How did the practice (ettiquette) of removing one’s hat while dining originate?
May 29, 2010 - 12:39 am
A friend was recently chastized by his grandmother for wearing a hat at the table while in a restaurant. We are trying to understand how this rule of ettiquette came about and what purpose it serves.
I saw something on TV just the other day, some celebrity wearing his hat at in the dining area, and I was thinking, How disrespectful.
Not really sure where it originated, but one possibility.
I know in Navy ships you always remove your cover(hat) before entering the mess deck.
This was because the mess decks were the battle dressing area during battle. This was to respect the people that had died there.
This could have been picked up from people traveling by ship and carried over to others.
May 29th, 2010 at 6:24 am
At one time people did not have spacious seating like in a restaurant. People were often seated at large tables and were elbow to elbow. Hats had a wide brim. To remove the hat was a way to allow more space, more visibilty, and make the table setting less cluttered.
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May 29th, 2010 at 6:58 am
No idea, although almost always there is some reason for it. I don’t think it has anything to do with cleanliness because I am not sure I want some characters removing their hats anywhere near my food.
I think it’s a respect thing, similar to removing your hat when you meet a person, or when you walk indoors. It would be fascinating to study the history and psychology of hats. Where’s Henry Petroski when you need him. Here’s some web sites:
http://www.thehatsite.com/historyofhats.html
http://www.civilization.ca/hist/hats/hat00eng.html
http://www.bcvc.net/hats/
The last of these talks a lot about hat etiquette. I haven’t spent a lot of time reading it, but it looks like there’s something there similar to what I said above.
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May 29th, 2010 at 7:40 am
I saw something on TV just the other day, some celebrity wearing his hat at in the dining area, and I was thinking, How disrespectful.
Not really sure where it originated, but one possibility.
I know in Navy ships you always remove your cover(hat) before entering the mess deck.
This was because the mess decks were the battle dressing area during battle. This was to respect the people that had died there.
This could have been picked up from people traveling by ship and carried over to others.
References :
May 29th, 2010 at 8:11 am
"Men’s hats are easily removed, but women’s hats with ribbons, bows, flowers and other decorations can be quite a production to remove, especially if they’re anchored with hatpins. Women might also risk messing up their hairdos if they had to remove their hats. A lady, however, never wore brimmed hats after 5 PM, a fashion rule that developed because she didn’t need a brim after sunset."
for men, it’s usually a kind of respect of the person or place to remove things that may cover the head and face.Tipping of the hat is a conventional gesture of politeness. This hat tipping custom has the same origin as military saluting, which came from the raising of medieval Knights face visors to show friendliness.
References :
http://www.formalonline.com/table-manners.html
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/Clothes%20Articles/etiquette_for_hats_and_caps.htm
May 29th, 2010 at 8:29 am
A lot of these conventions come from the days when it was often a good idea to show your companions that you weren’t armed. Even earlier was demonstrating trust by meeting them without body armour.
This *could* be a residual part of that etiquette. There’s probably info on the net somewhere….
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