Project Cubbins: Hat 288 - Aces High with ZZ Ward Edition

Day 288 / Hat 288: Brown 100% wool ZZ Ward signature fedora by Broner with black grosgrain hatband. Additional touches include feather in hatband and paper Ace of Spades playing card detail, also tucked into hatband.

Graciously loaned to the Project by The Headwear Association.

  

Who is ZZ Ward, you ask? According to Wikipedia. she was born Zsuzsanna Eva Ward and she's a singer/songwriter/musician whose genres include: blues rock, R&B, pop rock and blue-eyed soul." 

According to this blog entry from just about a year ago on Broner's website, she's a fedora-loving blues musician who broke onto the scene at South by Southwest just about two years ago. Here's an excerpt from the post:

"She approached Broner about creating a signature fedora for her and her fans. Rarely seen without her signature fedora, ZZ has been sporting hats since she was ten years old and singing the blues with her father."

The post goes on to note that Ward has an extensive fedora collection of her own -- and provided photographic evidence of same. It also includes the following quote: “The eyes are the windows to the soul, but under the brim of a fedora they remain a mystery." 

She describes the hats as "Fedoras for that everyday dirty shine. Gritty, Sultry, Authentic." 

"Down & Dirty Shine," probably not coincidentally, was the name of Ward's Fall 2013 tour. I just checked out ZZ Ward's website and it looks like those of you headed to Coachella might actually be getting a chance to check out her music - and her fedora -- up close as she's scheduled to play there on April 11 and 18.

Given the hype that surrounds the Indio festival -- not to mention Ward's ascending star -- we expect people who aren't familiar with it will know exactly whose head is under that fedora in pretty short order.

Related:
PC 287: Bonita Springs Ahead
PC 286: Sinamay ... Sinamaybe Not
PC 285: Madrilenean Millinery

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 287 - Bonita Springs Ahead Edition

Day 287 / Hat 287: Khaki-colored, baseball-style cap with blue bill and multi-color embroidery on front that reads: 'Bonita Springs," beneath an embroidered white fish skeleton against a background of embroidered blue, red and  green quadrilaterals.

Additional details include blue button on crown of cap (which matches the bill) and eyelet accents embroidered in blue. Interior tag reads: "BJR Classic Headwear, 100% washed cotton twill hat, made in China, RN123853."

Grabbed from the SJTBOH at random but totally appropriate as clocks were to "spring ahead" an hour to begin observance of Daylight Saving Time today. 

The city of Bonita Springs, Florida, (slogan: "Small Town Charm. Big Bright Future") is on the Gulf Coast of Florida, south of Fort Meyers, Based on the location, I'm going to take a wild guess that this hat was procured during a visit by my sister's family to her in-laws (who, last I knew, hung their hats not too awfully far north of BonitaSpring in Punta Gorda). 

I tried to get to the bottom of the fish skeleton logo/mascot thing - it seemed like an odd thing to represent civic pride -- although I think Maine license plates had a red (as in boiled and dead as a doornail) lobster on its license plates at one time, didn't it? Apparently the city's mascot is (or at least was) a fish named Sammy the Snook. But in all the photos I found, he was pictured with all his soft parts in place. 

There is a also restaurant located in Bonita Springs called the Bonefish Grill -- but the skeleton logo was facing the opposite direction. 

The only conclusion I can come to is that the hat's embroidery is in some way a reference to something like Mound Key Archeological State Park located in nearby Estero, which included the following skeleton-appropriate description: 

"Prehistoric Native Americans are credited with creating this island's complex of mounds with an accumulation of seashells, fish bones, and pottery."

At any rate, on the day we spring ahead, that's the explanation I'm gonna fall back on.

Related:

PC 286: Sinamay ... Sinamaybe Not
PC 285: Madrilenean Millinery
PC 284: Rebel 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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 286 - Sinamay ... Sinamaybe Not Edition

DY 286 / Ht 286: Wide-brimmed black hat with wide, mesh-like brim,woven, straw-like crown and black grosgrain bow ribbon hatband detail.

Interior label reads: "Jessica McClintock." Additional interior tag reads: "100% polypropylene exclusive of decoration. Do not wash."

