I just plain LOVE hats! I'm very rarely seen without one. I own well over a hundred head coverings. Some are fun and some are merely functional, but I love (nearly) all of them.

If you are a close friend or family member and can fill in any missing dates or locations below, or update/correct any of the text about the hats, I'd really appreciate an update. And if you have any photos of me in hats that aren't here, or if you have better shots of ones that are here, please send them to me (click "Contact" at left) and I'll probably put them in. 

So, without further ado, in roughly chronological order starting when I was 2 years old, here's 151 pieces of my headgear in TREVOR's Hat Parade!

 

1.
dark sailor hat w/ turned down brim and chin strap

I know that technically a hood may not count as a hat, but to me it is. Besides: my website, my rules. My dad built us a skating rink in our back yard. We spent a lot of time skating. Check out those cool 50's-style double runner skates, too!

P.S. That's my older brother Ross hiding behind me.

 

 

 

6.
white baseball cap with black brim

Even as a kid, I wore hats a lot. This fine white baseball cap with a black brim is very, very similar to a hat I wore 46 years later in the Fall of 2008. That's my next younger brother Ian with me. We were really close as kids; shared a room most of our childhood; hung out together a lot; played together; talked together; palled around together; went to college together where we shared a room again. Then he got married and moved to the West Coast and we were out of touch for a long time. But now, thanks to email, we're back in touch again. It's great!

 

 

7.
homemade Little Dutch Boy hat

My little dutch boy costume hat. I really liked it a lot. I'm pretty sure my mother made it. I'm also pretty sure it's based on the story of The Little Dutch Boy, you know, the one where he plugged the hole in the dike with his finger. Personally, I think of this photo as "My first foray into hats and long hair." I was briefly reunited with this wonderful piece of headgear 42 years later. You can see it in color (#7a) here.

 

 

8.
striped engineer cap #1

I'm 13 in this photo. In December of 1967, when I was 11, we moved to Webster Groves, Missouri. Within a week of moving in, I found this engineer's cap in the back mud room. Nobody knew where it came from and none of my siblings claimed it as theirs, so I assumed ownership and wore it nearly continuously until it literally fell apart. It was my first true love affair with a hat. I was really glad when I got a second one a few years later.

 

 

9.
my Indian headdress

 Christmas 1971
our family living room

In 1971, my little big sister, Laura (as opposed to my big big sister, Jane), made me this way cool Indian headdress. It's based on an authentic design, using mostly authentic materials. (They didn't have felt then, but....) And every year since then, I'm always an Indian Chief for Halloween because it's the only time I ever get to wear it.

The writing on the photo is Laura's, so I left it in to certify the authenticity of the photo. *smirk*

Below is a picture of the headdress in color at Moondance Comics at the Hampshire Mall in Hadley MA in 1986 . I like this picture because it says "GAMES" next to my head. (So does this one.) I've got games on my mind! Pretty cool, huh? 

 

 

10.
plain old denim cap

August 1973
Fryeburg ME

The first in a long series of denim caps very similar to this. When this one wore out, I started making them myself out of old pants.

 

 

11.
striped engineer cap #2

 August 1974
somewhere in Maine or New Hampshire

I really liked my first engineer cap and was thrilled when I got another one somewhere. It only lasted a few years, though.

 

 

12.
homemade brown corduroy hat #1 

1978 or so
Somewhere

Of all the hats I made, this is my favorite. Brown was my favorite color at the time. Corduroy was my favorite material. And hats my favorite piece of clothing. What more could I possible ask for? You can see in this close-up that I did a pretty good job making it, too. 

I made a second one of these several years later.

 

 

 13.
homemade denim cap

February 1980
our house
Huntingdon Valley PA (I'm fairly sure)

This was my "formal" look --- that's as close as it got! --- so we'd probably just gotten back from church or a formal dinner or something like that.

 

 

 

14.
"pocket hat" with blue friendship ribbon 

I made this hat out of a the seat of a dead pair of jeans. It was my second "pocket hat" (notice the pocket on the top). In November that year, the owner of our local health food store commissioned me to make eight of them for him to give to his nephews as gifts. I'm probably reading science fiction here, but I can't make out the title. I married this woman 16 years later. She loved me then, but I didn't have a clue.

 

 

 

15.
4H Camp Howe hat

July 1984
Goshen MA

In 1984, I was the Assistant Director (in Charge of Programming) at 4-H Camp Howe, a two month residential summer camp next to the D.A.R. State Forest in Goshen MA. I wore this paper Camp Howe cap and a 4-H shirt (I had several) the entire time. 

 

 

 

16.
homemade brown corduroy hat #2

 

This is the second brown corduroy hat I made. (The first one is here.) At first, when I found this picture, I assumed it was the same hat, but this one has a seam across the crown and the other one doesn't.

 

 

 

17.
blue visor

May 22, 1986
Red Hill Park
Red Hill PA

This photo was taken at the Advanced Chiropractic client picnic. My brother-in-law, the owner, booked me to entertain his clients. The picnic was held at this great little park near his office. I basically stayed and played games all day as long as there was anyone who wanted to play. I don't wear visors very often, but it was really hot that day. I wanted my eyes shaded but not my head covered. Sounds like visor to me. This one's blue denim. 

 

 

18.
folded newspaper party hat

 

 

19.
folded purple bandana headband

For a while there, I was really into bandanas both as head scarves and as headbands. This was part of a Christmas card photo. I guess I was into them because there's four photos of them in a row here.

 

 

20.
red bandana

A standard red bandana. I just like this photo because it says "games" next my head  really big. (So does this one.) I've got games on my mind! It's even better that the banner is the colors that I permanently adopted for my business in September 2000.

 

21.
fancy yellow head scarf

This one's a fancy head scarf. My mother hated them. I always just wished they had a brim. It's a little hard to see it, but that's the tip end of my juggling stick you're viewing end-on above my right hand in front of the metal post on the building behind me. The juggling stick is actually about 2 feet long.

