1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,159 Speaker 1: a show that gives a quick look it's something that 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: happened a long time ago. Today I'm Gabe Louzier, and 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: this episode we're talking about the high cost of a 6 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: very specific crime of fashion. The day was September nine. 7 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: In New York City. A group of teenage boys grabbed 8 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: the straw hats of some factory workers, stomped them flat 9 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk, and then ran like mad. Later that evening, 10 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: the boys did the same thing to some dock workers, 11 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: but this time the hat wearers fought back. The ensuing 12 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: brawl grew so large it stopped traffic on the Manhattan Bridge, 13 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: and police had to be called in to break it up. 14 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: The following day, The New York Times reported that quote 15 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: scores of rowdies on the East Side and in other 16 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: parts of the city started smashing hats. Police reserves were 17 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: called out, straw hat bonfires were started, and seven men 18 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: were convicted of disorderly conduct in the men's night court. 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: And here's the thing is wild as all that sounds. 20 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: The straw hat riot was just getting started. By now, though, 21 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: you're probably wondering, what's with all the hat smashing. To 22 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: answer that, we have to talk a little about men's 23 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: fashion in the late nineteenth and early twenty centuries. At 24 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: the time, buildings didn't have air conditioning or central heating, 25 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: so men's wear tended to follow a seasonal shift, going 26 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,639 Speaker 1: from heavier fabrics in the fall and winter to lighter 27 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: fabrics in the spring and summer. This changeover also applied 28 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 1: to hats. Most men of the time war hats every day, 29 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: typically felt ones, but they would switch to straw hats 30 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: in the summer as a way to stay cool. Over time, 31 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: an unwritten rule emerged, similar to the idea that you 32 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: shouldn't wear white after Labor Day. In this case, a 33 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: man could only don his straw hat between May fi 34 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: and September. When the fifteen rolled around, it was time 35 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: to switch back to felt hats for another eight months. 36 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: This became such an accepted norm that a tongue in 37 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: cheek New York Times article proclaimed that any man who 38 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: wore a straw hat passed the cut off date was 39 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: quote a communal enemy and a potential subverter of the 40 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: social order. In most cities, wearing a straw hat out 41 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: of season made a man appear unrefined or careless, and 42 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: it may have gotten him some judgmental looks strangers. But 43 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: in New York City, non compliance with the straw hat 44 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 1: and mandate was a much more serious offense. There. If 45 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: a man hadn't switched back to a felt hat on September, 46 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: he was practically begging for someone to yank it off 47 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: his head and stomp it to bits. But in nineteen two, 48 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: this annual hat snatching tradition went from annoying to dangerous. 49 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: If you'll recall, the straw hat riot began on September 50 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: of that year, a full two days before the universally 51 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: accepted cut off for wearing straw hats. For whatever reason, 52 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: the hat smashers of New York got an early start 53 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: that year, and this violation of the rules prompted a 54 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: violent response from men whose hats should have been off 55 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: limits for two more days. Despite pushback from law enforcement, 56 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: the chaos continued night after night for a solid a week. 57 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: The roving gangs of hat hunters moved from the East 58 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: Side to the Upper West Side, whereas many as a 59 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: thousand boys and young men were said to have gathered, 60 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: grabbing and stomping straw hats wherever they found them. To 61 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: make that job easier, many of the attackers carried sticks 62 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: lined with nails so they could hook the hat right 63 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: off a stranger's head and then crush it flat in 64 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: one smooth motion. But since encounters usually turned violent, the 65 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: sticks were just as often used to beat the victim, 66 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: not just as hat. Dozens of arrests were made over 67 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: the course of that week. Some of the perpetrators were 68 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: fined five dollars for a legal hat smashing. Others were 69 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: jailed for assault. The younger delinquents arguably incurred a harsher punishment. 70 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: According to the New York Tribune, when one lieutenant caught 71 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: some young kids smashing hats, he quote invited the boys 72 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: fathers to come to the station and spank them. No 73 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: word on if the dads took him up on the offer, 74 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: but I'm sure the kids would have much preferred the fine. 75 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: This was not the city's finest hour, needless to say, 76 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 1: but it was a very profitable one for hat stores. 77 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: They reportedly stayed open late that week and made a 78 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: small fortune selling felt hats. Two men desperate to ditch 79 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: their straw ones. Things finally calmed down by the end 80 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: of September, but the hat smashing custom continued for another 81 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: few years, including one fateful day in ninety four when 82 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: a man actually died in defense of his straw hat. 83 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: One year later, in nineteen, President Calvin Coolidge dared to 84 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: wear his straw hat on September well passed the cutoff date. 85 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: Once the commander in chief had rejected the rule, the 86 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: rest of the country followed suit, and hat smashing became 87 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: a thing of the past for the most art Soon 88 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: straw hats would fall out of fashion entirely, and then 89 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: the Great Depression would start, making everyone pine for the 90 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: days when the biggest thing to worry about was whether 91 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: you were wearing the right hat. I'm Gabe Bluesier and 92 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,359 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 93 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to tell me 94 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: which hat you'd most like to smash yourself, you can 95 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: write to me at this day at I heart media 96 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler May's for producing the show, 97 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 98 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another Day in History Class. For more 99 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 100 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.