Monday, March 31, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 309 - Ace in the Hole in the Desert Edition

Day 309 / Hat 309: cream-colored, baseball-style cap with baby blue bill and black embroidery on front that reads "ACE." additional embroidery on back that reads "760" (the area code for Palm Springs). 

Interior tag reads: "Ebbets Field Flannels, vintage, authentic," and additional tag reads: "Made in U.S.A."

Purchased specifically for the Project at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. 


Sunday, March 30, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 308 - Sand and Paper Edition

Day 308 / Hat 308: Woven fedora with blue and brown plaid hatband with bow detail. interior tags read: "Goorin Sporting Goods," and "71% paper, 29% cotton, Goorin.com."  Photographed in a post-sandstorm desert city. 

Related:
PC 306: Climacoolio
PC 305: Cockaded Cap
PC 304: Opportunities


Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!



Saturday, March 29, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 307 - (Siberian) Husky Boy Edition


Day 307 / Hat 307: Gray and white novelty cap in the shape and coloration of a Siberian Husky (at least that's the breed it appears to be to my non-dog-specific eye) with black plastic eye lids (set with black and light blue plastic eyeballs) and black plastic nosepad.

Interior tag reads: "All new material consisting of 100% polyester and plastic pellets, made in China, Green Trading Co., USA, CA," and hangtag reads: "Bear Paw Plush," on one side and: "Surface washable, tumble dry, not for under 3 years of age," on the other.

Purchased specifically for the Project earlier today at a store in the Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax because it reminded me of the 16 residents of  Tsan Tsulan, my brother Al's (and sister-in-law Suzanne's) kennel of canines. (I think the tally is currently 16 -- at least that's the current tally at the website -- where you can meet each of the dogs.)

I'm not sure how Al's dogs would react if they saw me sporting this hat -- I do know the two cats who share our abode here are none to pleased with me as I walked around the house with it atop my head. I'm sure whatever the response, it would be an interesting exercise in pack dynamics.

Today's honorary hat-tip goes to the four-footed friends of Al & Suzanne -- and all Siberian Huskies wherever they roam and whomever's sled they're pulling.

Related:
PC 306: Climacoolio
PC 305: Cockaded Cap
PC 304: Opportunities


Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!


Friday, March 28, 2014

Day 306 / Hat 306: ClimaCoolio Iglesias Edition

Day 306 / Hat 306: White mesh baseball-style cap with gray contrast stitching.

Additional details include three off-white, gray-contrast-taped stripes down the back of the hat (from crown to nape),  a white-and-gray embroidered Adidas logo on front and the words "ClimaCool" printed on the wearer's right-hand side of the bill near where it meets the body of the hat.

Interior sweatband printing reads: "Adidas, one size fits all, made in China, RN # 90288, factory #C118."

What exactly is ClimaCool (other than an epic nickname that is so not mine)? Here's an excerpt about it from a 2010 article at  Golf.com:

"Just as movies have gone 3-D, the Adidas designers conceived their core golf fabric in three dimensions. They began by using sophisticated thermal imaging, including infrared cameras, to come up with a body map, in 3-D, of the key areas of heat and sweat generated by a golfer's body. Advanced technologies were then used to address the needs of each area, in varying climactic conditions.

The fabric used in a ClimaCool shirt pulls sweat away from the body and increases micro-ventilation through strategically placed mesh panels ..."

Though the article was specifically about golf shirts, but what's a human head but a panel-worthy "key area of heat and sweat"?

Once again, sister Sue gets the hat-tip as this cool number was grabbed from the rapidly emptying SJTBOH.

Related:
PC 305: Cockaded Cap
PC 304: Opportunities
PC 303: Croft & Barrow

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 305 - Bundesheer on Board Edition



Day 305 / Hat 305: Vintage olive drab Bundesheer (German Army) garrison cap with West German national cockade in gold, red and black embroidered on a diamond-shaped background on front. According to the interior tag (photo below right - there's no way I'm typing all that), it was manufactured by Erich Fritzsch, Bebra, Germany

Purchased for the Project (for the princely sum of $4.95) at the Surplus Value Center on Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake.

