Photograph provided by permission from the City of Toronto Archives
City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 2575
A lot has been written about women’s hats at the races and I recently wrote a post about my trip to the Queen’s Plate last month. Not much has been written about the wearing of hats by men at the horse races. Some men still wear bowlers and top hats to the races on special occasions. However, this photograph of men betting at the race track shows that the wearing of hats for everyday wear in the 1920s was common place. There is a veritable sea of hats in the picture. You can spot boaters and bowlers in abundance together with driving caps. There is at least one top hat wearer (during the day yet) – see if you can spot it!
Was this “Men’s Day”where are the ladies? Perhaps it was not considered lady like to line up at the bookies to place a bet – not computerized tote then. A very different time.
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G’day Darla, don’t believe I have read a hat blog before, love this photo. Me wore really cool hats in the 20s and 30s. Love it. Deano