 

 

22.
dark blue bandana

 

 
 

23.
red elf hat

Ah! The elf hats! They were marketed as "Robin Hood hats" (like the green one my older older sister on the right is wearing), but I've always thought of the all other colors as "elf hats", so elf hats they are! My younger older sister found a pattern for these and made a whole bunch of them, so we all had one. I'm actually related to everybody in this picture (notice how we all have basically the same posture). It was Outing Day at camp. We spent the day on the Kancamaugus Scenic Byway (Rte 112) that runs half-way across New Hampshire from Conway to Lincoln. We were walking a nature trail at Passaconway and came around a bend in the trail, and there --- out in the middle of nowhere --- was this exhibit of fire fighting equipment. They've since taken this exhibit down. But notice the metal hard hat right in front of my beard? It is foreshadowing something yet to come.

23a.
red elf hat with feather

 Christmas 1993 (?)
Sharon MA

This is the same elf hat as the one in the picture just above, but it looks pretty good with a feather. And you don't have to attach it or anything: just stick the shank of the feather into the felt and it stays put just fine. 

 

 

24.
blue heavy-duty denim camp

Leading games at camp. The kids behind me are being elephants. This is a very small part of the original photo, enlarge 2x, hence the graininess.

 

 

For some reason, I always wear the yellow elf cap with the edges turned up Robin Hood style.

 

26.
knit Rasta hat

The FNCA Puzzle Club. On the left is my big big sister, Jane (as opposed to my little big sister, Laura). I really like the colors and pattern on the hat. And this photo really shows it off well. I should lean over and get a picture taken of the top of my hat more often.

 

27.
small black cap with purple patterned headband

This hat is actually a little too small for me, so I didn't wear it much after I got it. It's basically a  black cap with a purple hat band. It's a good shot of the hat band, but not a very good picture of the rest of the hat... but it's the best I can find.

 

 

 

 

28a.
reversible black, orange, and gold cap, side 1

This black, orange, and gold Kofia-style of brimless African cap was one of my favorite brimless caps for a long time. I must admit, I very much prefer a cap with a brim (my eyes are overly light sensitive), but this cap manages to overcome that on its own merits. This is Christmas Day at my parents house, and that's my two terrific teenage kids with me. 

Side 2, or this "inside", of this cap is one photo up.

December 1996
Sharon MA

My father was a total groupie for the New Black Eagles Jazz Band, a dixieland band in the Boston area. He went to tons of their shows, knew all their songs, bought all their recordings, knew all their musicians, knew all their substitute musicians, knew their wives and children, too. Etc., etc., etc. For his 80th birthday party, I hired the band to play at a party we threw for him in his back yard, but I didn't tell him ahead of time that I'd hired the band. He complained bitterly before the party for weeks : told us we couldn't have a party, couldn't have it at his house, he wouldn't go, yadda, yadda, yadda. That all stopped the moment the band showed up! My mother made me this authentic black eagle hat as a tribute to the band. I kept it in a place on honor on my dresser for at least 2 decades.

(Compare it to my other bird hat.)

 

 

30.
 "modern" winter toque

My mother knits. Well, at least she did until she was in her mid-70's and her fingers just wouldn't do it any more. She knit sweaters, vests, socks, slippers, scarves, mittens, gloves, stuffed animals, puppets (both hand- and finger-), ornaments, and --- of course --- hats! I have quite a few hats Mom made, and this is a typical example of one of what she humorously (well, humorously to me, anyways) called her "modern" winter hats.

 

 

31.
yellow baseball cap

May 1998
Agawam MA

I have had a boodle of standard, all-cotton, solid colored, brimmed caps, but this was one of my favorites because yellow is my favorite color and plain yellow, all-cotton, brimmed caps are so very hard to find. This one died a cruel and bitter death when I wore it to a huge bonfire. First it got all sweaty. Then it got all sooty. And then it never got better. I tried everything to get the black out, but to no avail. Now I only wear dark colored hats near fires.

 

 

33.
reversible brimless purple hat, solid purple side

 Summer 1998
The Potholes
Shelburne Falls MA

One of my many purple hats. This one is reversible, although I rarely wear the other side out. Nothing wrong with it, I just like the solid purple side better. The Potholes was a very popular swimming spot that has since been closed to the public. It's really amazing. There's dozens and dozens of naturally-formed potholes like this one throughout the entire area. Plus waterfalls, monster-sized rocks, shallow and deep pools all over the place, jumping spots, sunning spots, and a large, clear pool at the bottom. This particular pothole I'm sitting on the edge of is so wide that I can't touch both sides from the middle. It's also about 15 feet deep. My lovely wife also took some pix of me down inside it, but this one shows the hat better.

 

34.
steel hard hat

My hard hat! I love my hard hat. My lovely wife doesn't. This photo was taken at my bachelor party the night before our wedding. I was wearing this hat when I proposed to her three months earlier on the top of "Mount" Jockey Cap in Fryeburg ME. She asked me take to it off when we had a stranger click a photo of us to commemorate the occasion. I picked up this hat at a tag sale for $5. They don't make them like this any more. They're all yellow plastic now. I was wearing it in Maine in August 1998 while canoeing with my lovely wife-to-be. As we approached the Fryeburg town beach, some guy on shore offered me $20 for it. Of course I turned him down: I LOVE MY HARD HAT! And then, at the far end of the beach, some tough guy got all huffy with me. He started wading out towards us yelling, "What are you doing wearing that? Take that off! You have no right to wear that!" He was pretty angry! I yelled back, "I LOVE MY HARD HAT! I'll wear it any time I want! If you don't love your hard hat, maybe you should get a different job!" That cooled him off a bit, but I was glad we were well out of reach the whole time. I still love my hard hat.

It was foreshadowed in August 1993 here. 
And referred to in another hat photo's text here.
I also have this yellow plastic kids hard hat and this white plastic hard hat, too.

