Leons Hat All of you Smithwickers know that men of the generations that preceded us went nowhere without their hat. Heck, they would not set foot out the back door or off the porch without one. And every man had his own personal crease that he worked into the hat to make it his own - sort of a hallmark of personality. Of course this was a custom borne out of necessity in a time when men spent most of every waking hour in the elements. Now mind you, this is not to imply that women folk did not also work and play outside - but they wore some contraption called a bonnet, and that is not the subject of this story, although I was also fascinated by the fan-like qualities of my MamMaws bonnet at an early age. My PawPaw Leon had four hats at any given time, as I recall: a summer straw hat, a winter felt hat with a lot of sweat stains, a leather cap for winter and deer hunting, and a Sunday hat that stayed in a box in the closet. As a kid, I took comfort in seeing his work hat hanging by the back door. It was a fixture when he was in the house. After he passed on in 1969, that hat hung there for a long time. No one could stand the thought of moving it. It now hangs in my sisters house proudly and I like to look at it when I visit. When I see it I think of what it would be like if the hat could talk. Last May, I decided to attend the Richland Cemetary meeting and was happy to find out that my Uncle Doc and Aunt Frances Whitman from Marfa would be there, accompanied by my cousin Connie Lee Whitman from San Angelo. What a special Texan Doc is, but that also is a story for another time. Doc is now 90 and just this last year, he and Frances moved to Angelo near Connie. Anyway, they still have part of my grandparents home place that we always called the Strickland pasture on the North side of 1431. After the meeting we went up there to Docs little cabin for a visit and after a while Doc said he had something for me. Well, he brings out a dusty crusty old Resistol hat box, and Im thinking that it might be a hat that he no longer needed. It was, but with a twist. It was Leons Sunday hat, a Stetson 5x beaver with a real thin profile - like Ronnie talked about in one of his previous posts. What a wonderful surprise. I dont often wear a cowboy hat anymore, but for sure I now have one that I can wear with pride. The amazing thing is that this hat still looks brand new - and it is over fifty years old. Here is a pic of me and my new hat with Doc. Leon was well known in these parts as an exceptionally honest man. That made an impression on me and Im really proud to have this hat to pass down the line.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 03:52:11 +0000
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