A loaner from The Headwear Association's sample closet, photographed in the hammock in the backyard of the homestead -which I had chosen since it seemed appropriate for what I assumed to be a sun hat.

After I was in hammock for a a few minutes I quickly realized -- from the rapidly escalating temperature of my head - that nobody in their right mind would make a black sun hat -- or one with a mesh brim for that matter. So I took to the interwebs to do a little sleuthing.

Although I didn't immediately find anything official (as of this moment, the website bearing the label's name loads a scary-looking page that asks for sign-ons and passwords and such and makes no mention of the brand), I did find a photo on eBay of what appears to be the same style hat along with the description: "Jessica McClintock Kentucky Derby Dressy Wide Brim Black Sinamay Straw Sheer Hat."

What is sinamay you may ask? (I did the first time a pretty girl whispered it in my ear.) According to Messrs. Merriam and Webster, it is "a stiff coarse open textile woven in the Philippines chiefly from abaca."

Of course, as noted above, the interior tag describes its content as "100% polypropylene" so whatever the open weave of the wide brim is it's not technically sinamay.

Let's call it "sinamaybe not," shall we?

Related:
PC 285: Madrilenean Millinery
PC 284: Rebel Bucket

PC 283: Croc 'n' Soul

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 285 - Miles' Madrilenian Millinery Edition

Day 285 / Hat 285: Black, baseball-style cap with multi-color embroidered crest on front as well as a small rectangular metal plate just below and to the wearer's right of it engraved with (if memory serves me correctly), the words "Real Madrid."

Interior tag reads: "Producto oficial, Real Madrid," and there's a red-and-yellow-striped adjustable strap in the back with black woven detail that reads: "Real Madrid Club de Futbol."

Graciously loaned to the Project by Miles (center with mom, writer Melissa Magsaysay) whom, I believe, at 17 months of age becomes the youngest recipient of the hat-tip to date.

And this hat is the real deal - Miles' maternal grandparents actually picked it up in Madrid for him during a recent trip. According to his mom, Miles likes to get out there on the soccer field and mix it up a bit. 

Among the things I learned as a result of this post? That there's an entire Wikipedia page called "Adjectivals and demonyms for cities" laundry-listing things adjectives you might use to refer to things from certain cities (you don't think I came up with "Madrilenian" all by myself did you?) Oh, and that something from from Livorno, Italy, is, I kid you not "Leghornese."

 A sincere thanks to both for indulging me on my march to 500 hats! 

Related:
PC 284: Rebel Bucket

PC 283: Croc 'n' Soul

PC 282: Surely we Jester

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 284 - Rebel Bucket Edition

Day 284 / Hat 284: Navy blue cotton bucket hat with white underbrim and white contrast taped blue sewn-on sweatband.

Additional details include white sewn contrast eyelets and interlocked blue and gray "SB" embroidery design on front . Interior tag reads: "Toppers, style 1905 Campus, made in Hong Kong."

From the SJTBOH, I have to guess this hat ultimately comes from my nephew Preston McClary, as that logo and those colors are specific to South Burlington High School .

Apparently the sports teams go by the nickname "the Rebels" -- earned because it's South Burlington -- get it? ( I'd always imagined the Queen City's Mason-Dixon line to be somewhere around Shelburne but hey ...).

So there you have it.

Related:

PC 283: Croc 'n' Soul

PC 282: Surely we Jester

PC 281: Yoga lid

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 283 - Crocodile with a Soul Patch Edition

Day 283 / Hat 283: yellow cotton, baseball-style cap with multi-color embroidery on front that depicts a crocodile with a soul patch wearing a Hawaiian shirt and dark sunglasses above the words: "Reptile Gardens, Black Hills, SD." Interior tag reads: "Ouray Sportswear, 100% cotton, Made in China."

Grabbed from the SJTBOH, I believe this to be from kid sister's trip with her family out west some years ago. Reptile Gardens (slogan: "On the road to Mt. Rushmore") looks like its crammed with all kinds of creepy, crawly snakelike creatures. I bet the kids had a blast. 