Adding this narrow little cap to my holdings seriously broadened my knowledge base by adding "garrison cap" and cockade" to my my vocabulary, it also resulted in finding a sweet resource -- the Wilson History & Research Center which focuses specifically on military headgear and from which I've plucked the following information about the above hat and similar ones in other branches of the German military:

"West German Bundeswehr (military) continued to use garrison caps. The cap color corresponded to the uniform being worn. The Bundesheer (Army) wore a light green-grey garrison cap, the Air Force a blue and light green, and the Navy wore a dark blue. Each cap had a similar style with a thin body and high side flaps. The flaps did not slope in the front like their World War II predecessors. On the front of each cap was a West German national cockade on a diamond backing of the same color as the cap. Various piping was used around the caps edging, such as yellow piping on the blue cap worn by the Air Force. ... Today, the unified German military has moved away from the garrison cap, like many modern militaries, and has adopted the beret as a replacement." (History by Samuel Grubb)

A cock of the cockaded cap to the WHRC for the deep bench of knowledge. Next time I get a military lid I'm marching back to the website -- double-time.

Related:
PC 304: Opportunities
PC 303: Croft & Barrow
PC 302: Slash Topper

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 304 - Opportunities Knock (on my Forehead) Edition


Day 304 / Hat 304: Khaki-colored baseball-style cap with blue-green embroidery detail on front that reads: "Opportunities" followed by an embroidered maple leaf in two shades of green. Embroidery on back of cap reads: "Credit Union" in a blue-green shade that matches "Opportunities." Interior tag reads: "Alternative Apparel" on one side and "RN# 98269, 100% cotton, made in China" on the other.

A blind grab from the SJBOH, at first I thought "opportunities" was simply one of those banking slogans you hear all the time ("Chase what matters . blah, blah, blah") but it turns out it's the actual name of a Winooski, Vermont, based credit union. (I'm hazy on this but my bro-in-law may have hung his work hat there at one point).

According to its website, Opportunities is "Vermont's only community development credit union." What is that you might ask? (I know I did.) Here's a little explanation from its site:

"As a community development credit union, Opportunities is chartered specifically to serve the financial needs of low income, un-banked and underserved populations and we are permitted to accept 'non-member' deposits.  These deposits come from 'non-members' who do not meet Opportunities traditional field of membership and include: banks, credit unions, corporations, foundations, government agencies, faith based organizations, non-profits and social investors, who are allowed to invest in Opportunities  in order to ensure that all Vermonters have access to affordable financial services."

So there you have it. A hat-tip to the broham-in-law (even if he didn't work there dude man deserves at least one for marrying into this crazy family, methinks) and golf claps to Opportunities both initial-capped and otherwise wherever they may be.


Related:
PC 303: Croft & Barrow
PC 302: Slash Topper
PC 301: Black Hills Bucket

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 303 - Croft & Barrow & Brittany & Me Edition


Day 303 / Hat 303: White, woven roll-up sun visor with 6 1/4-inch brim around three-quarters of the hat as well as white woven and grosgrain bow/Velcro closure detail. Interior tags read: "Croft & Barrow" and "spot clean only, made in China."

(Croft & Barrow, FYI, is currently an exclusive-to-Kohl's brand of casual contemporary clothes and accessories.)

Graciously loaned to the Project by Ms. Brittany Nowak (at right in the above photo -- wearing my beloved Borsalino from way back at PC 19) the production assistant on this morning's shoot at Two Rodeo for a future episode of "America's Secret Slang."

Which, of course, means Ms. Nowak is due today's hat-tip.

Related:
PC 302: Slash Topper
PC 301: Black Hills Bucket
PC 300: Three Heads and a Hand-Knit

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

'The Phantom Tollbooth' at 50: At Any Age, the Perfect Cure for Milovian Ennui

The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary EditionThe Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition by Norton Juster


I first read this book as a child and bought the 50th anniversary edition a few years ago. I finally read it - from cover to cover - in a single plane trip. My only disappointment was that I'd let it linger on the shelf so long.

While I loved revisiting Milo, the watchdog named Tock -- and all the residents of The Lands Beyond -- as much as(if not more) I thought I would, what caught me by surprise was how much the book helped shape my long-standing love of words and wordplay ("a tickle fight with the English language" I like to say).

Where else would a kid learn so indelibly about the Doldrums? Or the dangers of jumping to Conclusion (an island off the coast)? Or the dangers of a world full of words and numbers but without rhyme and reason?

Oh, as a kid I dreamed of spending all day at the word market snacking, as Milo did, on crispy, crunchy c's, or mull over picking up a few pounds of happys for a rainy day.

