A little hat wisdom for the New Year

From TexasBobCom, remember:

Never hire a man who wears a straw hat and rolls his own cigarettes. He’ll either be rolling a cigarette or chasing his hat.

Good advice. Maybe you’d be better off wearing the Indy Downpour, made of rugged oiled cloth.

And whatever you do, don’t get any tabaccy stuck between yer teeth, eh?

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in 2006,

Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Today’s Life Lesson: a hat, a kid, a vase

There’s a hilarious story at the Life in Qatar blog called It’s All in the Hat that will (if you’re anything like me) make you pound your desktop and spew java as you laugh raucously.

Once you’ve composed yourself (and cleaned up your work area), just ask yourself: is your emergency hat stash at the ready?

Now, repeat after me:

This is NOT a hat.

THIS is a hat!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Naked (except for hat) in freezing lake good for health

A bunch of Berliners, wearing nothing but red Santa hats, took their annual Christmas swim in a lake with water temperatures around 36 degrees Farenheit (2 degrees Celsius), reports Reuters.

The group swam up to 15 minutes in freezing water, with apparent enjoyment, saying it was a healthy activity.

Of course, had they not been wearing hats. . .

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Chapeau du Jour (courtesy of Italy)

In the sleepy days between St. Nick and year end, muffle yourself in the Salvatore from Borsalino. You’ll look fine in this ivy cap, your ears will love the satin lining, and — added bonus — you can *politely* ignore in-laws, the very young and other seasonal guests.

Quick how-to:

1. Act startled.

2. Lift earflap slightly.

3. Bellow: “Sorry. Were you speaking to me?”

4. (laugh inwardly)

Thanks for lip-reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

You’ll never be out of sync with the sun in a Davosa!

Important New Year’s Eve Party Notice:

a “leap second” is being added to the last minute of the last hour of 2005.

As reported by The Globe and Mail, leap seconds are growing more controversial, but “are used to synchronize precise atomic clocks with the more variable rotation of the Earth.”

“Atomic clocks”, explains the Canadian daily, “are high-tech timepieces [used to] establish the official time…around the world.”

In other words — you know, mine — watches like the Ternos Automatic Chronograph from Davosa.

Ten, nine, eight….

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

There’s a Yurt at Hat Works (in Cheshire)

Hat Works, located in an old cotton mill in Cheshire, is the UK’s first and only museum dedicated to the hatting industry and hats.

Next time you’re in England, watch hat makers reveal the art and mystery of hat making with working machinery. Gape (if you must) at the vast collection of hats on display ranging from the fine felts of the early 1800’s to the catwalk fashion of the 21st century–then hie thee to the Yurt (felt tent).

Before you leave, take a look at the planking kettle where mercury was once used in the felting process and discover the origins of the term ‘mad as a hatter‘.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Chapeau du Jour – and it’s Greek!

You know me (and love me) as a risk taker. 🙂

Well, lookee here: I took our best selling hat of all time, the Greek Fisherman’s hat, and had it fabricated in fine, supple genuine lambskin. The detailing (do a close-up of the brim for an eyeful of intricacy) is the same as its more traditional counterpart in wool–if you don’t mind, I need to go and hug my hat.

Please, please, no accolades.

But thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Toy Collecting in your Cowboy Hat

For toy collectors who like cowboys, horses and western hats, you’ve got to visit Mike Jackson’s Hartland Pages. It’s an extensively researched site, and focuses primarily on the horse and rider sets made by Hartland over “…about 10 years—roughly between 1953 and 1963. They produced some sets during almost the entire period, such as Lone Ranger, Tonto, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Some of the early sets included Cochise, Dillon, Cheyenne, B&W Chief Thunderbird, and possibly Lee and Washington“.

By the way, the proper way to view Mike’s site is while wearing your Snowy River Akubra Western

but you knew that already, didn’t you?

Thanks for reading pardner,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Chapeau du Jour: a toss-up

Sometimes I stand, a hat in each hand, trying to decide which one to wear.

Case in point:

here we’ve got the fedora from Makins. The elegance of the velour finish is further enhanced with the pheasant feather trim, wouldn’t you say?

On my other hand, there’s the Gentry. It’s a snap brim dress hat that’s just full of attitude. (I love attitude)

Ah, the conundrums of the discerning hat wearer! 😉

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

In Search of Hats (and perfect pronunciation)

Before leaving on another Hartford York hat-quest after the holidays, think I’ll just pop over to the fine folks at Fonetiks and practice a wee bit of French, Welsh and maybe some Portuguese native speaker pronunciation.

Hasta la vista, you hat-loving baby, you!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York