ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF LINDA JOHNSON Executive Director [email protected] JULIE DIDION Community Relations Director 5020 Ryan Rd, Toledo, OH 43614 P: 419-389-0800 F: 419-389-0819 APRIL 2021 [email protected] KRYSTAL ADKINS Resident Care Coordinator Straw Hats have appeared in cultures [email protected] the world over, and have been made from just about every conceivable form of JENNIFER DAZELL straw or grass as a result. Some of the Business OPce Manager [email protected] most common are wheat straw hats, most commonly found in the Italian JODI KIMBALL HAPPY STRAW HAT MONTH Peninsula, rush straws, palm leaves, and Activity Director You might not think straw hats need an of course rice straw and bamboo. [email protected] entire month to celebrate them, but it’s It may seem a bit early to consider wearing a straw hat, especially since KILEY CULKOWSKI true. April is Straw Hat Month. We often Dining Room Manager think of straw hats as belonging to folks most people associate them with warm [email protected] who work outside, from cowboys, to summer wear, but they really can be farmers to workers in rice paddies, appropriate for much of the year, ELLEN MATTESON though those aren’t the only places to especially in milder climates. Plus, if Housekeeping Nnd them. They are popular for such, you're making your own, now is a good time to start! PETE MOLINA however, being relatively cool because Maintenance they are woven, yet they provide good protection from the sun. April may strike you as an unlikely month for straw hats, because at least in our area of the country, it is not warm enough yet to wear them, but it is windy The American straw hat making industry enough to blow that hat off your head. traces its origins to Betsy Metcalf. Betsy Straw Hat Month is meant to remind you may not have made the Nrst straw hat in to exchange your knitted and felt hats for America, but in 1798, at age twelve, she Dawn W. 4/1 straw ones in preparation for the warmth made a straw bonnet that is believed to be The coming of April of spring and summer. the Nrst documented straw hat made in Carla W. 4/2 Boater, Panama, cowboy, short- the USA. Her next move immortalized her. heralds the time to plant Charles W. 4/8 brimmed, wide-brimmed, strewn with She then “learned all who wished to seeds of magic and fill the Sharon E. 4/10 Oowers or adorned with ribbon, make bonnets”, thus launching an heart and home with the Della S. 4/23 occasionally a fedora or a fascinator, the industry. These early bonnets and the joy of light and life. straw hat goes by many names, appears straw, are neatly hand-sewn in rows, looks -Lotuswulf Satyrhorn Patsy B. 4/26 in many shapes and forms, and has been like “straw”-the stuff we see in bales found Beverly R. 4/30 around for centuries. on farms. FASHION HATTITUDE STRAW HAT WORD SEARCH Back then straw hats were the norm for summer wear due to their breathability, and of course no one left the house without a hat on if at all possible. The oPcial season for wearing straw hats was HAT PLAITS May 15th to September 15th. These rules At the beginning of the nineteenth of dress were in play for decades and, for HAT IDIOMS century, small children were put to work the most part, followed closely. How many do you know? at what were known as PLAIT SCHOOLS. How well you followed the rules showed How many have you used? Children as young as three and four that you were not only hip with the times, MAD AS A HATTER would be deemed old enough to produce but that you had status. As soon as There was a time when hatters would use some useful income for the family. Five September 15th rolled up men were Mercury to stiffen felts, and the toxic and six year olds would spend all day expected to begin donning their wool felt fumes would affect their brains. The working on lengths of braided straw, hats, preferably of the latest style, say a affected hat makers were in turn made fun which would then be collected into large nice bowler or Homburg. At least, this was of, often being treated as drunkards, thus bundles and taken to the Market to be the custom in the Northern states where coining the term ''Mad as a hatter''. sold. Some of the straw used would be fall meant that signiNcantly colder weather WEARING MORE THAN ONE HAT whole, other plaits were made using split was incoming. Men in Southern states To have more than one set of straw, with many different numbers of often