The Ugliest Mandolin Cafe Hat in the World

[Drew Egerton]

Wow! You've seen (and, I assume, heard) some people! I wonder how you've managed this. Do we need to alert security?

But seriously, thanks for sharing. Wish I could add more than one "thanks."

Hah! I started it back in 2015 where I saw Alan Bibey, Adam Steffey and Ronnie McCoury all at the same festival here in NC.
Followed that up by going to Bibey's Mandolin Camp about 5 times where I was able to get Wayne Benson and Danny Roberts as teachers and Jesse Brock was performing with Gibson Brothers at that time.

I've done online lessons with Mike Marshall for 5 years but met him for the first time at Swannanoa in 2019 and got Don Stiernberg either there or at Bibey camp, not sure which. Dawg I was lucky to see in concert with Del McCoury and he signed this and the Dawg Jazz book I bought, as well as a beautiful portrait of them both done by his wife Tracy. Sierra was the first concert I attended since Covid started and she was not signing for everybody but I asked one of the staff and pleaded my case as an ArtistWorks student and she generously came out and talked to us for a few minutes.

The only one I didn't get to interact with in person was Sam Bush. After that show at a small venue in the middle of nowhere NC (Salisbury), a few of us were hanging around to meet him but he had some fans from Japan that came to that show somehow and was pretty occupied in the green room with them understandably so.
Steven Mougin took our stuff back and he signed them for us at least. Still hoping to actually chat with Sam one day!

I've avoided just getting any and every mandolin player I came across to sign it, trying to keep it more special with folks I've either closely followed or had a good personal interaction with.

[journeybear]

I've avoided just getting any and every mandolin player I came across to sign it, trying to keep it more special with folks I've either closely followed or had a good personal interaction with.

I like this. I've seen guitars and whatnot signed by every pickin' person the owner could run down. A bit much of too little, in a way. Keeping it more focused and personal makes it more meaningful and memorable.

I've been in situations where I've wanted an autograph but just didn't have anything handy. That's how I got my Beech-Nut Chewing Tobacco hat signed by Jeannie and Royce Kendall. And somewhere in my T-shirt collection is a Lucinda Williams tour shirt signed by her. I don't wear it much so I don't have to keep touching it up. Kind of defeats the usefulness. Definitely not the right item for this purpose!

[Timbofood]

But, it’s got MOJO and it fits like buttah.

[Mia_white]

i like this , thank you for this.

[Tom C]

I have a red one. I no longer wear it. Somebody ruined wearing red hats.

[Jonathan Reinhardt]

Not so ugly, but old. Does that count?

[journeybear]

It sure does! Thanks for this. It gives me - and probably others - hope for ours that have gotten to the yellow-grey-khaki zone. If you keep weathering them, they get to this nice off-white look. There is life after ugly. Granted, it's not black, so not acceptable for formal events. But for casual wear, mighty fine, mighty fine.

[Jonathan Reinhardt]

speaking of casual and formal, just to put Scott’s mind at ease, I wear a more respectable one in public

[journeybear]

My goodness! Look at that ratty old thing! (The hat, not me!)

[journeybear]

BTW & FWIW, there's black, and there's black. In all this, I noticed my "new" hat isn't so new - or black - after just three years.

[Charles E.]

JB, please asparagus us.

[journeybear]

I already did ...

I'm still searching for the actual old hat, at which point I will share an image (by itself) and then all this will be old hat.

Meanwhile, I'm baffled why others haven't shared their hapless haberdashery. Surely there aren't just these few ...

[journeybear]

Aha! Found the old funky hat, tucked away in a box of hats. Not a hat box - well, I guess in some way.

Yes, it's seen some wear, some use, and also some places and people. Done a lot of living in this hat, with this hat.



You can see how far from black it's gone by the look underneath. The rear and underneath vies show the demise of the buckle - it's just gone, leaving the oxidized brass slot. There's a reddish smudge to the right side of the dome; I think it's rust, not blood. I hope so.

I must have worn this hat for six, seven, eight years - really not sure. It had been through a lot with me, and I had been through a lot with it. But it did finally get to a point at which it was a bit much, a bit too far gone, and so it had to be retired. But as many of us understand, shared experiences, even with an inanimate artifact like a mandolin or a hat, lead to a sort of relationship with it, a fondness for it, and a reluctance to let it go. Someday the time comes, and life goes on. But memories live on, with or without the thing that helped inspire them. This old hat, it's kind of forever.

[Charles E.]

[journeybear]

Exactly.

[Sue Rieter]

JB, you do have a way with words

[billhay4]

I'm not ready to retire mine yet. I've never gotten a disease from it. It still performs great in the shop, the yard and the gym.
Scott graciously offered to send me a replacement, but I've got a green one for more formal occasions. I rarely wear it, finding the red one much more satisfactory. I might even wash it one day, but the paint, finish, glue, etc. won't come off.
Bill

[journeybear]

Yours looks to be ever-so-slightly in better shape than mine, and is probably wearable. The worn-out edge on the bill on mine is pretty unsightly, and the rusted-off buckle makes it unwearable. Otherwise, as I said, I cherish the memories associated with it, and thus I cherish the hat itself, so it stays in the collection (awaiting being presented in the glass case in the museum, I suppose ... ). Oh, and I believe this IS washed. There's only so much that an ablution can assist with a solution. So to speak.

JB, you do have a way with words

Exactly.