The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-06-24
- The Atruism' of Panama hats
(New York Sum-

We love to hear a man inveighing
against the extravaganza Of American
women and putting a forty-cent cigar be-
tween his puffs of eloQuence and sarcasm.
We love to hear a man denouncing holly
the vanity of women, and then to watch
him peeping furtively into every mirror
along Broadway and to know that he is
secretly admiring his own COMPOUNDED
ugly mug. We love to hear a man growl-
ing and suffering about the passion of
women for fnery and feathers and TO
chuckle at him as he q~uarrels with his
tailor or smirks as he regards his era
vat. We love to hear a man holding
forth superiority upon women's love of
jewels and then to behold him flashing
the ''sparklerS'' in his s~carfpin or his
ring into our dazzled eyes. We love and
venerate man for his modesty. simplicity.
freedom from vanity, affectation and con-
ceit, aversion to disbelief in
his own fascination, unWillingness to
spend money upon himself. and so on in
an amending procession of virtues.
90, if the stock goes up all right, I'll
make enough TO buy a yacht or a new
lat for my wife, SO says the wise
descendant of ancestors probably arboreal
in their habits. He climbs up his little
tree and from that noble height looks
down with condescension and pity on that
: poor, frivolous, vain creature sprung
from Adams spare rib. 20, Lord. the
! amount Of money that women spend on
their clothes! Are you married. my boy?
/ Then take my advice and don't. Why.
| suppose my wife spends $500 a year on
her hats alone Thus masculine wisdom
chatters from the boughs of the chestnut
! tree. And masculine wisdom is right. of
o,,r I OF auarv Low biC ri0ht how'd
upon the region which he believes to be
occupied by his heart-or liver-and sol
! EMMY swear never to cease reminding the
women folks of their finical taste and
reckless squanderings, especially in the
matter of hats. Repeat the words of a
I, thoughtful poet, Sir Lewis Morris:
For man must work and woman must
spend,
And of running up bills she makes no
end,
And her husband poor is moaning"
AS some women have been ignorant or
prejudiced enough to jeer at men in
general and their talk about extrava-
gance in particular, and to refer to the
present popularity Of Panama hats for
men as an Illustration of masculine
vanity LII cNlIdNdSdIte, liz Choc 10 (
explained. Irreverent womankind says:
Here, you men are putting more money
into hats than we ever think of doing.
Just think of spending $50, 500, $500 on
a hat! Why, it's ridiculous. And see
your silly vanity. We hear you talking
| about blocked and loosely blocked and
the real article We see you gazing at
your hats tenderly, lifting them up, when
you are good enough to bow to us, much
more carefully than you could lift your
! own baby, and dripping with self-satis-
faction as you strut along under your
monuments of frightful extravaganza
Never talk to me any more about our
hats and the bills for them, if you please.
Vanity. thy name is Mister. Extrava-
| gance, ditto"
The poor souls don't understand the
thing at all. For their benefit men may
relax their dignity enough to be willing
to say, not in Justification, but in trl-
! umph: Madam or miss, you are en-
tirely wrong. We confess and avoid
as the lawyers say. We admit that we
wear expensive Panama hats. we al
nit that we pretend to take a certain
, interest and pride in them. But why
Don't suppose for a moment that we can
be extravagant or vain. Our opJecI III
consenting to wear these costly hats IS
to show you the folly OF spending SO
much money in hats. We wear them for
an object lesson for your beneft. we
| wear them for YOUR good, not for ours"
This explanation should convince every
reasonable woman of the enlightened
altruism which has led men to buy luXu-
rious homes for their heads.