As a "friend" once memorably put it, you can always count on me to find the cloud behind every silver lining. The rain has held off for a few days now, but can the miserably hot and humid days of summer be far behind? There was a time when head protection on sunny days was de rigueur, and a baseball cap was considered the appropriate headgear only for playing baseball. For the rest of life, other types of summer hat gave Brooklyn heads their special pizzazz.
In the late 19th century you could still wear a straw boater without a hint of irony, in fact every member of this well-dressed family sports some kind of headgear. 
By the 1930s and 40s the boater seems to have gone out of fashion. Maybe it was considered inadequately masculine.
Eagle writer and broadcaster H.V. Kaltenborn poses in a hat that Hemingway might not have been ashamed of:
But sheer fashion sense, I would have to go for this little number noted by Irving I. Herzberg on a subway trip circa 1960.
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
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