Man of many hats

I have always loved hats, not the kind of love where I always have to be wearing one but almost.

Jimmy with a hat at 2 years old.

One of the earliest pictures I have found of myself putting a hat onto my head is just before my second birthday, I shared this with you back in a post called Just turn around.

I have always owned a cowboy hat of one sort or another, you have seen several pictures of me wearing a straw hat. A straw cowboy hat is a must have for me, they not only looks good any time, they also keep the sun off of your face and neck when the sun is blaring down upon you.

Another must have is a waterproof leather or better yet an oilskin "Aussie" style hat that keeps your head dry when it rains. This hat also blocks the sun, works as a water bowl for your favorite four legged friend, and even looks good as a hat. I love this style of hat that has many names, Australian outback, pinch front, tear drop, and some even say that Indiana Jones wears this hat.

My old pinch front straw hat.

 Whatever you call it this is the crease I prefer, even on my straw hats.

I have worn many hats over the years. I bought myself a purple and gold ball cap from my high school sometime around the beginning of my junior year, this was our school colors and it went really well with my matching purple windbreaker. I looked good and blended in at school very well, but stuck out like a sore thumb everywhere else I went.

When I first moved to New Mexico at age 18, all the guys around town were wearing "Worley Mills" ball caps. They were good looking hats and to look like everyone else I acquired myself a bright yellow and blue cap with the Worley Mills logo on the front, just like everyone else, I looked good in that cap for a short time.

I needed to find myself a job, because helping my dad out at a gas station just wasn't a good source for spending money. So I got up early one morning, showered and shaved, put on the nicest shirt and the best jeans that I owned and of course my good boots, on the way out the door I grabbed my new Worley Mills cap because it was the only clean cap that I had at the time.

In those days when looking for a job you didn't get on the internet to look for work, as I have been told is the proper way now, besides Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet. There was no filling out applications online and waiting to be contacted, instead you actually went places and filled out job applications in person, by hand, and hoped for an immediate interview. If you didn't get an immediate interview then you went back another day to check on your application and to show interest in the job, a lot of times you were hired on the spot...

One place that I applied for a job was Farmers Co-op Elevators, this is a silo/elevator grain storage facility that also sells animal feed. After filling out an application and waiting for the manager to go over it, I was called into his office for an interview. I got the job! I was hired right then and there, I was to start immediately! The Manager liked me, I had done good! The manager handed me a brand spanking new Farmers Co-op ball cap, and then gave me my first task as a new employee, I had to dispose of my Worley Mills hat immediately, like right now before I left the office, because they were the direct competition, located right across the tracks.

This is the only time in my life that I have been hired by a company while displaying their competitors advertising, and also the last time that I applied for a job at a place I knew absolutely nothing about.

Jimmy holding Grandson wearing a straw hat.

I introduced my grandson to his first straw hat when he was just a little guy, and he wore that hat until it was too small for him, so next time we are together  I have a date to take him hat shopping, just because I can.

Why do people wear hats? A good ball cap is designed to keep the sun out of your eyes, seriously folks the proper way to wear a ball cap is with the bill straight out in the front over your eyes, this the only way that the bill will do it's proper job of shading your face.

I have seen a lot of people now who wear their ball caps backwards, or sideways, or even cocked to the side just a bit with the bill over one eye, I guess this is either a choice for style or they woke up early and just didn't get their hats on straight that day.

Photo by Duffy Brook on Unsplash

Hats are also worn to help keep you warm in the wintertime, they help to hold the heat in your body by keeping your head warm, and as I've mentioned they also block the hot sun during the summertime to help keep you from overheating.

Hats are worn for fashion, style, as protection from the elements, and as personal protective equipment at work, and sometimes completely wrong just because you like it that way.

Over the years I have worn many hats, from hard hats on the job, ball caps to advertise my favorite school or racing driver, to straw hats for no reason at all. I just simply like a nice looking hat, and like my old jeans sometimes a cap that is old and broken in.

Do you wear a hat and what is your favorite style?