What intrigues me is the crocodile (or possibly a non-croc specific alligator -- hard to tell, really) on the lid and the festive shirt he's wearing - not to mention the soul patch he's sporting. Did he just get done eating a vacationing jazz musician? Is he some kinda Hawaiian ex-pat hep cat? 

My cursory search of the interwebs did not turn up any cool critter like that as the Reptile Gardens mascot though I did learn that the mascot, for some 56 years (until his passing in 2011) was a 600-pound Galapagos tortoise named Methuselah. 

I suppose it's destined to remain a reptilian mystery.

At any rate, the hat-tip to sister Sue for today's hat. 

Related:

PC 282: Surely we Jester

PC 281: Yoga lid

PC 280: Porch Derby

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 282 -- Surely We Jester Edition

Hat 282 (on me), Hat 88 (on Noelle) and beads
on all three of us
(that includes Bahooka the parrot in the background).

Day 282 / Hat 282: Purple, gold, green and yellow six-point jester's cap with metallic polka dots in the same colors and metal bells on the end of each point. Interior tag reads: "100% polyester, made in China, manufactured for Amscan Inc., Elmsford, NY."

This hat, n case you didn't realize it, is in the seasonally appropriate color scheme of Mardis Gras, and is on loan from the Noelle Carter Home for Happy Headgear. We've been looking forward to plopping a Fat Tuesday hat on my fat head for a week now, but the first one she offered up, seasonal as it was, was a non-starter.

But only for a very narrow technical reason. See, I'd already worn it -- way back on Day 88 (Ah, remember back in the double digits when life was so uncomplicated?) But Carter doubled down, went out to her car, and came back with this awesome lid. (I mean, who doesn't love a co-worker who keeps a spare Mardi Gras hat in her car?)

I did a quick look back in the Project archives to make sure this wasn't also a violation, since I'd faintly remembered her offering up a jester's cap in the past and wouldn't you know it, she's actually loaned TWO jester hats to the Project in the past (PC 37 and PC 65) but thankfully neither were the exact same hat as this confection.

So Noelle has done something quite special -- served up a hat-trick of jester caps (fans of the old "Joker's Wild" game show might do what I did and say aloud: "JOKER, JOKER JOKER!).

So a sincere hat-tip to Noelle, and may all of celebrating National Pancake Day find a baby in your slice of King cake (Tom Curwen found two in his slice here in the Cube Farm today ....).

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Related:

PC 281: Yoga lid

PC 280: Porch Derby
PC 279: Gull Skull

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 281 - Bamboo Brain Pan Edition

Day 281 / Hat 281: Blue yoga turban with interior printing that reads: " Christine Headwear, style 8240-171, Shell: 95% Bamboo Viscose, 5% Spandex, Wash in a washing bag, Made in Vietnam."

A loaner from The Headwear Association sample closet, when I first pulled this out of the box I actually thought it was a bag some other hat had been packaged in. I'll have to admit it IS super-comfy, but I don't look anywhere near as styling as the lady modeling it in the photo I found when I typed the style number into the interweb.

As for the "yoga" part of the yoga turban (that was the description I found for the free form lid at the label's website), well, the old Internet doesn't disappoint, serving up a blog post titled (I kid you not): "What's With the Turban?" from a site called Kundalini Yoga Boston.

There's apparently a whole bunch of reasons why headgear of the turban persuasion is helpful on the yoga mat. You can read the list in its entirety at the site but here rare a couple to give you a little flavor:

" -- Covering the head enables you to command your sixth center, the Ajna Chakra"

" -- Turbans in particular are useful for holding energy in, and for creating a meditative focus at the third eye point (brow point)."

When I read that last one I quickly snatched the yoga turban from my head. Trust me, the last thing anyone needs (especially me) is to hold any energy in.

So today's hat-tip (and a downward dog) goes to Denmark-based Christine Headwear, a company, it's worth pointing out, specializes in the making all manner of scarves, caps and head coverings for women who have lost their hair due to illness and disease. On second thought, they deserve a double hat-tip for that laudable endeavor.

ALSO:
PC 280: Porch Derby
PC 279: Gull Skull
PC 278: Spago Amigo

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 280 - Derby on the Porch Edition

Day 280 / Hat 280: Black, 100% wool felt derby hat by Scala. Detail includes red feather in the hatband. I took this snap on the fly this afternoon as I was headed to the office to focus on covering a slightly different kind of derby -- the Academy Awards red carpet.

