One of the things I remember best about my Grandpa (whom we called "Paw"), was his hat. Any time he left the house, regardless of the reason, he always wore his hat. It was a distinctive hat, soft felt, and looked good on him. I especially remember the Bailey logo on the hatband, because it was cursive, and I was learning to print at the time I noticed it.
This picture was taken when I was about six months old. That's me on the left, in the arms of my Grandma (Maw-maw), and my cousin Mike on the right being held by Paw. And Paw is wearing his hat.
Well.... Dubby dragged me into this store in Williamsburg yesterday, and *surprise*, there was Paw's hat! The exact style, shape, hatband, everything! And it even had the Bailey signature inside! I couldn't resist.
I'm still keeping my eyes open for my other GrandDaddy's hat. My other grandpa wore a hat too, although it was quite different. It was also quite distinctive: gray straw, with a little tiny red feather in the hatband.
By the way, my grandparents were always *really, really old* from the time I can first remember. I mean ancient. . Elderly. Looking at the picture above, you can see how old they were. But when I consider the date, in that photo Paw was only nine (9) years older than I am now! And Maw-maw was only six years older than I am now! Ummm.... I guess that makes me.....
6 comments:
You don't seem all that old to me. Maybe it's because you're active and not all wispy and feeble and wrinkly.
Thanks. Yep, they were wispy, feeble, and wrinkly when they were my age. Of course, to be fair, they had led very hard lives... their life was unimaginably harder than mine has been. They worked harder, they watched children die, they were dirt poor their entire lives, they knew real hunger, they had little or no time for relaxation or entertainment, they couldn't afford medical or dental care, in short they had it really rough compared to me. They were "plumb wore out" by the time they reached my age, literally. A little more than six years after that picture was taken, my grandmother was in her grave.
Hm, it's funny. People just don't wear hats anymore. It's a shame too, since they impart character.
I myself have been looking for a houndstooth pattern newsboy cap, very much because my grandfather still wears one, ironically enough.
yup, you're old
That is so sweet, sometimes people just don't take care of things that have been passed down through the years,until, one day they realize that they lost that item or it was destroyed. As a faith, we are constantly talking about material things not mattering, but they do! They do matter! And some of those things help us remember who we are,where we came from, and the loved ones we lost through the years. I wonder if anything that I have now, would anyone in my family keep it to remember me by? hmmm...
Hmm... so it looks like you have to find the other hat now too and then decide which one you like more. Personally, a feather in a hat would be really awesome, however straw is pretty old school. I like the hat you bought!
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