 

35.
my wedding hat

October 3, 1998
Bridgewater MA

Our wedding photo. My wedding hat. My lovely wife. Smoooooch! I just love her. She's the best! Love my wedding hat, too. I only wear it to church, on our anniversary, on Valentine's Day, to weddings, and on other special occasions that we do together as a couple. The rest of the time, it stays in a special place on my dresser in our bedroom.

My sweetheart's first appearance on this page is here.

Here's what the top of my wedding hat looks like, and a better representation of its true colors:

August 2014
Fryeburg New Church Assembly
Fryeburg ME

 

36.
large sombrero

October 1998
St John
U.S. Virgin Islands

We went to St John for our honeymoon. It was simply fabulous. 90+% of the island is a State Park, so it's almost completely undeveloped. I carried this hat on the plane because I know I'd need a big beach hat. I got some funny looks in the airport on the New England end, but since when has that ever bothered me?

This photo was taken the same afternoon as the next photo down.

P.S. This is the hat on the lower right corner of my Wicker Hat Wall below at 2/29/8 along with my 2nd sombrero.

P.P.S. My 3rd sombrero is here.

 

37. 
facemask w/ snorkel

October 1998
St John
U.S. Virgin Islands

Yeah, I know, technically it's not a hat, but it is headgear, okay? Like I said near the top of the page: my website, my rules. Snorkeling here was absolutely one of the most awesome things I've ever done. And St John has the only underwater self-guided snorkeling tour trail in the world! Truly amazing.

All the beaches there are very fine, pure white sand because it's all just ground up coral. The water really is that color. And it's warm as toast all the time. That dark stripe across the water just above my flippers is about 30 feet wide and goes from the surface all the way down to the ocean floor. It's solid fish! All sorts of different kinds! Those three birds you can see floating on the surface near them are feeding. There were actually about a dozen of them, but the others were all underwater when this photo was taken. I had just finished spending about 20 minutes actually swimming around in that stripe of fish! They didn't seem to mind at all. It was stunning to be swimming around in a very, very thick school of fish! They were so, so close all around me, but none of them actually touched me! And I couldn't touch them no matter how hard I tried. They were so close that I kept thinking I could easily just reach my hand out and touch one, but no matter how slow or fast I tried, they never let me get that close!

This photo was taken the same afternoon as the one just above it.

 

 

38.
semi-shiny red and purple brimless hat

 November 1998
Pennsburg PA

Every November, we go to my sister Laura's for Thanksgiving. This was taken by one of her boys while I was sitting in my truck in their driveway just after I arrived.

 

39.
Snoopy hat

 Christmas 1998
East Burke VT

My mother-in-law (at far right) gave me this Snoopy hat for Christmas. I gave everyone who was willing to wear it, one of these shiny masks. These are the four who dared! 

 

 

40.
multi-colored knit beret

 June 1999
Chelsea VT

My dear darling daughter made this one for me (she knows what I like). It's a little itchy, which is why I always wear it above my hairline or with something cotton under it. This is one of my favorite photos of me. It's taken at this really cool lodge out in the middle of nowhere that my parents-in-law used to rent for family weekends a few times a year before they moved to Vermont full-time. By the way, those are three bubbles blown by my life-long friend Shelley Dolley in front of my hat, arm, and the porch deck.

 

 

 

30a.
reversible brimless purple hat, patterned side

 Fall 2000
the Quabbin Reservoir
Belchertown MA

Remember that all-purple hat from the Potholes a few pictures above that I said I rarely wear the other side out? This is the other side. 

 

 

41.
paper crowns

 March 22, 2001 (I think)
in our living room

These paper crown were a gift from my performers guild friend Chris on my 45th birthday. We only wore them that day (they're really thin paper), but she's my queen and I'm her king no matter what!

 

42.
my 2nd gig hat
 cloth Cat in the Hat hat #1

My original felt gig hat lasted an entire decade, and when it finally wore out in 2001, I looked high and low for another stove pipe hat with a red & yellow color scheme, but to no avail. So I made my own. I've made lots of other hats in my time, so this was not an unusual decision. However, since the first was was made of felt and hence was so hot in the summer, I decided to make this one out of cotton fabric. It come out pretty well, don't you think? This may have been it's debut. It served me well for 8 years, until the Fall of 2009.

My first gig hat was made of felt and was very hot in warm weather. 
My third gig hat was was like the second expect it had a floppy brim I didn't really like.
My fourth gig hat, I very carefully made the brim big enough and stiff. I really like it. 

 

   

43.
all white baseball cap

July 17, 2004
Lawson Park
Webster Groves MO

This is the only time I ever wore this white cap. (It's NOT the same as this 2009 one or the one just below it.) Something extremely divisive had just happened in my life. I don't remember what it was, but I was very sensitive about not being the bad guy so I wore a white hat that weekend!

This was at a very wonderful 30th reunion of the friends I hung out with in 9th grade in Webster Groves who had started a commune together after graduating from high school. My family moved to the East Coast the summer after 9th grade, but my next younger brother Ian and I went back to Missouri to visit them the summer after they started it. It was a lot of fun to see everyone again back then. And then 30 years later,  it was a lot of fun to see them all again! Ian drove from his home on the West Coast, I drove from mine on the East Coast, and we met in the middle. It was terrific! It was especially cool to catch up with my old girl friend and the other five people in my immediate circle of close friends, meet their significant others, and pal around like old times for the weekend.

And the funny thing is, the other two guys in our group that are also hat people also wore white hats! We're all good guys!

 

 

44.
khaki baseball cap

2006 (I think)
Mt Tom State Park
Goat's Peak lookout tower
Holyoke MA

Standard tan brimmed cap with a view.

I do have another khaki baseball cap.

 

 
45.
low crowned straw hat

 early 2000andsomething
on the Saco River
Fryeburg ME

A low crown straw hat that I probably picked up at the Fryeburg Flea Market that summer.

