Straw hats

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
It seems that soldiers from both side occasionally used straw hats. Seeing I have never worn straw hats too much I was wondering if they were practical. I know that many navies used straw hats so they must provide good service. I do see some at reenactments, but not many. Anyone have a thoughts on straw hats?
 
I love all kinds of hats. Especially straw ones in summer.

Of course this off from reenactment question.

The brim does protect from the sun. I must wear ones in sun as helps protect from skin cancer.
 
I love all kinds of hats. Especially straw ones in summer.

Of course this off from reenactment question.

The brim does protect from the sun. I must wear ones in sun as helps protect from skin cancer.
I have a slouch hat but I know it'll be warm up there so I think I might switch to a straw hat for that event
 
The 16th New York Infantry used straw hats, they are at the top of my head, when I think about straw hats.

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The 16th New York Infantry used straw hats, they are at the top of my head, when I think about straw hats

Interesting. I usually associate the Plantation hat with South Carolina. Recall the Union officer in "Glory" wearing one.
I bought one even though I didnt reenact. Just wore it to shoot black powder guns or dress up like an old time farmer. Very comfortable --but I always worried about crushing it or bending the brim during storage. Seems fragile. I figured one good rain and it would fall apart.
 
(Tentatively identified) Reuben Kay was born in Dover, Tennessee, in 1838. At the age of 14, he entered the Kentucky Military Institute in Frankfort, graduating in 1858. He then joined his family in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1861, Kay joined the Missouri State Guard and served as an aide to Colonel John Taylor Hughes, commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, at Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861.

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http://moconfederacy.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/A80BE0C1-A901-47A2-88C8-251485744754

Flat boater hat consisting of finely braided straw; black wool 1.25 in. hat band; 2.25 in. brim; a light brown leather sweat band; and a gathered red silk liner tied with multicolored braided thread at the top of the interior crown. A paper label with Gothic script initials, "J. D." is sewn into the crown under the liner.

Jefferson Davis wore this straw boater hat in the summers during the war.

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Straw hats can take more of a beating than most would expect. I get mine at the local Co-op for about $10 and expect to replace it every year. The price usually goes up as the size of the straw goes down but straw hats with too fine a weave are not as cool. The good thing is you can still buy a straw hat that looks like one that was made two hundred years ago. Straw hats are sort of like a hammer. A few hundred years ago they came up with a design that is hard to improve on.
 
I read a story a while back that was interesting but don't remember the exact details. I believe it was about a NY regiment. The ladies from home sent them a batch of straw hats during the Peninsula Campaign thinking they would be more comfortable for the summer. They were but the unit got so shot up during the Seven Days Battles they blamed the straw hats for making them better targets and tossed them.
 
I love all kinds of hats. Especially straw ones in summer.

Of course this off from reenactment question.

The brim does protect from the sun. I must wear ones in sun as helps protect from skin cancer.
Dad was of the generation that wore hats, not baseball caps but real hats. In the summer he always wore a Panama, in the winter it was felt, or a wool Irish walking hat. They are still hanging on the hat rack in the house on the farm.
 
I love all kinds of hats. Especially straw ones in summer.

Of course this off from reenactment question.

The brim does protect from the sun. I must wear ones in sun as helps protect from skin cancer.
Dad in his Irish walking hat with MrsP one Thanksgiving weekend while digging Magnolia seeedlings along the bayou. He loved dogs, the Bassett is Alice, the blonde cur is my then late brother's Madeline and Fred the Lab's nose is poking out from behind Dad's left. I really like this photo, MrsP was expecting our son at the time but didn't yet know it.
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