Hats

I was watching a documentary about the 1920s and noticed that every man wore a hat. They wore flat caps, trilbys or bowlers. Looking back I realise that my life has been dogged by episodes concerning hats.

As a four year old when I was on a pleasure steamer on the Thames on a family outing my beautiful pink straw hat fell overboard and was lost forever. Some years later I was walking to school over Lambeth Bridge with my friend Peggy when she decided to get rid of her battered Panama. She dropped it off the bridge but at that moment a barge emerged from under the bridge and the hat dropped on to the barge. The boatman tossed the hat on to the shore and a nice schoolboy kindly retrieved it for an ungrateful Peggy. That was how I met my first husband.

During the war when I was working in Whitehall my mother and I went to lunch at Lyons Corner House in the Strand. She had just bought a very pretty blue and white straw hat. Going down some steps she missed the bottom step and fell on to her knees. A very helpful young RAF man bent to help her up. Unfortunately he was smoking a cigarette and as Mother got to her feet the lighted end of his cigarette fell on to the brim of her hat and set it alight. With much agitated clapping of hands we managed to put it out. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Another friend , also called Peggy, had a thing about hats. She had bought a new green one in the style of Robin Hood with a tall brown feather. The weather looked like rain so she was torn between wearing her new hat or her old brown one. She really wanted to show off her hat to the girls at thr office. She finally made up her mind and set off for work. Sitting opposite her on the Tube was a lady wearing a green Robin Hood hat with a brown feather. Peggy thought how extraordinary that they should be sitting opposite each other wearing identical hats. Peggy, a friendly soul, smiled at the lady and pointed to the hat. The lady smiled nervously back and looked away. Peggy continued to smile and point. There was no response. Peggy reached her station and as she got up to get off she caught sight of her reflection in the carriage window. She was wearing her old brown hat!

To cap it all (if I may make a pun) my second husband was a Mr. BOWLER>