Even as a math averse I longed to stare all day into the 12 pairs of eyes on the 12 faces of the Dodecahedron. I envied Milo as he stepped in for Chroma the Great to conduct the colors of the day.

The great thing is, I know dropping a few coins in the coin box of the Phantom Tollbooth is as easy as taking the book off the shelf and cracking the cover.

A quick note about the 50th anniversary edition - it also includes a series of "appreciations" of the book by the likes of Suzanne Collins("The Hunger Games") and Michael Chabon (the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay") who has offered up a PT-derived phrase I hope upon hope eventually makes its way into the modern lexicon for good: "Milovian ennui."

Read this book and you'll learn what it means -- and never suffer from it for a single day of your life.


View all my reviews

Monday, March 24, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 302 - Slash Topper Edition


Day 302 / Hat 302: Black leather top hat with sterling silver studded leather hatband detail. (I think CH's Laurie Stark referred to them as "Pete Punk pyramid studs" if I'm not mistaken.) Photographed at CH HQ  in Hollywood.

When I first pointed to the hat -- sitting on a shelf (partially visible behind me) in one of the many buildings that make up their Hollywood "campus," the Starks said: "Oh, the Slash hat." They explained that it was the prototype of an original hat they had created for the musician who wears a similar trademark topper.

While I have no indication that Slash himself ever wore this particular hat, and a brief survey of the interwebs reveals that the man formally known as Saul Hudson has sported many different Chrome Hearts creations over the course of his career (and, more than likely all manner of millinery not made by Team Stark), when it comes to logging lids for the Project, I'll take the proximity of a prototype any day of the week.

A sincere hat tip to Richard and Laurie Stark and daughter Jesse Jo -- the last of which also gets the assist for shooting the shot as I briefly wore the heavy (and I mean seriously heavy) one-of-a-kind piece of headgear.  

Related:
PC 301: Black Hills Bucket
PC 300: Three Heads and a Hand-Knit
PC 299: Driving Mr. Wheat

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 301 - Black Hills Bucket Edition


Day 301 / Hat 301: Olive drab cotton bucket hat with green embroidery on front that reads: "Black Hills, SD." Interior is devoid of any manufacturer or content tag but does contain the name "McClary" hand-written on the interior sweatband.

That would clue you in (if you hadn't guessed already) that this lid was plucked from the seemingly never-ending SJTBOH. I'm going to hazard a guess that it was originally procured on the same visit west that resulted in PC 283.

In addition to the hat-tip to sister Sue, it is incumbent upon me to point out that with the Project rounding the third hundred of five, if anyone has a hat to throw into the ring (so to speak) there are only 199 more chances left to do your part.

Related:
PC 300: Three Heads and a Hand-Knit
PC 299: Driving Mr. Wheat
PC 298: Green Mountain Challenges

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 300 - Three Heads and a Hand-Knit Edition


Day 300 / Hat 300: Dark green, hand-knit cap borrowed from my brother Al (pictured center, wearing my hat). 
Since we're marking the big 300 hat-wise I decided to throw in a third Tschorn - that'd be sister Sue of the SJTBOH and she's the one at left with the black scarf wrapped around her head all babushka like.  

Photographed by sister-in-law Suzanne at the corner of 62nd and York in Manhattan. The hat was hand knit by our sister Sara-Lynn. 

"She sent it to me in a recent care package and I've pretty much been wearing it ever since," Al said. 
Except of course, for the brief moment I borrowed it for purposes of the above picture.

Three peas in a pod (wearing a hat knit by the outside-the-pod fourth pea) feels like a perfect way to mark the big 300th hat.  

Related:
PC 297: Yellow Letter

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1

Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 299 - Driving Mr. Wheat Edition



Day 299 / Hat 299: Black police officer's / limo driver's style cap (size 7 1/4) with black, patent-leather-like stingy brim and military-influenced, silver-colored button detail on left and right sides.

Additional detail includes brown leather-like interior sweatband. Hangtag says: "Rothco, combat tested since 1953," on one side and: "made in China, www.rothco.com" on the other.

Purchased last Saturday specifically for the Project from the Surplus Value Center in Silver Lake - and specifically in anticipation of today.

That's because I'm meeting* my brother (aka Mr. Wheat) at the train station and once we'd finalized plans he said: "Wouldn't it be funny if you met me there in a tuxedo and a limo driver's cap and a sign with my name on it?"