 

 
46.
purple baseball cap

early 2000andsomething
somewhere

Another standard brimmed cap. Another purple hat.

 

 

47.
genuine red French beret
 

August 2000
Fryeburg ME

When my darling daughter was 18, she went to France as an exchange student and brought me back this genuine French wool beret. Oui, oui. Merci beaucoup, ma favori jeune fille! The funny thing was, she went during the summer, so she didn't actually have to go to school there when she was an exchange student. This photo was taken in my brother's converted Greyhound bus camper when he drove it all the way across the country from the state of Washington. 

 

48.
plaid baseball cap

 2000andsomething
Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory
Deerfield MA

This is one of the very few brimmed caps I've owned that isn't a solid color. But if you wear red or yellow to a live butterfly place, the butterflies will land on your clothing! It's awesome!

Below is a 1996 photo titled "Hat Twins": me in the same hat, with my niece in a matching tam, and the two of us both wearing yellow shirts and blue jeans (although you can't see hers.

 

49.
dark blue baseball cap

May 2005 (I think)
Hardwick MA

And once again, a standard brimmed cap. This one is blue. I really like this photo of me with my two favorite ribbon dancers. It was taken at the annual May Pole camp-out weekend that I've been going to for a couple of decades now. I'm walking in the annual Sunday morning May Pole processional. (You can find a photo of lots of us waving ribbon dancers around the May Pole at this event at the top of my Project: Ribbon Dancer page.)

 

 
50.
large brimmed dark blue baseball cap

 

 

 

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 
The Wicker Hat Wall
The lower right one went to St. John on our honeymoon. You can see it there here.

 

 

The same wall from the other side with me hamming hatless for the camera!

 

 

The flat-sided dome sombrero, which is top right on the Wicker Hat Wall above. (The lower sombrero on the Wicker Hat Wall is way up above in the Hat Parade on our awesome honeymoon on St. John, USVI!) (My 3rd sombrero is here.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one's not on the Wicker Hat Wall. It's on the dress-up shelf in my Play Room.

Straw cowboy hat #2 is here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My safari hat is also on the dress-up shelf in my Play Room. (By the way, We're Going an a Safari is a great game!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is solid plastic and very uncomfortable. Very distinguished, though.

 

 

 

 
My daughter bought me this pagoda hat at the Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival in Marquette MI and gave it to me when she came to camp in Fryeburg later that year. That year at camp, I wore it every morning on the way to Polar Bear Swim. It now holds a place of honor in my Play Room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This colorful, thin fabric, blue beret-style hat is too small for me, so I never wear it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This jester hat and I have a bad history, but my lovely wife the photographer tells me this is a good picture of me, so I guess the hat just lucked out.

 

 

 

 

 

An oversized green head scarf that I really like.

 

 

 

 

 

 A blue print head scarf and Scott Joplin. What more could I possibly need?

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A standard straw cowboy hat.
Straw cowboy hat #1 is here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This ratty piece of junk was given to me by a hitch-hiker who believed that if anyone gave you anything, you had a cultural obligation to give something in return. And since I was giving him a ride, I was morally obligated to accept something (this hat) from him so as not to unbalance his karma or something.

March 3, 2009

In front of our yellow bookcase

 

Every once in a while, my lovely wife gets tired of one of my hats that I just love and I have to quick scramble and find something else to wear that won't bother her. This time around, this plain white baseball cap with a black brim that a former housemate left served the trick for a month or so last Fall until I got my black yachting cap 2 photos down. I had to get her to take a picture of me in it a few hats later because there weren't any of me in it in September and October of 2008 when I actually was wearing it every day. This hat is definitely a deja vu of a very similar hat I wore as a 7 or 8-year-old kid way back in 1963or4.

November 3, 2011
in our Music Room

 

One of three free baseball caps I snagged this summer that have been sitting on my dresser waiting to be worn. I like this tan cap because, as you can see in the photo, it's solid all the way around the back... it doesn't have a buckled strap or any sort of tightening device that can be just so uncomfortable to lean back against. And no hole back there to let the draft in either. 

 

I do have another khaki baseball cap.

August 18, 2013

Fryeburg New Church
Fryeburg ME

 

This chef's hat was mixed in with a room crammed full of stuff left over from the Fryeburg New Church (as opposed to the Fryeburg New Church Assembly, which is different) annual flea market and tag sale. I, of course, put it on and wore it while browsing the rest of the stuff. During that 10-15 minutes, several women told me how good I look in it, that it really brought out the white in my beard perfectly, etc, etc; so of course I bought it. It now lives in our Play Room in the dress-up drawer.

 

 

 

 

 

March 22, 2014

 Bela Restaurant
Northampton MA

 

On my birthday, my lovely wife takes me out for dinner at my favorite local vegetarian eatery: Bela Restaurant. I pretty much order the same thing every time I'm there... unless, of course, there's something way more interesting on the specials board. To quote the menu:

• Veggie Cutlet – made in-house, served with buttery mashed potatoes, gravy and a small salad $9.

This hat is a standard navy blue baseball cap. Nothing special, but it looks brand new in this photo so I suspect it was a 58th birthday present that morning from my lovely wife.

 

 

 

 

 

September 4, 2014

my (grand)daughter's house
Windsor CT

 

This fine Dorfman Pacific all-cotton 3-season hat has an aeration strip above the hatband to let hot air out and cool air in. It's fairly lightweight for its size due, in part, to that aeration strip. I've wanted one of these for decades, ever since one of my Hats Off Performers Guild friends began wearing one back in the 90's. So I was thrilled when I snagged this one from a free pile somewhere. It's my new Everyday Hat. And isn't my newborn-that-day granddaughter (my second!) absolutely adorable!!!

