Hatless Jack
Subtitle: The President, the Fedora, and the History of American Style
Publisher: Plume
Published: November 30, 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 342
ISBN-13: 9780452285231
First sentence: William R. Agnew, a shareholder in the Hat Corporation of America, the nation's largest hat company, rose to his feet at the 1962 annual stockholder meeting in New York City and held up a page torn from a newspaper.
Description: "Not so long ago, we were a country of hat wearers. Hats were tipped, raised, handed, tossed, snapped, passed, checked, waved, and eaten (metaphorically, at least). Many believe the end of this way of life was precipitated by the presidential inauguration of a bareheaded John F. Kennedy; suddenly desperate American hatters were convinced that persuading the young, charismatic new leader to wear a hat would save their declining business. Author Neil Steinberg uses January 20, 1961, as the jumping-off point for uncovering a near-forgotten slice of American history. Using a cast of famous men from Mark Twain to John Glenn, he recaptures the fascinating world of hat wearing, with its hatcheck girls, straw-hat riots, and globe-trotting fedoras taking trips in place of their owners. Hatless Jack is a fascinating look at the history of men's headwear that cuts through the mythology surrounding JFK's impact on the industry, and helps to explain the move from our formal, conformist society to one of individuality and creative expression."--Publisher's description.