A loaner to the Project from The Headwear Association's sample closet.

By the way, Today is the 110th birthday of Theodor Seuss Giesel, (aka Dr. Seuss) so today's hat-tip goes to the hat-loving author/illustrator/man-cave-dweller. 

Related:
PC 279: Gull Skull
PC 278: Spago Amigo
PC 277: Lax Attitude

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 279 - Bucket of Gulls Edition

Day 279 / Hat 279: Khaki-colored, 100% cotton bucket hat with allover print of seagulls. Interior tag reads: "Worldwide propaganda, Obey Manufacturing Co." Additional interior tag reads: "One size, made in China."

Purchased specifically for the Project exactly a week ago at Kicks Sole Provider on Larchmont Blvd. in Los Angeles.


Related:
PC 278: Spago Amigo
PC 277: Lax Attitude
PC 276: Herald and the Hot Dog Hat

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 278 - Spago Amigo Edition

Day 278 / Hat 278: White, baseball-style cap with details in light carmine pink - including the bill, a button on the crown of the hat and embroidery on front that reads: "Spago."

The final hat in the Russ Parsons series, it turns out I truly did save the best for last. Minutes ago I asked Parsons about the provenance of the hat. He laid this awesome (and timely) tale on me:

"I got it from working on the line during Swifty Lazar's Oscars party." Parsons said, "I served pizza to Jimmy Stewart and George Burns and  made a special fresh tomato pasta for Audrey Hepburn."

Parsons explained that it was in service to a story he wrote for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. "It was the year that Sean Connery won his first Oscar -- for a movie like 'Russia House' or something."

That would actually be Connery's only Academy Award win to date -- in 1988 he took home the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "The Untouchables" (1987) -- but we're giving Parsons the pass for the awesome back story. (Not too mention that we'd have gotten things all jumbled up too if we'd had the honor of preparing particular pasta for Ms. Hepburn.). Based on my sleuthing, that would have been the evening of April 11, 1988.

Irving "Swifty" Lazar, for those of you unfamiliar, was an agent and Hollywood deal-maker of legendary caliber. His Oscar-night soirees were equally legendary -- and the hardest-to-score A-list bash around. A three-decade-long tradition that had started in Beverly Hills, had called Spago home on Academy Awards night from 1985 until 1993 (Lazar died, at the age of 86,  in December of that year).

Although not as star-studded, I have my own memories of the original Spago which was perched above a car rental place at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Horn Avenue in West Hollywood. When the future Bride and I moved to town in '95 (or was it '96? That part's hazy), we lived one block west -- on Larrabee Street -- and memorably dined there with the in-laws.

I put two things in my mouth that night that I will never ever forget -- and probably fork-stab a family member for. One was Puck's smoked salmon pizza with dill crème fraîche and caviar and the other was the little ice-cream-cone-shaped miso comes filled with spicy tuna tartare.

(The restaurant's name is explained this way in a 2013 Departures article by Kevin West: "The word 'spago' means 'string' in Italian, and Puck has explained its almost mystical personal significance, evoking the way that a piece of thread has a starting point but seems endless as it unspools continually from a bobbin.")

Hats off to you Mr. Parsons for a hat-tale with some serious legs - you get a deep bow as well as a hat-tip -- with the assist to Wolfgang Puck for decade-plus of delicacies I've digested at his Hollywood parties and restaurants from Malibu to Las Vegas.

PC 277: Lax Attitude
PC 276: Herald and the Hot Dog Hat
Lights out on the best party in town (L.A. Times)

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 277 - Lax (Helmet) Attitude Edition

Day 277 / Hat 277: White plastic lacrosse helmet with black metal face mask and silver-colored chin-strap snaps. Additional details include foam lining and black printing that reads: "Cascade," and: "Cascade Lacrosse, the official helmet of major league lacrosse."

Loaned to the Project by co-worker Lisa Boone, she says it's one that he's outgrown (or no longer finds stylish enough  - apparently kids are designing their own protective helmets these days -- who knew?). She tells me he's on a local youth hockey team called the Hollywood Bears.