 

 

 

 

January 29, 2016
at our piano

May 23, 2016
Fryeburg New Church Assembly
Fryeburg ME

 

My lovely wife got tired of looking at my previous Everyday Hat, so she bought me a new one. (Not only is she pro-active, but she's smart enough to buy me clothing that I like!) This standard baseball cap with a black brim looks to be grey, but is actually very finely black & white checked. 

 

This particular day, we had rented a cabin at camp for a vacation together before the crew arrived for Work Weekend five days later. When we got there that afternoon, we discovered that nobody had had the WiFi turned on yet. (Oh no! Not a vacation from the Internet, too! Waaaah! Help! MOMMY!) Fortunately, I discovered that I could pick up a weak but steady signal from the Maine Visitors Center across the street from the end of the Boys Bunkhouse. Although I could have been sitting inside the Bunkhouse (as I did a couple of nights in a row), it was such a beautiful, warm, sunny day in Maine that day that here I am with my back up against a giant pine tree at the edge of the woods outside the back door of the Bunkhouse, noodling around online the following morning. My lovely wife thought it was pretty funny and came over and took my picture.

 

 

 

 

 

November 28, 2016
in my office

 

A local discount store had moved into a new space and was having a HUGE sale on the old inventory at it's old space. Each week, everything left was discounted by another 10%. This particular day, it was at 70% off. So although I wasn't really looking for a new hat, this one jumped out at me, and since the price was definitely right, I bought this brand new, heavy-duty, black, 2-tone, snap brim, 50% cotton and 50% jute, $15 cap for just 3 bucks! It's solid jute mesh in front; thick cotton fabric on the back half and brim; and a strong, adjustable, velcro jute strap in the back. It's my new Everyday Hat. Here's my previous Everyday Hat.

 

That painting behind me, by the way, is one of my favorites. It's by my high school friend Sandy "Sandal" Friedman. What I'm obscuring with my head and this fine hat is more trees that basically fill about 90% of the part you can't see. There's a tiny bit of tree branches barely visible through my hair at the lower right next to the signature, so you can actually see that the trees do indeed go that far in the painting.

 

 

 

 

 

January 1, 2017
New Year's Day

in our kitchen

 

New Year's Day 2017 — notice that it says "Happy New Year! 2017" in fridge magnets on the left — was the snow date for our annual family Christmas gathering. 22 relatives ranging from age 2 - 66 made it this year. We had our usual fun and often funny Yankee Swap. I got this pretty cool, goofy turkey hat. Actually, as I told my disbelieving housemate, I actually picked this. The kid who got it clearly wasn't happy at all since she not only refused to even try it on, but threw it over her shoulder onto the floor behind herself, too, to demonstrate her total disdain for it. Well, I did want it, so when my turn came around, I took the hat from her and she got to pick another gift and everybody was happy! I wore it for the entire party, and still have it on as I write this after everyone's gone home, all the clean-up is done, my lovely wife has gone to bed, and I'm completely off duty... I still have it on.

 

It is quite likely, however, that I will not be wearing it tomorrow.

 

By the way: Now I have two bird hats: this one and my black eagle hat.

 

 

 

 

 January 5, 2018
my house

 

I've always wanted an earflap hat, so when I saw this one at a barn sale last summer, I snagged it. It's all black, solid all the way around the back (no hole above an adjustment strap), and the ear flaps are fuzzy. I've worn it twice so far this winter, yesterday and today! It's a little tricky to tie it under my chin without tying beard hairs into it, but that's a small price to pay and part and parcel of being me. Besides, my ears were toasty. It's a great winter biking hat, too.

 

 

 

 

February 19, 2018
Swedenborg Chapel

Cambridge MA

 

I don't have anything to say about this one.

 

 

 

 

Over the past two months, I've picked up several terrific new hats for myself at various yard sales, as well as several new hats for the dress-up drawer in my Play Room for the kids to enjoy. Today, I took pictures of all the ones that aren't on this page yet: the next 12 hats.

 

 

 

This photo was taken in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Library.

 

 

The following three I got at the Northampton Family Center's annual yard sale. It was late in the day and everything was free. I was showing my lovely wife a kid's firefighter hat (that's several hats down on this page), and the lady in charge overheard me and immediately came over and said, "Oh, do you like hats? A kind older gentleman left a whole box of men's hats. For some reason they're over here behind all the kids clothes... most men don't get that far." She led the way and then proceeded to show me every hat in the box. These next three, not only did I like them, but they fit, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 
This has become my new "every day" cap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My father also had three Cuffleys, a black and two tans. I got one of the tan Cuffleys.

 

Behind me is a drawing of a school bus that I did in grade school in Webster Groves, Missouri. I was really proud that I figured out a way to cut around the wheels and still have them attached. (Can you see the little black tab at the top of the back wheel?) I don't have many pieces of art I've created that I like very much, but I do like this one. Above it is my absolutely favoritest parachute picture of my work; it's four girls having a total BLAST playing parachute games inside at the Holyoke Day Nursery in 1989. You can see it in full close-up here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my father's hat. I think he bought it on one of his trips to England. He wore it in the winter for a few years. It has a fold-down ear and neck warmer flap on the inside.

 

This hat was also my Pop's.

 

 

 

 

 

My lovely wife picked this up when she first started stocking the Dress-Up Drawer in our Play Room. It was an instant hit with my 3-year-old granddaughter, who made a beeline for the Dress-Up Drawer and put on this hat on arrival during their weekly visit for at least a month!  

 

 

 

 

 

This hat is obviously way too small for me. I'm looking at my lovely wife's clown beanbag toss game that her grandparents replicated an exact copy of from one that her great-grandparents had but wouldn't let them have (most likely because the grandchildren were still using it): he made the wooden stand with the holes in it; she traced it onto the board and painted it. Her mother made the beanbags, and now it goes on to a sixth generation, because my grandchildren are now using it. Cool, huh? I got this hat at the same place as the "kind, older gentleman" hats above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another dress-up hat that's too small for me that my 3-year-old granddaughter took to instantly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No matter how I tried, I couldn't make this fashionable ladies bonnet look good on me. I think I'm wearing it wrong. Despite my massive practical knowledge of hats, I have absolutely no experience with bonnets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This, somehow I don't remember, came to me via my lovely wife's family.