Why yes, methinks it would. And while the tux would've been a nice touch, I think the lid (and sign I'll be holding) will do just nicely. (Part of me thinks he knew full well I'd take the bait.)

Yes, I'm sort of fudging it with what's more of a cop cap than a standard-issue limo driver's lid but my choices were either this or a yachting cap which, given my distinct body shape and penchant for polos, makes me look like I'm impersonating the skipper from "Gilligan's Island."


*[Updated: My sister Sue snapped the photo on the right at Penn Station upon their arrival -- proof that if nothing else I'm a man of my word.]

Related:


Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1

Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 298 - Green Mountain and Other Challenges Edition

Day 298 / Hat 298: Forest green, baseball-style cap with multi-color embroidery on front depicting the sun rising over the Green Mountains along with the words: "Green Mountain Challenge."

Interior tag reads: "Dorfman Pacific Headwear, 100% cotton, made in Sri Lanka, one size fits most."

From the SJTBOH and, while I don't know what particular challenge this hat references, I can tell you that living in the Green Mountain State had its share of them. 

Maybe it's the sun rising over the mountains that makes me feel hopeful that the official arrival of spring heralds a respite from the more dire of our challenges. 

Onward!


Related:
PC 297: Yellow Letter
PC 296: White Sox, Southpaw
PC 295: Shamrock Shaker

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1

Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 297 - Yellow Letter Day Edition


Day 297 / Hat 297: Pale yellow, washed-down, baseball-style cap with yellow tone-on-tone cursive embroidery detail on front that reads: 'The Great Escape." Interior tag reads: "J Hats" on one side and: "Adult, 100% cotton, made in China" on the other.

Pulled from the SJTBOH pretty much at random, the more I think about this hat,the more it makes me laugh. I've had an intense dislike of yellow lettering that traces all the way back to a childhood attempt to make one of those colorful signs (as kids are wont to do) in which each letter was rendered in a different color Magic Marker. It always annoyed me that the yellow letters would inevitably do one of two things: fade into nothingness against a light-colored background, or disappear into a dark-colored one.

What makes me chuckle about this hat in particular is that yellow embroidery might actually have stood out -- on anything other than a yellow background. And the size and placement of the embroidery makes me scratch the head beneath the hat since the result is the theme park's name rendered so stealthily that the only person who might actually be able to read it off your hat could probably also smell the Dippin' Dots and Dutch Funnel Cake on your breath.

Related:
PC 138: The other "Great Escape"
PC 296: White Sox, Southpaw
PC 295: Shamrock Shaker

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 296* - White Sox on a Southpaw Edition





Day 296* / Hat 296*: Black, baseball-style cap with white piping and gray edges on bill. White and gray embroidery on front reads: ""Sox." Interior tags read: "New Era performance headwear, medium-large, made in China, 62% polyester, 38% wool," and "Authentic collection, official batting practice cap."Back of hat includes white, black and gray embroidered MLB logo against a gray background framed in white piping.

Additional interior details include black seam tape that  includes the New Era logo, the MLB logo, the words: "official batting practice cap," and "39Thirty."

I have no idea where this originally came from but it's been sitting in the trunk of Diamond White for years as another "safety hat" (as in safety from the sun) and I unearthed it while scrounging for PC 290.

The "Sox" in question are Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox of course, a team that dates to 1894 and got its start as the minor league Sioux City Cornhuskers before becoming the White Stockings after a 1900 move to Chicago (apparently taking sloppy seconds by adopting a nickname once used by the Chicago Cubs).

Since I've never been much of a baseball person, when ever I see this hat, its predominantly black color scheme (in the words of Spinal Tap: "How much more black could this be?") automatically takes me to the Black Sox Scandal of 1920 in which eight of the players were accused of playing to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds (the subject of the 1988 film "Eight Men Out" and referenced in "Field of Dreams" the following year).

The team's mascot, by the way, is Southpaw, which according to Wikipedia is a reference to not only to the term for a left-handed pitcher but also "to Chicago's South Side where the team plays."

As a proud left-hander, I thought I knew the origin of the term "southpaw" as slang (particularly in sports) for a left-handed athlete, and had a vague memory of it being tied to a particular Chicago ballpark. The legend goes that in this particular diamond was laid out east to west with home plate to the west so those pitching with their left were doing so with their south (facing) paw.

