Hat Etiquette

[Shanghai]

With all of this discussion about hats, why is it acceptable (sometimes required) for

ladies to wear hats when and where men are not permitted to wear hats??

 

[Everydaymatters]

With all of this discussion about hats, why is it acceptable (sometimes required) for

ladies to wear hats when and where men are not permitted to wear hats??

I don't understand that either. Not many women wear hats any more anyhow, but if they did, it would be acceptable anywhere. I don't get it.

 

[lthanlon]

Many of the folks in this 1905 Library of Congress photo are wearing hats.

 

[lthanlon]

More hats worn in a train's "buffet library car." Library of Congress photo, 1910-20.

 

[lthanlon]

Another LOC image, this time from the Long Island Rail Road. Couldn't see a date but seeing how women are acting as conductors, maybe World War II?

 

[lthanlon]

The VistaDome.com site has an old postcard showing passengers sitting down to eat in an Amtrak dining car. None of the passengers in this staged photo are wearing hats, although they're dressed up. I

 

[cavanaugh]

It's not necessarily disrespectful to wear a hat indoors. I'm Jewish; we're taught to cover our heads as a sign of respect in public places. While I'm not consistent about following this, there's always a moment of discomfort when I am and find that other people are taking this as a sign of disrespect, rather than the reverse, as it's intended.

 

[lthanlon]

It's not necessarily disrespectful to wear a hat indoors. I'm Jewish; we're taught to cover our heads as a sign of respect in public places. While I'm not consistent about following this, there's always a moment of discomfort when I am and find that other people are taking this as a sign of disrespect, rather than the reverse, as it's intended.

I have a Jewish friend who's had the same experience. It's interesting how there are so many different customs and traditions involving headgear

 

[NETrainfan]

The VistaDome.com site has an old postcard showing passengers sitting down to eat in an Amtrak dining car. None of the passengers in this staged photo are wearing hats, although they're dressed up. I

Thanks for the great photos!

Fashion etiquette can be very interesting and of course-diverse.

For instance, the Amish wear their hats and bonnets most places. Does anyone know if the men remove their hats in the dining car?

 

[lthanlon]

Interesting that you should mention the Amish. I see them (or Mennonites) often on Amtrak. There are a few Flickr images of them on the train or waiting in stations, but I didn't see any photos of men in the dining car.

 

[jimhudson]

Interesting that you should mention the Amish. I see them (or Mennonites) often on Amtrak. There are a few Flickr images of them on the train or waiting in stations, but I didn't see any photos of men in the dining car.

IINM the Amish dont eat in the diner, they either bring their food or eat from the cafe car. I have never seen Amish in any of the diners on the many,many trips I have taken through the years but have seen them eating in the lounges and cafe cars everytime there are Amish on the same trains I'm on.

 

[pebbleworm]

Ive seen Amishmen in the diner, and (unusually) in a sleeper on the California Zephyr last month.

 

[oldtimer]

Interesting that you should mention the Amish. I see them (or Mennonites) often on Amtrak. There are a few Flickr images of them on the train or waiting in stations, but I didn't see any photos of men in the dining car.

IINM the Amish dont eat in the diner, they either bring their food or eat from the cafe car. I have never seen Amish in any of the diners on the many,many trips I have taken through the years but have seen them eating in the lounges and cafe cars everytime there are Amish on the same trains I'm on.

My wife and I had a very delicious and interesting dinner on the EB with two Amish women in the diner. They were not accustomed to community seating. Once my wife broke the strange silence they were very talkative. They were part of a large group going to Whitefish for a wedding. Two charter buses awaited the group at the station.

 

[sunchaser]

When we rode on the California Zephyr last year, there were some Amish families that did eat in the diner. The women & men all wore their bonnets/hats even the little ones.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

I met an Amish man and his wife on the Empire Builder. Had a nice chat with them. They apparently publish magazines about gardening. Interesting people to say the least. Very nice people. The man had his hat on for like, 90% of the trip, from Montana, I think, all the way to Chicago.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I wouldn't be insulted by an Amish or Jewish rider still wearing their unique form of headgear inside. They have their own clothing that predates the standard etiquette rules the rest of us live by (or ignore).

 

[roomette]

I've twice been seated in a Dining Car booth across from an Amish couple.

 

[Big Iron]

It's not necessarily disrespectful to wear a hat indoors. I'm Jewish; we're taught to cover our heads as a sign of respect in public places. While I'm not consistent about following this, there's always a moment of discomfort when I am and find that other people are taking this as a sign of disrespect, rather than the reverse, as it's intended.

Don't let other people's ignorance bother you. It is their problem......not yours. Think about male Sikh Indians who never venture out into the public without a turban. They likely endure similar discomfort.

 

[AG]

With all of this discussion about hats, why is it acceptable (sometimes required) for

ladies to wear hats when and where men are not permitted to wear hats??

So angels won't seduce them. No seriously. It's in the New Testament, but I'm not going to take the time to look it up.

/yes, the reasons are silly, but if wearing/not wearing a hat indoors offends someone, why do it?

 

[Gord]

Hi everyone! So I have an atypical question that the folks from a bygone era may be best able to answer for me. Given my receding hairline, my scalp's susceptibility to sunburn, and a desire to change fashion trends, I have started wearing more formal hats (fedoras and the like). However, despite my searching of the internet, I don't have a clear idea of when I should wear my hat on the train. My general understanding is that in public places the hat should be on, in dwellings and restaurants the hat should be off. The presence of females seems to complicate things, with a general trend towards a general doffing of the hat. Given the indoorsy nature of the train, my understanding is that the hat should be off in the train, especially the dining car. However this is based on 40 year old etiquette.

My question to you guys/y'all/yinz: Have modern mores changed this dynamic? What do you think proper hatiquette is? Does it vary by hat style? Which car I'm in? Should I just not care?

Good manners never go out of style, it's the sign of a classy individual. Wearing a hat in the diner was considered to be discourteous and somewhat "trailer trashy". It still is by many of us over 50 types. Pre-Amtrak railroads required conductors, trainmen and other uniformed operating crew members to remove their hats while in or passing through, the diner. I notice many Amtrak conductors and assistants still observe this. To each their own, however.

 

[Tygercat]

This isn't a real common reason, but my husband will wear some sort of brimmed hat pretty near everywhere these days, due to his eye condition. After his last operation (vitrectomy for a detached retina), he finds that light will literally "bounce around" inside the eye, and a hat brim is helpful to shade from overhead or bright lights. He mostly wears baseball hats, his favorite being from the B&O Museum . He doesn't wear one at the table, and will take it off if necessary (like in Church), when that happens, I will guide him by the arm. He may also wear sunglasses indoors for the same reason. Ironically, before the operation he rarely wore a hat at all.