 

 

 

 

This "old lady hat" is covered with some sort of veil-like fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 AND HERE ENDS THE JUNE 2, 2018 YARD SALE AND DRESS-UP DRAWER PHOTO SHOOT

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 5, 2018

 my office

 

When I put up photos of the two Cuffleys above, I discovered that this one, my Pop's Cuffley, wasn't on this page yet, even though I've had it since shortly after Pop died 6 years ago. Pop had both a black Cuffley and two tan Cuffleys. I definitely wanted one, but when I asked around about them, I found out that my younger brother Lee had gotten them all. He very kindly allowed me to have the one of his choice (my family works like that), so I'm grateful to him. I'm pretty sure Pop got this either in England or Australia — two places he went several times where this style of cap is popular. On the shelf behind me, below the brim of my hat, are some cans and jars containing nuts, bolts, and washers... very appropriate for Pop. Also on the corner of that shelf near my beard is a framed drawing of "Blue Pansies" done by my grand-daughter when she was 4 years old. Her Great-Grandpop would have liked that, too. 

 

This hat was also my Pop's.

 

 

 

 

June 16, 2018
in my Play Room

 

My lovely wife and I went yard sale-ing that day, and of all the hats I tried on, this grey cap is the only one that she nodded Yes for. It has been my Everyday Hat since then. Here's my previous Everyday Hat.

 

 

 

November 5, 2018
my front porch

 

Picked this up in a free pile somewhere because I thought it might be good for winter riding. Turns out it's made out of neoprene which is both waterproof and breathable. It will keep the wind out, too, if I pull the chin strap tight enough. I'm looking forward to trying it out this winter to see if it's warm enough during cold weather. 

 

 

 

 

2018 CHRISTMAS VACATION PHOTO SHOOT
December 28, 2018
our house

 

My lovely wife has been purging stuff for several years (right now, it's via Throw Out 50 Things by Gail Blanke [she hit #41 today]). This afternoon, I jumped on the bandwagon with her and cleared a whole bunch of outdoor winter clothing I never wear from my closet to donate to our local homeless shelter. In the process, I found a cache of 7 hats that weren't on this page yet. When I told her about it this exciting discovery, she volunteered to photograph them for me. Thanks, Darling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of all the Rasta hats I've ever owned, this has always been my favorite because of the bright solid pure colors. Due to my new daughter-in-law's recent discovery of the "Dressing Your Truth" method of color typing and her sharing it with my lovely wife, I now know that that's because THESE ARE MY COLORS!

 

BTW: That's my darling daughter's painting on the wall behind me.

 

 

 

 

 side view and top view

 

One day when I was visiting my parents 20 or so years ago, my mom was sitting on the couch finishing up knitting this hat. This is not at all unusual behavior for my mother — she probably knitted well over 100 winter hats in her lifetime, not to mention mittens, scarves, socks, sweaters, nose-warmers, and more. What was unusual about this was that when she was done, she stood up and gave it to me saying, "This is probably the last hat I will ever knit." And it was. To this day, it still hangs in a place of honor over my desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This hat lives in the pocket of a 1-piece ski suit that I never wear, so I never wear it. In fact, when I gave away the ski suit because I never wear it, I left the hat in the pocket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime back in the late 1990's, my old friend Amy Coughlin made this hat for me one Christmas. I wore it with pride for many years. Because so many people simply can't resist tugging on the two "horns" one after the other and making a repetitive noise of some sort — it's happened many times — I think of this as my [said in a high pitched voice in sync with 2 tugging motions, 1 with each hand] "boop boop" hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this was the funny long tail hat I wore before I got the "boop boop" hat just above. My little sister Ellen gave me this for Christmas one year long long ago, so it's appropriate that I'm looking in the window at our Christmas tree in this photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the most amazingly warm, waterproof, snowproof, windproof head covering I've ever had the pleasure of owning. I call it my Blizzard Hood. I just LOVE walking outdoors during heavy snowstorms and blizzards, and this detachable hood is indispensable. Since it was made for some other coat, it doesn't actually attach to my long winter army coat, but although you can't really see it in this picture, it comes all the way down to my shoulders and spreads out a bit there. So, with the collar of my coat turned up, I can wrap this hood around with the coat collar inside it, and velcro the hood closed comfortably snug so that not a bit of wind or cold gets in around my neck no matter how blustery or gusty the wind gets. Also, not only does the furry fringey stuff around my face do a similar service for my mug, but there's some sort of fairly stiff flexy stuff sewn into the outside edge of it so that it can be molded to the shape of my face, squished in very tightly, or spread out wide depending on the circumstances. I only wear this hood once every 4 or 5 years or so when I go walking a blizzard, but whenever I do, I sure am glad for it! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 February 19, 2019
in front of the snow mountain on our front lawn

 

I've always wanted one of these toasty warm ear flapper hats that the ear flaps snap up. Now I do! These photos were taken in front of the huge snow mountain on our front lawn. All the snow from our driveway and from the truck company next door gets piled up on our front lawn all winter long. Sometimes by the end of winter it gets to high you can stand on it and look in the 2nd floor windows.

 

 

 

 

 

February 19, 2019

in my tool closet

 

My latest Everyday Hat (the one I wear every day by default) is a union cap: it has an ACTWU label in it... that's the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Here's my previous Everyday Hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 April 7, 2019
in my Play Room at home

 

Most people who know me well know that my favorite number is #63, so when I turned 63-years-old on March 22, 2019, I had a huge 9-hour party on my birthday that somewhere around 63 people showed up (I lost count at 54 about 7 hours in... I like to think that at least 9 more arrived after that). 16 days later, I found this 63 hat at a thrift shop in Greenfield MA. I think I'll wear it all year as my Everyday Hat and retire it on my next birthday. [I did.] Behind me are two 63 signs my 2 grand-daughters made for me on my birthday.