While I never played lacrosse, when I was back at Vermont Academy all the cool kids did and even those of us that were too spindly, easily bruised or horridly uncoordinated (I was definitely in the last category) somehow managed to have a lacrosse stick and a couple of lacrosse balls in our possession.

A hat-tip to Boone (by my reckoning this is at least her second helmet - yes, I said helmet -- to be featured) for the loan.

If the team ever needs someone to dress up like a bear and fall out of a tree onto a trampoline (if you haven't seen the video I'm referring to, you can watch it here) for pre-game mascot-like entertainment, at least one player's mom knows who to call.

GO YOU BEARS!

Related:
PC 276: Herald and the Hot Dog Hat
PC 275: Diplomat Hat
PC 274: Citrus Lid
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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 276: Hark the Herald-Examiner Edition

Day 276 / Hat 276: Black and yellow five-panel cap. The back two panels are the kind of mesh you'd find in
the back of a trucker cap, the panels on the left and right side are black (my guess is acrylic or polyester) with yellow contrast stitching and the front double-sized panel is yellow -- printed with the words: "Los Angeles Herald Examiner" in black.

The hat's head-scratching details -- besides wondering what thought process went into (or didn't go into) the design -- include a black fabric pompom up top and a bill that's a perfect semicircle of stingy brimness ranging from 1/2-inch  wide at the temples to 1 3/4-inches wide in the middle.

Another loaner from the Russ Parsons BOH, it's a hat that's been striking a chord with folks in the office as a fair number of them (Parsons included) once worked at the Herald-Examiner, which at one time was the largest afternoon paper in the country.

Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive entry on the Her-Ex, which was formed in 1962 by the merger of two Hearst-owned papers -- the Los Angeles Examiner and the Los Angeles Herald-Express and published its last edition on November 2, 1989.

In typical L.A. fashion, while the paper is long gone, its building at 1111 South Broadway in downtown L.A. (at the southwest corner of Broadway and 11th streets) lives on as a filming location.

If anyone has the back story on the Her-Ex hat that looks like it was inspired by the Hot Dog on a Stick uniform, drop me a line or post in the comments.

Related:
PC 275: Diplomat Hat
PC 273: Red Rider
Herald-Examiner's last man standing (Los Angeles Times)

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 275 - Russian Diplomat's Black Broner Edition

Day 275 / Hat 275:  Black Russian diplomat hat with faux Persian lamb exterior, diamond-quilted interior lining and fold-down ear flaps. Interior tag reads: "Broner."

Although there is no fabric content tag (it's a loaner from The Headwear Association sample closet),  a quick web search of the style number written on the attached tag -- 59-701 -- reveals t to be a style called "Vladimir," and composed of 100% acrylic material.

Close followers of the Project will know this is the second time this month I've popped a Broner on my head (the first was PC 251 --  the Glam White Trapper) back on Feb. 1.

Although it was listed on the packing slip as a "diplomat hat," it is also referred to as an "ambassador hat" and a "cossack hat" and usually identified with Russian culture. It closely resembles the "karakul," which, as my fellow cube farmer Chris Reynolds hopefully points out is traditionally made "from the fur of aborted lamb fetuses."

To out it diplomatically, that's the kind of thing that makes me wish I'd put my ear flaps down just a tad bit earlier.

Related:
PC 274: Citrus Squeeze

PC 273: Red Rider
PC 272: Mime in the Mirror

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!

Commodore Perry's Battle Flag: Words to Live By

 

It's rare that I get a chance to post anything here that's not related to Project Cubbins, but since most of you won't be visiting the Garlodge any time soon, I felt it on;y right that my newest vexillological acquisition be unfurled to flap in the cyber breeze.

Hoisted into place a few days ago, it consists of white text on a blue background and reads: "DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP." The version I have was made by Annin Flagmakers.

Here'as a brief history plucked from "The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History. vol.2," (William S. Dudley, ed., Washington, DC.: US Government Printing Office, 1992):

"'Don't give up the ship!'

