wants to make sure you meet his minimum volume and, more importantly, he has great difficult getting bottles strong enough to bear the pressure of the filling process so he sees customers as people he has to be able to trust with his inventory. Every breakage or "lost" bottle cuts his supply (last I talked to them about this they said he might have found a source in Czechoslovakia that can make the bottles).

here is an article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A96F948260

It is worth a search for his website (doubt it exists but I didn't try very hard) or someplace else where you can see his posters. He does them himself and they look a lot like R. Crumb's work.

[Costi]

Hehe, funny article dopey, thanks!
Having someone refill the bottles for you is fine, but making your own soda is an entirely different business. I remember my father once discharged a bulb into one of those metallic syphons; he had not screwed the head correctly and, when the pressure built up, the head took off vertically like a rocket, barely touched his forehead and dug a 2 cm deep hole into the kitchen ceiling... He was lucky!
I actually don't like the taste of soda too much and prefer still water, but some of the old glass syphons are quite charming objects.

[Guille]

nothing could be more practical than a hat

I couldn't agree more with this. It is often thought that hats disappeared from the mainstream because of it becoming less and less useful, although I think it's usefulness (as anything's usefulness) is the same now and will always be the same as before, as the uses of something never change, we may have reached a time whereby its usefulness is not necessary, as we have come to use umbrellas more often, not care as much about our hair being perfectly set in our heads as they did in the 30s, not being uncomfortable with the sun striking our heads and hiding form the wind and cold by avoiding extended periods of time outdoors (shopping malls, metro, less use of gardens/parks in the cities...). Therefore, the hat disappeared gradually as all that was left of it as necessary was its combination to the rest of the clothes (level of formality and as an other garment), and has been gradually disappearing as the pocket square, the boutonniere, spats and gloves (glove sin particular, which are also highly practical garments in all their forms, have gone through the same process of not becoming necessary anymore even if they were still useful). I hope my distinction of usefulness and necessity doesn't seem to odd to you people, but I think there is more to it than just a linguistic difference.

[storeynicholas]

The way I came to wear this hat
Is very strange and funny,
Grandfather died and left to me
His property and money.
And when the will it was read out,
It told me straight and flat,
That if I had the money,
I must always wear this hat.

CHORUS
Where did you get that hat,
Where did you get that tile,
And isn’t it a nobby one,
And what a proper style.
I should like to have one just the same as that;
Where‘er I go they shout, Helloa,
Where did you get that hat.

If I go to the opera,
In the opera season,
People stand and stare at me,
Without the slightest reason.
And if I go to a concert hall,
To have a jolly spree,
There’s someone in the building
Is sure to say to me –

CHORUS
Where did you get that hat, etc.

At twenty one I thought I would
To my sweetheart get married,
For all the neighbours in our street
Said too long we had tarried.
So off we went to church,
Determined to be wed,
The ceremony started,
When the parson to me said –

CHORUS
Where did you get that hat, etc

I once tried hard to be MP
But failed to get elected,
Upon a tub I stood,
Round which a hundred folks collected;
And I had dodged the eggs and bricks
(Which was no easy task),
When one man cried:
‘A question I, the candidate would ask!’

CHORUS
Where did you get that hat, etc

When Colonel Smith, the millionaire,
Gave his last garden party,
I was among the guests who had
A welcome true and hearty;
The Prince of Wales was also there,
And my heart jumped with glee,
When I was told the Prince would like
To have a word with me.

CHORUS
Where did you get that hat, etc

[Old music hall ballad.]

[DFR]

How absolutely dreaful t wear at hat at table. Quite appalling.

I apprecaite that the sun might have been a distraction but I doubt to much so.

Suggest asking either your host of his servants to place it is suitable wardrobe in future.

[Lister-Heathcote]

Frankly, whilst dining with friends or family, one should wear exactly what one wants. In more formal situations, or where the company is less well-known, it is probably safer to remove hats/sunglasses &c. simply out of politeness.

Lister-Heathcote

[Lister-Heathcote]

By the way, delightful post storynicholas!

Lister-Haethcote

[Cordovan]

Once we are on the topic of hat etiquette...

What is the proper thing to do when entering a hotel lobby and venturing into either their lounge or bar? In a sense the lobby of the hotel is still as public as the street, yet one goes in for privacy. In addition, many hotels no longer have coat/ hat checks upon entering.

Your thoughts please...

[dopey]

Once we are on the topic of hat etiquette...

What is the proper thing to do when entering a hotel lobby and venturing into either their lounge or bar? In a sense the lobby of the hotel is still as public as the street, yet one goes in for privacy. In addition, many hotels no longer have coat/ hat checks upon entering.

Your thoughts please...

In a hotel lobby I leave it on, unless I am using the lobby as a location to stop and talk rather than as a transit or meet-up point.

In bars, I treat it as I would an overcoat. Depends on the place and circumstances. If I leave my overcoat on (or would if I had one), I leave the hat on.

[yachtie]

If I'm just sitting at a cafe having a coffee and cake I leave it on. If I were having a full meal "al fresco" I'd remove it. if I were eating in the winter in the woods like Sator's picture, I'd leave it on- practicality trumps here.

[RWS]

To my mind, hat-wearing (as so much else in life, satorial or other) is a balance between practical considerations (heat, cold, wind, indoors or not, intimates or not) and putting others at ease. One must have or develope a good feelling for place and people to know what's best in any particular situation, I think.

[Costi]

I have just returned from a country weekend. Yesterday we took the table outside on the lawn for lunch. The sun was shining brihglty on the cloudless sky, there was no shade whatsoever at noon and my forearms still burn from exposure (I wore a short sleeve shirt). I imagine I would have got a nasty insolation but for my Panama hat, which I only lifted off my head a couple of times during lunch to greet a group of latecomers and to sweep my forehead and temples with a white handkerchief. I was far from the only one to display some kind of headwear at table.