 

Here's my previous Everyday Hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 25, 2019

my house

 

I've been entertaining at the Chester Fair in Chester CT every year since 2009. They've had imprinted t-shirts for several years but this year when I arrived, Kathy Bosco — the person who's been booking me in recent years — announced to me that they have hats this year. She knows how much I love hats, and afterwards, when I was packing up to go, she was kind enough to give me one! Thanks, Kathy! You're a peach. (I also got my picture in the program booklet on p. 42, so how about that for a twofer, eh?!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2, 2020
in our newly renovated basement

 

Shortly after I retired my #63 hat at midnight the day before my 64th birthday (like I said I would), I found this sparkly party hat on the side of the road on one of my daily bike rides. It's just a little too small and it's all plastic so it makes me head itch if I wear it too long (me and synthetics don't get along), I'm still glad I found it. There's 6 little tiny lights around the top edge of the hatband (that black dot you can see is the switch) with a little battery compartment inside that takes some unusual small battery of some sort. Eventually I'll figure out what kind and will be able to see what it looks like with the lights on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 May 29, 2020

in my office

 

Picked up this grey fedora from a free pile on the side of the road while I was out for a bike ride, along with some pretty cool sailboat hooks (that's hooks with sailboats on them, not hooks for sailboats). It's just a little too big for me, but nothing unmanageable. The feathers are connected together in a tuft that you can remove for cleaning. I know this because the hat was pretty dusty and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning it. It looks pretty good now, though, don't you think?

 

BTW: For a while there, the word in black on the sign next to me changed every week, much to the amusement of my grandchildren and the homeschoolers in the weekly gym class that I did online throughout most of 2020 and 2021.

 

 

 

 

 132.
fringed edge straw hat
 July 2, 2020
Fryeburg New Church Assembly
Fryeburg ME

 

This fringed edge straw lives at our cabin in Maine. Here I am leading virtual Sparks Games with a group of Sparks (camp kids ages 3-12), bringing kids together during the global pandemic that kept us all apart.

 

 

 

 

 133.
pillow hat

August 1, 2020
Fryeburg New Church Assembly

Fryeburg ME

Unusual Hat Day!

 

The FNCA was 100% virtual the summer of the pandemic, but we were perhaps the only people there at the time because, as chair of the Online Programming Committee, I wanted to be able to share events from our facility. So this photo is taken inside our family cabin. vFNCA 2020 had daily spirit themes to help with a feeling of unity. It was Unusual Hat Day!, and although I have quite a few unusual hats, I hadn't brought any with me, so in the spirit of playfulness, I wore this pillow that happened to be on the couch next to me during the first event of the day as my unusual hat for all of that day's events!

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

September 4, 2020
my garden

 

Picked this up in a free pile on my daily bike ride today. And just in time, too: my old gardening hat is starting to fall apart. Behind me, are my garden beds #s 3, 4, and 5 of my 7 raised beds. In Bed#3 (top left), you can see bush beans in the bed and pole beans on the trellis behind them. In Bed 4 (center right), you can see summer squash just starting to climb the trellis at the left end, and if you look closely, you might see a little bit of red leaf lettuce grown from seed from the Mass Aggie Seed Library at UMass-Amherst. And in Bed #5, you can see beets in front of my nose and behind my neck.

 

NOTE 6 MONTHS LATER: Turns out I didn't ever use this hat. It's just a little but too small. Luckily, I've since gotten a new gardening hat.

 

 

 

 

September 6, 2020

my basement workbench

 

Whoa! Two(2) new hats in a span of 3 days! Yowza! This one will live in my Play Room in the bucket of play (and a few real) tools along with my yellow plastic kids hard hat. By the way, white hard hats are for managers, foremen, engineers or supervisors. I also have an old style steel hard hat that I was wearing when I proposed to my lovely wife in 1998.

 

 

 

 

 

 January 14, 2021

in front of my dresser

 

I picked up this hat from a free pile several months ago and it smelled so badly of perfume that I left it outside on our covered porch to air out. On January 1st, I retired my previous everyday hat and put this one on.

 

 

 

 137.
Greek fisherman's cap

 

 
April 17, 2021
in front of my dresser

 

Here's the front and side views of this black Greek fisherman's cap (here's another one) that I picked up at a thrift shop today. It's in really good shape, it fits well, and I like it, so I may be wearing it for a while as my Everyday Hat. (Here's my next Everyday Hat.)

 

 

 

 138.
black driving cap

 

 

April 17, 2021
our house

 

I got this nice black driving cap at the thrift store today, too! I think it looks pretty sharp.

 

 

 

 

 139.
sombrero gardening hat 

 

 

April 18, 2021
in my garden

 

Got this third hat at the thrift store yesterday, too. It was a threefer! I saw it and really liked it but didn't think my lovely wife would put up with me wearing it much, but my heart jumped when she said, "It would be a good gardening hat." She knew my old one was falling apart, and the replacement I got was a little small, so I'm thrilled with my new sombrero gardening hat. BTW: This is my third sombrero. Here's the first and second.

 

I'm also thrilled with my new little pea plants in my garden bed! It's a new variety of dwarf peas that don't need a trellis. I'm hoping they're prolific and worth the space. 

 

 

 140.
red long brimmed baseball hat 

 

 

June 8, 2021
on my front porch

 

You may notice that light attached to the brim. I got it to use as a headlight when I'm biking at night (which I do regularly). On a regular size baseball cap, the back of the light bangs against my head every time I pedal, so I had to special order this long brimmed hat to solve that problem.

