Straw Hat Day – May 15, 2024

History of Straw Hat Day

The origin of Straw Hat Day is unclear. It started in New Orleans in the late 1910s. The day marks the beginning of summer, with people switching their winter headgears to the spring/summer ones. On the other hand, at the University of Pennsylvania, Straw Hat Day was observed on the second Saturday of May, the day being the principal spring celebration for undergraduates and a ballgame. The day was said to be widely accepted in Philadelphia that no one in the city dared wear a straw hat before the ballgame.

A straw hat, a brimmed hat woven out of straw or straw-like materials, is not only for protection but for style, and even it becomes a symbol. And it has been around since the Middle Ages. In Lesotho, ‘mokorotlo’ — a local name for the straw hat — is worn as part of the traditional Sotho clothing. It’s a national symbol. The ‘mokorotlo’ also appears on their flag and license plates. In the U.S., the Panama hat became popular due to President Theodore Roosevelt wearing it during his visit to the Panama Canal construction site.

Popular straw hats include boaters, lifeguards, fedora, and Panama. A boater or straw boater is a semi-formal warm-weather hat. It’s the type of straw hat worn by people around the time Straw Hat Day began. The boater is made from stiff sennit straw, with a stiff flat brim and striped grosgrain ribbon around its crown. It’s still a part of the school uniform in numerous boys’ schools in the U.K., Australia, and South Africa. Although men are seen wearing the boater, the hat is unisex. So, you can style it with your outfit, ladies.