Tradition has it that Captain James Lawrence said these heroic words after being mortally wounded in the engagement between his ship, the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, and HMS Shannon on 1 June 1813. As the wounded Lawrence was carried below, he ordered "Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship!"

Although Chesapeake was forced to surrender, Captain Lawrence's words lived on as a rallying cry during the war. Oliver Hazard Perry honored his dead friend Lawrence when he had the motto sewn onto the private battle flag flown during the Battle of Lake Erie, 10 September 1813."

It's worth noting that Perry was famously victorious in the Battle of Lake Erie. The original flag is still in existence and is apparently among the holdings of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland.

A banner of buckle-down tenacity if ever there was one, I hoist these colors in specific honor of my family, the stubbornest tribe that SNAFU Hollow ever turned out.

Related:
Oliver Hazard Perry (from Biographies in Naval History)
"Don't Give Up the Ship" (from U.S. Naval Institute blog)
A Flag Bears Witness (from Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine)

Project Cubbins: Hat 274 - My Cat On My Hat Edition

Day 274 / Hat 274: White, 100% cotton, baseball-style cap with turquoise-colored embroidery on front that reads: "Citrus." Interior tag reads: Nova, one size fits all, a tradition in headwear for over 60 years, made in China."

A loaner from the Russ Parsons BOH, it references Citrus, Michel Richard's long-shuttered L.A. restaurant, which, from 1986 to early 2001 occupied the Melrose Avenue space that's currently home to Hatfield's.

This isn't a totally random grab from the grab bag, though. I chose it as today's hat in honor of our cat -- also named Citrus -- who joined the family a year ago this week. (I remember it well -- being Pirate Season and all -- she didn't come out from under the bed for nearly a week).

That's her on the upper right above the closeup of the Citrus logo embroidery. That was the name she came with and we decided to keep it -- though in truth she sometimes moves through the house at such a high rate of speed we sometimes refer to her as "Butterscotch Lightning."

The Cat in the Hat I am not.
But a Cat on a Hat? That I've got.

So a kitty hat-tip to the Lady Citrus and bolts of butterscotch lightning -- or butterscotch dust mops as the case may be - wherever we may find them perched and purring.

PC 273: Red Rider
PC 272: Mime in the Mirror
PC 271: Mountain Hat Edition

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 273 Red Rider Edition

Day 273 / Hat 273: Red wool felt outback-style hat with black leather hatband and three round, silver-colored buckles. Oval-shaped tag on interior of crown reads: "Silverado," and hatband tag reads: "Made in U.S.A., large, WPL 4284, 100% wool."

This is the penultimate loaner to the Project from The Headwear Association's sample closet and Silverado is a brand made by the folks at F&M Hat Company (the same ones who made PC 265).  According to the attached tag it's a style called "Addison" and the wool fabric is something called "Dri-Lex Eco," which means it's "made with recycled, renewable or sustainable yarns." I'm guessing this qualifies as sustainable due to the fact that sheep can be sheared and sheared again year after year.

That is as long as you don't leave the barn door open so they can have free and unfettered access to 50 pounds of grain and overeat themselves into an early woolly grave -- a lesson I keenly learned early in my rural Vermont sheep-raising childhood.

Carry that with me a long time? Yes, I guess I did.

Related:
PC 272: Mime in the Mirror
PC 271: Mountain Hat Edition
PC 270: Rockin' the Fish Knits

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 272 - Mime in the Mirror Edition

Day 272 / Hat 272: Black beret, interior stamp reads: "Betmar New York, 100% pure new wool, pure laine vierge, reine schurwolle, rein neu wolle, 81108," accompanied by the Woolmark logo.

Graciously loaned to the Project by The Headwear Association. According to the "About Us" section of Betmar's website, the company has been around for some eight decades. Here's an excerpt:

"Betmar's history goes back to the depths of the Great Depression. The year was 1933 - The hat business was flourishing in spite of the difficult economic times. Betmar was in need of a strong factory. They then partnered with a skilled manufacturer, an old-line cap maker with roots dating back to 1911.

From this Betmar was born. The name chosen was taken from 'Betty Marks' who was the first designer for the hat company. Within six months Betmar blossomed at key department stores around the country. Betty Marks continued making great designs into the 1950s, and her protégé, Miss Arleen, carried the name and reputation forward for many years. Betmar is sold today in more than 15 countries and is a leader in women's headwear fashion."