Even the most cursory search of the interwebs reveals that to be a bit apocryphal, with that "coining" of the term, being traced to humorist writer Finley Peter Dunne of the Chicago News (apparently the phrase was in use, one site notes, "before Dunne's birth.")

So next time I'm asked the origin of the phrase I am so not going to raise my left hand.
\
[*Updated 11:06  a.m.: A hat-tip to Jennifer Altman for pointing out I was going all "Groundhog Day" by reliving Day 295 for a second day. The number in my mouth is right, the one above my head was not. I have duly noted.]

Related:
PC 295: Shamrock Shaker
PC 294: Grinning Gambler
PC 293: Outback in the Front Seat

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?


A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 295 - Shamrock Shaker Edition


Day 295 / Hat 295: Green bowler hat with black hatband and fabric three-leaf clover detail on front. Tag on back of brim reads: "Item No. 5318, one size fits most. 100% polyester, made in Ningbo, Zhe Jiang, China, RN# 88490 Fun World Div., Mfg. date: Jul-Sep/2013."

Purchased specifically for the Project yesterday at KMart for the princely sum of $2.17, The world's largest leprechaun or McDonald's seasonal Shamrock Shake spokesblob Uncle O'Grimacey (at right)? You be the judge.

Speaking of the Shamrock Shake (do they even offer that minty seasonal shake any more?), that's what I've been calling the 4.4 earthquake that rousted many a slumbering Angeleno out of bed this morning at 6:25 a.m.

I suppose that's one way to get things shaking on a Monday morning!

Related:
PC 294: Grinning Gambler
PC 293: Outback in the Front Seat
PC 292: Rando Ribbon

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?


A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound! 

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 294 - The Grinning Gambler Edition


Day 294 / Hat 294: Woven hat with leather (or leather-like) hatband detail. Interior tags read: "Dorfman Pacific Co., DPC Authentic, Handmade headwear since 1921," and "Natural Fiber, X-Large," (the last tag repeats the information in French and Spanish.) Hangtag reads: "DPC Global Trends" and lists style number as 383/938.

Although the style name isn't given anywhere on the hat, typing it into the interwebs reveals it to be called the "Rush Gambler Straw Hat."

What's a "gambler" hat you might ask? I didn't know either - at first. Here's the definition from hat-centric website hatbox.com:

"The Gambler is a traditional western dress hat. The crown of a Gambler resembles a round pork pie crown, but the brim is wider than most dress hats but smaller than most cowboy hats and the edge is curled up in a tight 'pencil' curl. The Gambler may be most widely recognized as the hat worn by Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. It’s smaller brim and lower crown make it ideal for those who look out of place in wide brimmed Cowboy hats. It also looks great on women."

This marks the last (at least for now) of the loaner lids from the folks at The Headwear Association. The last box included one more hat -- a wide-brimmed straw number very, very similar to PC 142. Even though the brand label inside said the one from the THA had the name  "Magid," and the earlier one indicated no brand affiliation at all, as I close in on 300, the last thing I want is to disqualify myself by unintentionally duplicating a hat.

Because, in the immortal words of Kenny Rogers,to be a good gambler "[y]ou got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."

Now, anyone takin' bets old Double Down here isn't going to hit 500?

Related:
PC 293: Outback in the Front Seat
PC 292: Rando Ribbon
PC 291: Going Clearwater

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?


A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 293 - Outback in the Front Seat Edition

Day 293 / Hat 293: Olive drab outback hat with four metal eyelets, snap up sides and woven cord. Interior tag reads made in China, 100% COTTON, RN 17730 size M" on front and VN3594445" on back. 

Plucked for the Project from the SJTBOH and photographed riding shotgun in the front passenger seat of the Bride's car enroute to a fashion week event. 


Now that's multitasking ....

Related:
PC 292: Rando Ribbon
PC 291: Going Clearwater
PC 290: Safety Bucket

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?


A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 292 - Rando and a Ribbon Lid Edition



Day 292 / Hat 292: D.C. Shoes/ New Era  men's trucker hat with white mesh back, 100% black cotton front with red bill. Additional details include red horizontal ribbon strip across front edged in black and white horizontal stripes, D.C. logo embroidery and red contrast embroidery on eyelets.  

Based on my brief forensic scouring of the interwebs, this appears to be a Men's Rob Dyrdek Ribbon Trucker Hat, which is part of the Rob Dyrdek Teamworks Collection.