wore straw hats for a greater portion responsibilities. strands and braided effects. of the year. A FEATHER IN YOUR CAP The braided bundles were then taken A special achievement, something to be home by the hat makers, where they were THE STRAW HATS RIOT proud of, an honor. wetted, to make the Nbres pliable, and If you didn’t follow the fashion rules you PASS THE HAT then coiled and stitched into the desired could expect to be teased about your Similar to passing a basket in church, this hat shape. At Nrst, this would have been choice and you would likely have lost your idiom represents an attempt to voluntarily done by hand, but with the introduction hat. Teasers were prone to stealing straw collect money. of the sewing machine in the 1850’s, it hats off of men’s heads and stomping KEEPING SOMETHING subsequently became possible to them Oat on the ground. UNDER YOUR HAT increase production, and instead of the September 13, 1922 a group of boys To keep something secret. hats being made in people's homes as a stormed the streets of New York City. OLD HAT cottage industry, the Nrst factories came Removing and stomping hats worn by area Old-fashioned, not new. into being. Frequently they began in factory workers. The stomping turned into TO PULL SOMETHING buildings attached to the rear of the a brawl when the youths tried to stomp a OUT OF A HAT home, and expanded from there. group of dock workers' hats, and the dock To make something happen by magic. It is estimated that the number of workers fought back. TO PUT A THINKING CAP ON women and young boys (under the age of The result was chaos in the streets. In To put your brain to work and think real eight) engaged in plaiting to be around the days that followed the New York hard and seriously about something. 50,000. This workforce was reputed to be Times reported that 1,000 hoodlums HAT OFF TO YOU able to produce 200 million yards of rampaged on the streets. The Nghting To praise, admire or respect someone. plaits a year, which were then shipped to lasted eight days, leading to many arrests TALKING THROUGH YOUR HAT Canada, Australia, the West Indies, India, and injuries. BonNres were started with the To say something without knowing or Brazil and Europe. deposed hats. understanding the facts. Types of Straw Hats FASHIONABLE HAT DESIGNERS CLASS The Boater Straw Style The wide-brimmed straw hat is the perfect By the late 1800s and early 1900s, straw A boater hat has a distinct look with a stiff Oat HAT CARE basis for a range of crafting projects, from hats were embraced by everyone. But it crown and brim. The gondolas oPcially wear When dealing with vintage hats, purists wall hangings to home décor accents. wasn’t until President Theodore boater hats as a nod to the iconic style. The never wear them, less strict collectors boater hat is a great unisex option that is This month we will be creating our own Roosevelt’s 1906 visit to the Panama wear them when their hair is very clean, timeless and fashionable. However, because of decorated hats! There will be 2 projects: Canal that the accessory catapulted to and nobody takes the aging hat out in a its typical short brim, it isn’t always the best sun 1. Decorate your hat with your favorite fame. protective choice. downpour. Straw hats will collapse. Ooral pieces and embellishments to suit Wider brim styles skyrocketed to Panama Straw Hats Never touch your hat with dirty, oily hands. your style. popularity about a decade later, though The Panama hat is made traditionally from Pick up your hat from underneath by both 2. Paint a custom design on your hat. they were already seen as a beach Toquilla straw (which is light-colored). Panama the front and back brim to maintain the hats are extremely popular with vacationers and essential. Then-newcomer Brigitte Bardot tourists as they provide sun protection and shape and set of the brim. Resting a hat famously wore one with an exaggerated classic style. on a hat stand or block will make this brim when she took got her headshot Fedora Straw Hat operation easier. taken in 1955. Shape deNnes Fedoras. A fedora has a low Avoid resting your hat on any Oat In the years that followed, straw hats crown, pinched front, and moderately wide brim, EASTER PARADE surface. To preserve the brim, the lower appeared in every shape and form. which make it perfect for sun protection and very At the depths of the Great Depression a front of the brim should hang over the stylish.