 

 

  

 July 4, 2021

Fryeburg New Church Assembly
Fryeburg ME

 

We were doing a bit of decluttering at our family's cabin, and I found this hat. My lovely wife said we could donate
it somewhere, and I said' "I like it," tried it on, and found
it fit quite well. But then when I found a small hand-sewn hole in the back of the headband, I said, "Hey, this is my hat," because that's something I sometimes do so I can attach it to my belt clip when I get too hot. I must have snagged this hat some other time when we were at the cabin, left it there, and forgotten about it because it's not anywhere on this page above. But now, it's my new Everyday Hat because my previous Everyday Hat is too
hot in the summer. 

 

 

October 20, 2021
our dining area

 

When my lovely wife's Uncle Rozzie died mid-August, her cousins invited us to go to his house saying "Please take EVERYTHING you want!" Among other things, I got this terrific straw hat that was Rozzie's, and my lovely wife got the terrific dining table I'm sitting at in the photo, as well as 4 dining chairs to go with it. I wore this cool hat throughout the Fall until the weather got too cold, and then put it back on the following May when the weather got warm. From Aunt Gretchen, I got a 4-note ceramic whistle on a necklace that one of her potters guild friends made for her. I've been wearing it pretty much all the time. You can just barely see the shiny top of it below the brown colored bead in front of my shirt at the very bottom of the photo. It's handy sometimes, having a musical instrument around my neck!

 

 

 143.
blue 2-color corded cap

 

 

May 30, 2022
my lovely wife's office

 

Picked this up for $3 at a thrift store in Lincoln NH on our way home from Maine this weekend. It's been my Everyday Hat ever since. Here's my previous Everyday Hat.

 

 

 144.
black plastic fedora w/ black & white hatband

 

 

September 26, 2022
our front yard

 

Found this on the side of the bike path a couple of days ago on my daily bike ride. It was just sitting there all by itself looking lonesome so I brought it home with me. My lovely wife says I can keep it.

 

 

 

 

 145.
CAT DAD baseball cap

 

 

 November 3, 2022

our cat's house

 

Whitney loves a good head scratch, and my lovely wife the cat lady laughed loud and deep when I showed her this hat I picked up at Goody's this afternoon.

 

February 18, 2023

 at home in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Library

This is one of two hats I found at Goody's today. This 50/50 cloth flat cap is lined with red plaid on the inside. It just became my latest Everyday Hat.

 

 147.
large brimmed bright yellow baseball cap

 

 

 February 18, 2023

in front of our bedroom curtain

 

This is the second hat I found at Goody's today. It has a bigger than usual brim, which I like. I wear this style of plain red or yellow hat to and from gigs so I'm wearing the right color hat when I arrive and leave. Red ones are fairly easy to find, but plain yellow ones like this are rather rare, so I snatch them up whenever I see them. This probably won't get worn for several years, but when the time comes, I'll be glad it's there waiting for me.

 

 

 

 

148.
bright red baseball cap

 

 

May 1, 2023
in our kitchen

 

Originally, I bought this at a thrift shop to wear to gigs before I put on my Cat in the Hat gig hat. But since I have several of these already, I decided that it's okay to just wear it any time I want! Behind me is the Mary Azarian print that my lovely wife picked up at a another thrift store after years of wanting some of her art on our walls. It reads: "When the World Wearies and Ceases to Satisfy, There is Always the Garden." Mary Azarian is a Vermont woodcut artist who hand paints each print, so this is a unique piece. She has illustrations in more than 50 books including the Parent's Choice Award for Illustration for The Tale of John Barleycorn and the Caldecott Medal and multiple other awards-winning, Snowflake Bentley.

 

 

 

May 27, 2023

our driveway

When I picked up this wool cap at a yard sale in Vermont, my immediate thought was, "This is going to be GREAT in the winter!"

 

 

 

 

 

October 9, 2023
Eastham MA

 

My lovely wife and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a day trip to the Berkshires on our actual wedding date, followed a few days later by a delightful 4-day vacation on Cape Cod. This photo is taken in front of the little rental home we stayed in right on the water in Eastham MA. One day, we went all the way to the end of the Cape to Provincetown (which is well-known as a gay town) and were strolling down Commercial Street — which is the main artery through downtown P'town — and saw a little sign on the side of a tall hedge that said "TAG SALE" (which is what yard sales are called in Massachusetts). We like tag sales so we strolled up the walk, and there was this very obviously gay guy selling mostly women's clothing, wigs, and costume jewelry on his front patio. My lovely wife says to me, "This isn't a tag sale, this is a drag sale!" [hee hee hee] They also had a small pile of these black felt fedoras. My lovely wife approved, so I bought one for $5. When we got home, my housemate (who often comments about my hats) said, "Man, you look handsome!"

 

 

 

 

January 7, 2024
our back yard

 

I'd been waiting for the first winter snowstorm to wear this canvas earflapper hat that I picked up at an estate sale in Vermont. There was not only a mighty lot of stuff in the house, but the huge, dusty, ancient barn was full to the gills, too. Digging through a box of junk in the barn, I found this hat buried near the bottom. It was absolutely filthy, had tons of those white cobwebby globs in all the folds, and was generally undesirable. But my lovely wife did wonders cleaning it for me (she's amazing!) and it turns out it's in really good shape. It is a little small for me, but I wore it shoveling snow for a good hour and it kept my head, ears, and neck warm without getting all sweaty during vigorous physical exercise. That more than makes up for the slightly tight fit, especially since it has a tie at the front corner of each side of the earflap. I just wore it loosely and tied it under my chin, and it performed admirably. And for extra bonus points, the earflaps fold up to normal hat level and actually stay in place.

 

After a gig in Greenwich CT, my lovely wife and I popped in for a visit with our dear friend Beki and family on the way home. This is her husband Jason Greenwood's hat. He wasn't there, so I got to try it on whether he liked it or not. Somehow I managed to communicate wordlessly with my wife across the room to please take a picture for me. She clearly got the message, because she took 9 or 10 of them!

trevor@trevorthegamesman.com

PO Box 463, Haydenville, MA 01039