Back in the 1800s on some obscure cricket field, when a bowler achieved the rare feat of taking three wickets with three consecutive deliveries, he was traditionally awarded a new hat from his club, or allowed to pass around his hat to collect money from spectators. Then in hockey (among other sports), the term became a big celebratory moment… literal hats rain down onto the ice from the crowd when a player scores three goals in a single game. It also gets used in football/soccer for the same event.
When I started in banking in 1976, only a few of my older colleagues wore hats to work. Hats were standard business attire for men from roughly the 1860s through the 1960s… a full century where you simply weren’t properly dressed without one. Men wore fedoras, homburgs, and trilby hats (like a fedora but with a smaller brim). Every businessman wore a hat outdoors. It was just part of the complete suit ensemble. In fact, it was a social expectation, not just fashion. Among those hats, the most iconic was the dark felt fedora with a crease. Several factors killed the business hat. The first was JFK’s presidency, since he rarely wore hats and thus set a new standard for men. Then, with cars replacing public transit, hats were cumbersome in cars and messed up men’s hair…especially with men’s longer hairstyles in the ‘60s, which didn’t work well with hats. There was also a more casual culture shift wherein the 1960s counterculture rejected formality like the wearing of hats.
When I started traveling in my bank work and submitting expense reports, there was a story that existed as part of the expense report lore. It was about a guy who took a business trip and at his first stop the wind blew his hat off and caused him to have to buy a new hat. When he included it on his expense report, his boss called him in and questioned it as a valid expense. Without justification, he was told to fix the report and exclude it. The guy did just that and returned the revised expense report to his boss, only to be called in again. The boss asked why the total amount of the expense report had not changed despite the removal of the hat. The man looked at him and shrugged, saying simply… “find the hat.” So, hats remained a subtle part of corporate culture despite not being present on many but the most flamboyant heads.
Back in 2016, when I was a spry 62, Kim and I started our serious travel program. One of the things I had hankered to do for a long time was one of those romantic European river cruises. Viking was already the legendary purveyor of upscale river cruises (they were just starting a similar reputation build in ocean cruises), so we picked a cruise called the Blue Danube that began in Budapest and wended its way up the Danube along the outer edges of Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and, ultimately ending in Nuremberg Germany. While I was not so impressed by the river cruise elements of the trip, it was hard not to love the cities and towns we visited along the way. This is seriously the heart of “the old country” as almost anyone would define it. After one charming village after another, as we approached our final destination, we happened to stop in the town of Regensburg, that almost perfectly straddles the Danube in the heart of German Bavaria.
Bavaria has one of the richest and most distinctive histories of any German region, stretching back over a millennium. The Bavarii, a Germanic tribe, emerged in the 6th century AD in the region between the Alps and the Danube. The Duchy of Bavaria was established around 555 AD under the Agilolfing dynasty. In 788, Charlemagne deposed the last Agilolfing duke and incorporated Bavaria into the Carolingian Empire, though it retained considerable autonomy. The House of Welf ruled Bavaria in the 12th century until Emperor Frederick Barbarossa transferred the duchy to Otto von Wittelsbach in 1180. The Wittelsbach dynasty would remarkably rule Bavaria for over 700 years until 1918 – one of Europe’s longest-reigning families. During the medieval period, Bavaria became a significant political force within the Holy Roman Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire era), causing Bavaria to remain staunchly Catholic during the Reformation, which shaped its distinct identity. The 18th century saw Bavaria caught between Austrian and French influence. In 1805, Bavaria allied with Napoleon and was elevated to a kingdom in return, gaining significant territory. King Ludwig I (1825-1848) transformed Munich into a cultural center, while his grandson Ludwig II became famous for building romantic castles like Neuschwanstein (the one you see in all the river cruises brochures). Bavaria joined the German Empire in 1871 but retained special privileges. After World War I, the Wittelsbach monarchy ended in 1918. Bavaria became part of the Weimar Republic, then Nazi Germany (where it was the heart of the Reich), and after World War II joined West Germany as a federal state, where it remains today as Germany’s largest state by area and an economic powerhouse.
As we wandered around the storybook town of Regensburg, I was smitten by a hat store called Hutkönig (translated as “Hat King”). Hutkönig in Regensburg is a remarkable family-run hat manufacturer with a fascinating history spanning nearly 150 years. The business was established in March 1919 , though the family has been in hat-making since 1875 . The enterprise initially grew as hat repairers during an era when hats were essential and people needed to extend the life of their headwear, particularly during World War I. The business has been passed down through multiple generations of the Nuslan family. What makes Hutkönig truly special is that Andreas Nuslan is Europe’s only master craftsman holding both titles for men’s and women’s hats (Hutmacher and Modistenmeister) . The workshop uses original hand tools preserved across generations, along with 10,000 wooden hat forms from multiple eras , and still works with steam in traditional methods. Located at Domplatz (Cathedral Square) right next to Regensburg’s magnificent medieval cathedral, the shop stocks approximately 15,000 hats across two floors. Their clientele has included royalty, presidents, Pope Benedict XVI (a Regensburg native), celebrities, and international customers… a testament to their exceptional craftsmanship and reputation. I found a hat that seemed perfect…a black felt fedora with a grey band and a perfect shape and crease for my head. I don’t recall what I paid for the hat, but it was a purchase of passion and I see that today, the same hat costs Euro 598 online, so its a good hat.
I have had few occasions to wear this wonderful hat, especially living in San Diego now. But a trip to the Christmas Markets of Edinburgh and Prague seemed the perfect occasion, so I went to the trouble of wearing it on our transatlantic voyage. When we checked into our Edinburgh hotel we were mistakenly given a Queen size bed, which we only realized once we had dumped our luggage in the room. When we asked for a room change to a King sized bed (only appropriate for a man wearing a Hat King hat), we were accommodated and quickly gathered our things for the move. But the hat, which had gone onto a lower shelf, was forgotten. The next morning as we prepared to venture out into the frigid winter weather, I realized my oversight and immediately talked to the concierge about retrieving my hat. It took all day, repeated explanations to three shifts of Hilton guest services staff and managers to address the problem. I believe in showing respect to service people, but I will admit to getting a tad frustrated with the repetition and receipt of the same “calm down, we’ll handle this” palliatives. Just at the moment that the head housekeeper was telling me and the gathered front desk staff that there was definitely “NO HAT”, implying that it didn’t exist (despite me showing them a picture of me wearing it at the train station), the service manager came around the corner saying, “I have the hat!” All the hat history and the stories of “find the hat” rushed back to me enough times to make me think that I too deserved the accolade of a hat trick.