Tossing your hat in the ring

The word “derby” is an interesting word. The dictionary definition is, “Any of various contests or races open to anyone who wishes to enter” or a “stiff felt hat with a round crown and curved brim.” To me, it brings back some Depression recollections. Everyone anxiously awaited the Soap Box Derby held annually in Akron. I remember a few neighborhood kids who built them. Today I wish I would have built one of these racers from parts that I salvaged from working our East Side dump.

Another type of derby that stands out in my memory was the black or brown felt derby hat. I would consider those a funeral director’s special. I still associate those hats with funeral directors that are long gone.

GRAY Fedoras

I can’t recall anyone in my immediate family owning one. I can remember my father wearing gray fedoras and straw hats. He had the fedoras cleaned and blocked downtown near the Strand Theatre. This hat shop also doubled as a shoe shine parlor.

There was a store on East Federal that sold new fedoras, with names like Stetson. I often went downtown with my father when he bought a hat. It seems he wore hats his entire life. I can remember owning only two such hats in the ’50s. One was black and the other olive, both with red feathers attached to the side. I have never owned one since that time.

Not being a hat man, I have just recently started to wear baseball caps. I am partial to caps that mean something to me, such as my U.S. Navy — U.S.S. LST 582 — WWII logo cap, or my Commercial Intertech logo cap. I have fond memories of the ship I served on and the company I worked for. I own about 25 different baseball caps, but never owned one in the Depression.

Personalized baseball caps are a big business, but do serve a useful purpose such as protecting us from the rays of the sun.

There is another interesting hat that I remember from the ’30s, called the “Top Hat.” But this was a hat you could eat, but not wear. It was actually an ice cream confection made by a neighbor lady and sold at her ice cream parlor. It was vanilla ice cream made in a cup that resembled a top hat, which she then dipped in milk chocolate. It was really a top hatter of a treat. Wish it were still around.

Michael J. Lacivita is a Youngstown retiree and member of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.