Meaning of “Hattie”- the name
Did you know that the girl’s name “Hattie”is a variant of Harriet and Henrietta? Both of the names are originally German. Hattie is quite popular as a first name but very rare as a surname.
The name “Hatty” is rare both as a first name and a surname.
The actual meaning of “Hattie” is Home Ruler . This conjures images of a picture of a Dominatrix wearing a very large brim PVC hat. But I digress.
Hattie was their name
First let’s speak about the Queen of women named Hattie, at least in my mind. Hattie McDaniel (1895 – 1952) was an African American woman. At the time this politically correct description had not been thought of. Other descriptions were made of black people and you know how offensive they were – I shall not repeat them here. It was a difficult time for racial minorities of all kinds and particularly women.
Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to sing on the radio and the first African American to win an Academy Award. She won the award for the world famous portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. Before going to Hollywood she played the part of Queenie in the Musical Show Boat. She reprised that role in a 1936 version of Show Boat. Sadly her career consisted almost entirely of playing stereotypical maids and other servants. If you are a fan of classic movies as I am (I love looking at the hats – they are a joy) you will notice that African Americans were usually portrayed as subservient. This was true even in such egalitarian movies as You Can’t Take it With You. In that particular movie they preached poor is OK and even good yet the household had an African American maid! Well I digress. I take my hat off to this Hattie for being a pioneer. Well done Hattie you will live in our hearts for ever!
Now to a couple of other women who we renamed or nicknamed as Hattie as their first name and the name stuck with them. Indeed they are not known by their “real”names.
I grew up watching Hattie Jacques (her stage name). Really she was Josephine Edwina Jaques (1922 – 1980). She performed mainly in the UK, in British movies but some of her performances may be known by old timers”in the US and Canada – certainly by Brit Ex Pats such as me. She was best known for her fourteen Carry On movies. You just add the word after Carry On … Doctor, Regardless etc. The best of British comedy at that time – full of dialogues with double saucy meanings – a kind of moving saucy British Seaside Postcard such as produced by Bamforth. Hattie Jacques was a portly woman who was often portrayed as a Matron. The Carry On movies were released from 1958 to 1974 during a time of somewhat lesser “political correctness”they are quite dated. RIP Hattie Jacques you gave me many a smile/laugh.
I am quite a fan of the next Hattie, Hattie Carnegie. Just to set the record straight Hattie Carnegie was not related to Andrew Carnegie the well known Industrialist. Hattie’s father was an artist and a tailor – quite a humble beginning really. Her father was thought to have introduced Hattie to fashion – good job!
Hattie became known as Hattie through her earlier involvement with hats. She was born Henrietta Kanengeiser (1889 – 1956). Not sure where the “Carnegie”came from – there’s a story there perhaps?
Hattie was originally a milliner as I said. The shop was called Carnegie – Ladies Hatter and was based in New York on East Tenth Street.
It was not long before Hattie became a fashion maven She opened a dress shop near the current location of Saks Fifth Avenue. She ventured into this new field with little formal training. No doubt though her father would have given her quite a bit of training in the field. She developed her own Couture line and sold this along with creations from the likes of Chanel and Dior. She was the first to introduce ready to wear in the high end fashion market.
Hattie also developed a costume jewelry business, a cosmetic line and if that is not enough a line of chocolate products. Obviously there was no shortage of confidence and chutzpah. Her jewelry items are much sought after by collectors.The “book pieces” (featured listings in books about costume jewelry) can fetch hundreds of dollars.
She had many name clients such as Joan Crawford and the Duchess of Windsor.
Well this leads us to the most infamous and scary “Hattie”of all and yet “she” was not a real person.
Hurricane Hattie was a category 5 hurricane that hit Central America during Halloween 1961 and killed 275 people. Read about it here.
