Hats

Ouch!

Printed on the back of this advertising postcard: "Feel the difference in a Mallory straw. We have a wide selection now on hand. Why not drop in soon and select your favorite?" The month of May used to be the time when men traditionally traded their winter felt hats for summer straw hats. The Mallory Hat Company created this postcard so that dealers could inform customers that it was time for them to purchase a new cool-as-an-iceberg Mallory straw Panama hat for summertime wear. . For an earlier example of an exaggeratedly large Panama hat used in an advertisement, see the San Francisco 1915 postcard that's featured as part of the Michigan State University Museum's Tall Tale Postcards: Storytelling Through the Mail exhibit.

"Remember green Erin. The morn's mornin' to you! Painting only copyrighted by the Int. Art Pub. Co. 1908." A Saint Patrick's Day postcard by artist Ellen Clapsaddle .

"Thank you! Each loaf of Sunbeam you buy is a vote for me. I'm in line for prizes in the big contest if you keep backing me. ________ (sig.) Your Sunbeam Salesman." Hat: "Sunbeam Energy Bread." As Wikipedia explains, " Sunbeam Bread is a franchised brand of white bread, rolls, and other baked goods owned by the Quality Bakers of America cooperative. The bread products are produced and distributed by regional bakeries....The brand was launched in 1942 and was first marketed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania." In the 1950s and 1960s, Quality Bakers ran contests with cars as prizes for the salesmen who handled Sunbeam and its other brands of bread. This poster, which dates to 1960, was probably distributed to grocery stores.

This silhouette of a man wearing a hat and glasses (or a monocle?) is apparently cut from thin black paper. The Eiffel Tower at right, an unidentified building at left (anyone recognize it?), and an airship at top fill out the background of this souvenir postcard.

"Looking for an order." Although I don't know for certain, I suspect that this real photo postcard may have been created by a salesman for use in communicating with customers.

"Chuck and Louise Harrison present magic, hand shadows, comedy, Punch & Judy. WIl liams 1-3629. 189 Orchard Street, Cranston, Rhode Island."

"Hats" for the Vintage Photos Theme Park . In this real photo postcard, fourteen fellows doff their hats to reveal their membership in the "Bachelor's Club." Note that a dog helps out by wearing a hat that displays a period as a concluding punctuation mark. Although it's difficult to make out, a second dog is lying on the ground on the left-hand side. In the middle are cut pieces of watermelon with forks stuck in them. So what did the club members do next? To find out, take a look at a second Bachelor's Club photo .

Straw Hat Day, when it was customary for men to put away their winter felt hats and don their summer straw hats, used to be a widespread tradition in the United States during the month of May. The exact date for this seasonal switch from "felts" to "straws" differed from place to place, with May 13, May 15, May 25, or the second Saturday in May variously cited as the appropriate day to begin wearing straw hats. On some campuses, Straw Hat Day was a student celebration , and in other areas, it was an opportunity for clothiers and hatters to promote their wares . Someone created this card with an unlucky black cat as part of a Straw Hat Day observance, but I'm not sure how it was used. See below for excerpts from newspaper ads and articles that confirm that Straw Hat Day was "unlucky for felts." For more straw hat amusement, see It's Mallory Straw Hat Time! -------- "Unlucky? Are you superstitious? May 13th, unlucky for felts . Straw Hat Day. Get yours at the Co-op. $2.50--$3.00--$3.50--$4.00. Technology Branch, Harvard Co-operative Society...." Advertisement, The Tech (Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology), May 12, 1924, p. 4. "Official Straw Hat Day. Wednesday, May 13th. Unlucky for felts! Select your straw hat now and be ready for the big day. New straws are now on display. See the windows tonight, then visit your favorite clothier tomorrow for a fitting. Don't be under a felt when Wednesday the Thirteenth dawns." Advertisement for clothiers, Lawrence Daily Journal-World , May 8, 1925, p. 10. "Tomorrow, Thursday the 13th, will be ' unlucky for felts .' Tomorrow has been designated 'Straw Hat Day' and 'hay hats' will be all the rage and felts taboo. Even the black cat shown above [in an accompanying illustration] is reaching for a straw 'skimmer' and promises bad luck to all wearers of felt hats." "13th to Be 'Unlucky for Felts,'" San Jose News , May 12, 1937, p. 7.

Mounted on cardboard with a printed decorative border.

A photo for the theme of photographic tricks and amusements during the free-for-all week of Wild Card Month in the Vintage Photos Theme Park. See also the full version of this real photo postcard:

See also a cropped version of this novelty real photo postcard:

Spring Opening on Saturday, April 22d, 1871. On the above day the subscriber will have her Spring Opening, when she will display a large variety of bonnets, hats, flowers, ribbons, silk, guipure and cotton laces, crapes, veils, nets, collars, cuffs, &c. Ladies are cordially invited to call and examine her assortment, whether they purchase or not. Mrs. M. A. Zinn, Main Street, West of Penn, Shippensburg, Pa.

Metal tags on the men's hats identify them as "Conductor 118" on the left and "Conductor 115" on the right.