One of my favorite books as a kid was Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.
I suppose, thinking back about this book, that there was something about the flat caps stacked on the peddler’s head, all of them neatly balanced and available in an assortment of colors that appealed to me.
He also had a certain ease about his day. Napping under a tree with your wares instead of sweating over meeting a sales quota, anyone?
And, of course, the monkeys.*
During my childhood years, I had my own collection of hats– baseball hats from all manner of teams, particularly Minor League Baseball teams. I had several dozen hanging on the walls of my room in a line tracing the ceiling.
These days, sure, I still like hats, though maybe not to the extent of the days of yore, but a unique hat catches my eye nonetheless.
To that end, today’s featured photo that I snapped shows a table of replica hats from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. These hats exemplify what was in style at the time of our country’s birthplace.
From ornate, feathered hats, to simple flat caps, to logo’d baseball caps, and beyond, it’s clear that the “in” style of hats has been and will continue to be forever changing.
Which seems like all the more reason to consider a lucrative career in being a traveling hat salesman.
If you do, just be sure to get on the monkeys’ good side.
*Spoiler alert: In case you did not read the book (you should!), a group of monkeys first takes the peddler’s hats, then wind up helping him sell them.
Dangling Twine 