I poached this lid -- ever so briefly -- from the sizable cranium of one Nathan Walls (with me in the above photo) a spring-breaking college student from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

How did "Walls from the Ball" come to be in my kitchen on a Friday afternoon? Ah, that's a story you either know or don't want to know.

Did I mention dude man has a huge noggin? Look at how the hat is swimming on my own not-tiny pinhead.

At any rate, Walls gets the hat-tip for being a good sport. I'm told his penchant for headgear is legendary back at Ball State, so this documentary evidence should go a long way to cementing his legacy.

Related:
PC 291: Going Clearwater
PC 290: Safety Bucket
PC 289: Stumper Bucket

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 291 - Going Clearwater Edition


Day 291 / Hat 291: Blue, baseball-style cap with embroidery on front that reads: "Clearwater Beach in white below  multi-colored embroidered design that includes a palm tree and four daisy-like flowers. Interior tags read: "Ouray Sportswear," and "P.O. # 30304, style no. #7920, 100% cotton, made in China."

This l'il lid comes to the Project by way of the SJTBOH, and I'm going to guess it came into her possession during one of the family's jaunts to Florida since there's a family compound in Clearwater across the
causeway.

Speaking of the SJT Bag o' Hats, shortly after posting it, I got some closure on PC 289 (aka "the stumper bucket"). Of its provenance, Sue says it was from the tenth birthday party she had organized for my nephew/godson Spencer.

Sue writes: "Bought [a bunch of hats] at a close-out discount store and sent home with young lads. Birthday theme was fishing, so kids were given the lids to keep sun & hooks out of their faces!"

Now that's using your head. Sounds like another version of the safety hat, no?

Related:
PC 290: Safety Bucket
PC 289: Stumper Bucket
PC 288: Aces High

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 290 - Barbour Bucket Edition


Day 290 / Hat 290: Brown plaid bucket hat in 100% nylon. Interior tags read: "Barbour, country clothing since 1894," and "The original Barbour tartan, original, authentic."

This nifty lid, which folds in on itself to form a tidy, easily stowable pouch , has long been one of my "safety hats" that I've kept in the trunk of the Diamond White Cadillac in case of hat-mergencies. But I had to bust it out today since I left the homestead this morning without proper headgear and only realized this while I was en route to a rooftop luncheon and fashion presentation in beautifully sunny downtown Los Angeles.

It's not often my headgear is the envy of any given fashion crowd, oh, but today it was. All around me bare heads sizzled like bacon in the mid-day sun, and a single tube of SPF 50 sunscreen, produced from a blogger's purse, was passed around like it was the polio vaccine.

I guess that it turned out being a safety hat after all -- just not the kind I'd envisioned.


Related:
PC 289: Stumper Bucket
PC 288: Aces High
PC 287: Bonita Springs Ahead

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Project Cubbins: Hat 289 - Sue's Stumper Bucket Edition

Day 299 / Day 289: Plaid bucket hat with tone-on-tone hatband detail. Interior tag reads: RN 17730, one size, shell: 52% ramie, 47% linen, 1% other fiber, lining: 100% cotton, made in China."

I've had a pretty good run decoding. deciphering and figuring out the provenance of the rando-lids thrown my way by the SJTBOH, but I'm throwing in the towel tracking down the back story on this hat. There is absolutely no other tag of any kind anywhere on the hat. Typing any or all of the information above also resulted in nothing.

The hat is not new and evidences a little bit of wear but the tag referenced above has been drawn through with a red felt-tip marker, which makes me think it was a sample, a freebie or something similar and the lack of other tags is a way of preventing resale.

Several of the searches I did for the RN number 17730 served up "made in China," while a handful of others kept referring back to Target.

Hit me with it sister Sue - where doth yonder stumper bucket hail from? Inquiring minds want -- nay need -- to know.

Related:
PC 288: Aces High
PC 287: Bonita Springs Ahead
PC 286: Sinamay ... Sinamaybe Not

Q: OK, nice hat -- but what exactly is Project Cubbins, anyway?

A: One man's homage to Dr. Seuss and his second book, "The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins," which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its publication in 2013, Project Cubbins is an attempt to document the wearing of a different hat or piece of headgear every day for 500 consecutive days. No do-aheads, no banking of hats, no retroactive entries. PC started on May 27, 2013 with Hat 1
Got hats? If you loan 'em, you'll get e'm back safe and sound!