Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-04
THE MEXICAN AND HIS HAT.
Why He Spends So Much Upon His
Cheriahed HeAd&ear.


while on a train in Mexico on my last
trip to the country Of the Aztecs young
American lady. upon whose astonished gaze
was flashed for the first time the fearfully
and wonderfully made sugar-loaf Mexican
hat which Is the first out Of the ordinary
object that sreets the tourists eyes after
he crosses the Rio Grande, asked me why
Mexican men Of all classes spent so much
money upon the covering for their heads
and appeared to take such evident pride
in the great wide-brimmed, high cOnical-
crowned shelter from the tropical heat and
burning sum-" said New York hat drum
mer to a Star reporter.
when the American soldiers departed
for Cuba or Porto Rico they wore the regu-
la,ion army SLOUGH hat, with deep crease
In the center. When they returned, heroes
and veterans, they wore the same regula-
ton hat, but with the peak of the crown
pulled up to a sharp point. pyramid-like
in a gallant, desperate attempt to initiate
the Spanish hat, which had caught their
fancy and had struck them hard, and Their
wives, sweeinearts and the pubic gazed
awe-strlcken and reverentlaly but helpless
ly at the new style thus created here.
And then the hat makers took 1t up for
the ladies and this accounts for the present
rakish style of ladies' military gray hats
with mannish crowns.
1.-The main reason why the Spaniard and
the Mexican devOtes so much attention,
time and money to his hat IS because it is
to some extent made the symbol of his
standing in the community, and because it
was the grandees Of Spain who OF all
others at court possessed the privilege OF
sitting or standing in the presence of their
sovereign with their hats on while the rest
Of the court uncovered.
Naturally the hat became an object Of
respect and yeneration, and the grandees
WED with one another in the size of their
BRAN covering, the finenesS and coStlineSs
of its texture and the rich gold and silver
ornamentations profusey worked thereon.
The populace, according to their respective
means and position in life, emulated the
example of the grandees, and thus, as time
advanced, the big nat became the distinctive
feature of the Dress of the Spanlard. as the
mantila correspondent on the head OF the
senor.ta and the sonora.
THE time was when Mexican placed
his hat and his horse before all his worldly
81 900 for a gold trimmed, embroidered hat
and as much more for his heavy saddle and
br,dle all trimmed with silver, and this pas
SION Is strong today. The higher classes Of
Mexicans have abandoned the sugar-l0af
I hat for city wear for the European style,
as they have adopted long ago our IDEAS on
clothes, though every Mexican gentleman
has his native costume with Its gaudily EN-
broidered short jacket and faring trousers
and hat to match. to be worn when the oc-
casiOn demands.
1.-The other classes cling to the sugar-loaf
hat, made principally OF q straw, OF a fiber
peculiar to the country. or OF felt. orna-
ing to the means of the wearer. or per-
fectly plain and cheap. They look odd to
US, these Mexicans in their white. loose
shirts and trousers standing idly about In