Related:
PC 271: Mountain Hat Edition
PC 270: Rockin' the Fish Knits
PC 268: Lubbock Avalanche
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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 271 - Go Tell it on the Mountain Hat Edition

Day 271 / Hat 271: Camel-colored felt Vivienne Westwood "Mountain" style hat, handmade in England. Interior details include white, padded cotton sweatband lining with allover print of arrowhead and three dots in red and white tag with turquoise-colored lettering that reads: "World's End, Vivienne Westwood, 430 N. Kings Rd. London," with a scimitar-bearing arm in silhouette in the background.

This, of course, is the same style of hat that Pharrell Williams wore on the 2014 Grammy Awards red carpet spawning a millinery meme that nearly hijacked the show (You can read my story about it here) and the minute I saw it I knew I had to have one included in the Project.

Post-Grammys, the shop posted to its blog a little bit of the background on the high-profile piece of headgear, which has apparently been on offer for the last 32 years. Here's an excerpt:

"First produced in 1982 for the ‘Nostalgia of Mud’ fashion show, the hat has been part of the regular look at the World’s End shop.

Made to look like a bashed in hillbilly’s hat it was worn by Malcolm in his Buffalo Girls music video & on the back of his Duck Rock album. ... The look of the ‘Nostalgia of Mud’ collection including the mountain hat had been inspired largely by imagery of Peruvian women whose indigenous outfit is to wear knee length circle skirts which swing when they dance, short jackets, blankets around them which they can use to carry things in & felt hats."

The best part? According to the post, there are more outsize lids in the pipeline -- a giant pilgrim hat is due out this summer and a towering top hat will be dropping in the fall. (I don't know who's more excited about this -- me or Pharrell.)

Oh, and if you want Pharrell's actual hat -- the selfsame one he wore to the Grammys (and not just a cousin to it like mine which can be ordered by calling the Melrose Ave. boutique),the Los Angeles Times reported today that the musician is auctioning it off on EBay to benefit his education-focused From One Hand to Another charity.  But have your giant change purse on hand -- as of this writing, the top bid is currently higher than the crown on this critter -- $10,500.

Today's hat-tip goes to the fine folks at Vivienne Westwood for crafting such an eye-catching hat -- with the assist to Pharrell Williams for bringing it to pop culture's center stage.

Related:
PC 270: Rockin' the Fish Knits
PC 268: Lubbock Avalanche
PC 267: French Laundry List

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!

Project Cubbins: Hat 270 - Fancy Fish Knits Edition

Day 270 / Hat 270: Multicolor-striped knit wool fish cap. Details include knit dorsal, caudal and pelvic fins and white and black knit eyes.

Graciously loaned to the Project by my favorite shepherdess Natalie Redding of Namaste Farms in Temecula. (This is the second hat she's contributed -- she also set PC 57) it's had me laughing heartily ever since it flopped out of its envelope and onto my desk.

"You keep getting hats from other people so NOT TO BE OUTDONE, I sent you a totally hand knit hat. A [Facebook] follower knit it and it's a big favorite of my family," Redding wrote.

Of this piscatorial pleasure's provenance Redding says: "The lady's name is Stephanie Buford Stratton of LunabudKnits. The yarn is Noro brand ....  I commissioned her to knit me a couple because they are so radical."

I wholeheartedly agree with Natalie's assessment and thought the hat was so awesome I wanted to make sure I included a photo of it that didn't have my fat head stuffed inside it.

In doing a quick search of the interwebs to find out where LunabudKnits hangs her knitting needles (Nicholasville, Kentucky, apparently) I ran across a fun blog post in which she discusses knitting this bad boy (or one very similar to it).

So a hat-tip (and tail flip) to Natalie -- whose new reality show "Shear Madness" is set to debut March 1 on Nat Geo Wild, btw -- with a much-appreciated (if unwitting) assist to Lady Lunabud for her fantastical fish and fiber creativity!

Related:
PC 269: Crossed Paddles
PC 268: Lubbock Avalanche
PC 267: French Laundry List

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!